Without Warning and Only Sometimes cover art

Without Warning and Only Sometimes

Scenes from an Unpredictable Childhood

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Without Warning and Only Sometimes

By: Kit de Waal
Narrated by: Kit de Waal
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About this listen

From the award-winning author of My Name Is Leon, The Trick to Time and Supporting Cast comes a childhood memoir set to become a classic: stinging, warm-hearted and true.

Kit de Waal grew up in a household of opposites and extremes. Her haphazard mother rarely cooked, forbade Christmas and birthdays, worked as a cleaner, nurse and childminder sometimes all at once and believed the world would end in 1975. Meanwhile, her father stuffed barrels full of goodies for his relatives in the Caribbean, cooked elaborate meals on a whim and splurged money they didn't have on cars, suits and shoes fit for a prince. Both of her parents were waiting for paradise. It never came.

Caught between three worlds—Irish, Caribbean and British in 1960s Birmingham—Kit and her brothers and sisters knew all the words to the best songs, caught sticklebacks in jam jars and braved hunger and hellfire until they could all escape.

Without Warning and Only Sometimes is a story of an extraordinary childhood and how a girl who grew up in house where the Bible was the only book on offer went on to discover a love of reading that inspires her to this day.

©2022 Kit de Waal (P)2022 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Art & Literature Authors Parenting & Families Relationships Teenagers Women Young Adult Heartfelt Celebration Royalty Caribbean

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All stars
Most relevant  
What a good book. Enjoyed this so much I hope she writes a follow up.

Recommended

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Achingly tough autobiographical beginnings that gratefully and gradually morph into agency and self-discovery; you have to admire Kit de Waal !

What a gal….

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could not put it down, read most of the night for three, loved the characters, humanity of both father and mother, beautifully drawn, descriptions of life in 60s squats.

Riveting story

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A touch of my own childhood and Irish grandparents in Birmingham.
Brilliantly observed and none judgmental account of navigating young life, looking for answers and escape

Brilliant and beautifully observed

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I absolutely loved this book. As someone else has said, Kit's voice is unusual until you realise that's she's the daughter of an Irish mother, West Indian father, and brought up in Solihull, and by then you've become completely captivated by this gorgeously narrated close up of growing up poor and different in the 80s and 90s for immigrants in the West Midlands.

Themes of poverty, racism and doctrine are deftly woven into a microcosm of family and domesticity. It is heart rending and funny, and lovely, and the mix of Irish, Brummy and Patois gives colour and texture. The cabbage and egg had me hooting with laughter, and I especially liked how Kit punctuated the beginning and end with a common theme.

I can't wait to read more of her work, and hope her fiction is as brilliant as her autobiographical work. I didn't want it to end.

The most enjoyable audio book I've listened to

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Just delightful in every way. So relatable even though it talks of a very unusual upbringing.
The ending was almost an anticlimax - I was expecting a bit more resolution around her parents, but it was so well-written I didn't really care about the content!
I'm now hunting for more by this author.

Perfect

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Absorbing autobiography of Mandy (Kit de Waal) as she grows up in Birmingham. Very relatable experiences, escapades and feelings including the wedding shoes, sweet choosing, tv watching and 70s / 80s catalogues. The closeness of the siblings and the characters of mum and dad are a contrast the continuous experience of being an outsider in so many situations. Lovely to listen to. Highly recommend,

Brilliant and absorbing

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AT times funny and painful, occasionally shocking yet also warm and empathetic, this writer takes you straight back to school days and the horror (to a child) of never seeming to fit in. It’s a tale of love, and family, of kindness and bad choices, of a mum who takes on challenges from rats to racism and a girl who navigates it all and finds her way. A triumph. I loved it.

Insanely good. It should be on the school curriculum.

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Loved it
Lived her life through a beautifully observed group of stories. Thank you So much

Loved it

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I enjoyed this memoir. A great reflection on life through a child’s eyes. Good storytelling.

Really good memoir!

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