{"title":"Books by Cathryn Kemp","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781409166764","title":"Jam Butties and a Pan of Scouse","description":"\u003cp\u003eJAM BUTTIES AND A PAN OF SCOUSE is a gritty yet heart-warming memoir set against the backdrop of Liverpool's tightknit working-class docklands community. The story covers Maggie Clarke's upbringing in the tenements close to the docks, the River Mersey and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal: an area notorious for having the worst slums in Britain, yet the closest community as well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt the tender age of 11, Maggie Clarke finds herself the matriarch of the family when her Irish mother runs off with another man. Leaving school at 14 to work at a local factory putting sticks into lollies, she is determined to make a better life for herself and her family - before starting her own family with her childhood sweetheart, who she marries at 19 after 'falling in the family way'. She has one night of married life with her husband before he is sent to India with the Navy and is devastated when she never hears from him again, presuming him a casualty of the war that is raging at home and abroad. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnother tragedy strikes when Maggie's brother Tommy is also claimed by the war, leaving her father inconsolable, but Maggie knows life has to go on and falls in love with Joseph, an Irish settler who she has 8 children with. But her happiness is short-lived as her first husband suddenly appears out of the blue demanding a divorce, and her new husband drinks away what little money they have, returning in fits of rage that leave Maggie and her children hungry and afraid. Many times she is only able to feed her brood by the kindness of neighbours putting a 'pan of scouse' on the range for her, or feeding her kids jam butties to help out. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMaggie's story sweeps across the changing face of Liverpool, from its squalid dock streets, the tenement blocks and cobbled roads to the decline of the docklands, new council housing, the rise of the Mersey beat, the Beatles and the energy and passion of a city that is home to a cast of colourful characters with the resilience to withstand the heartbreak and hardships that only the poorest can know.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56298982408565,"sku":"9781409166764","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781409166764_974a3f19-a00d-4217-8d9f-7c7ce288526c.jpg?v=1786019231"},{"product_id":"9781804992241","title":"A Poisoner's Tale","description":"\u003cp\u003e'A \u003cb\u003egut-wrenching, empowering and gripping feminist read\u003c\/b\u003e' -\u003cb\u003e5-STAR\u003c\/b\u003e Reader Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA dark and powerful feminist retelling of the best serial killer you've never heard of . Inspired by the true story of Giulia Tofana.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Gorgeous. . . \u003c\/b\u003ebrimming with\u003cb\u003e rich detail \u003c\/b\u003eand\u003cb\u003e intrigue\u003c\/b\u003e.’ C. J. COOKE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003eNot for the faint-hearted' \u003ci\u003eSCOTSMAN\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eFully satisfying . . . \u003c\/b\u003esavoured\u003cb\u003e every \u003c\/b\u003echapter' -\u003cb\u003e5-STAR\u003c\/b\u003e Reader Review\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRome, 1656\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn Rome’s shadowy backstreets lies an apothecary’s shop – a place for women to take their heartbreaks and troubles. Herbs for childbirth. Tarot readings to tell their fortunes. An undetectable poison that can kill in four drops.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlongside her circle of female poisoners, Giulia Tofana dispenses her deadly potion to free the downtrodden women of the city from their abusive husbands. A path she’s determined to follow after a harrowing childhood in Palermo.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut even in a time of plague, it does not go unnoticed when the men begin to fall like flies.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWith the Holy Office of the Inquisition on her tail, Giulia is in more danger than ever. . How far will she go for the women who need her help?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMURDERER OR SAVIOUR? YOU DECIDE.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA POISONER'S TALE explores the realities of what it is like to be a woman who rebels against society and takes the reader on a tense, challenging but spellbinding journey.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'An\u003cb\u003e incredible debut \u003c\/b\u003ethat I simply \u003cb\u003ecould not put down\u003c\/b\u003e' -\u003cb\u003e5-STAR\u003c\/b\u003e Reader Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003cb\u003eDevastating. \u003c\/b\u003eA\u003cb\u003e beautifully intense \u003c\/b\u003eread.’ ISABELLE SCHULER\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eThis book will stay with me \u003c\/b\u003efor a very long time' -\u003cb\u003e5-STAR \u003c\/b\u003eReader Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eMoving and unforgettable\u003c\/b\u003e.' STELA BRINZEANU\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eSuperbly written\u003c\/b\u003e . . . a \u003cb\u003ereal page turner\u003c\/b\u003e that I didn't want to end' -\u003cb\u003e5-STAR\u003c\/b\u003e Reader Review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘\u003cb\u003ePerfect \u003c\/b\u003eexample of \u003cb\u003equality \u003c\/b\u003ehistorical fiction.’ LAURA CARLIN\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'\u003cb\u003eIncredibly compelling\u003c\/b\u003e.' \u003ci\u003eGRIMDARK MAGAZINE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Kemp is \u003cb\u003ean astonishingly talented storyteller\u003c\/b\u003e, and her \u003cb\u003echaracters will linger\u003c\/b\u003e long after you’ve finished reading.' NAOMI KELSEY\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307166904693,"sku":"9781804992241","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781804992241_c1277ad6-689a-413a-921c-71fd1c8e4980.jpg?v=1786028328"},{"product_id":"9780749958060","title":"Painkiller Addict","description":"\u003cp\u003eWINNER OF THE BIG RED READ PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION IN 2013.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCathryn Kemp was a successful travel journalist who was struck down by a life-threatening illness, pancreatitis. After four years of operations and mis-diagnoses she left hospital with a repeat prescription for fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times stronger than heroin. Within two years she was taking more than ten times the NHS maximum, all on prescription. Her family struggled to understand; her boyfriend left her, she hit rock bottom. Discovering she had only six months to live if she didn't give up the drugs she sold everything she owned and checked into rehab. In the addiction treatment centre she was told that she was unlikely to recover from 'the highest level of opiate-abuse in the clinic's history'. To everyone's amazement, she proved them wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is an extraordinarily poignant, vivid and honest memoir. Based on the twenty-four diaries that the author kept during this period, we travel with Cathryn through her hospital agony, descend with her into the hell of addiction and cheer her as she pulls herself out and upwards. It is a love story, a horror story, a survival story, and one that shows only too clearly the very real dangers of the over-prescription of painkillers and tranquillisers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThere is also a resource section for sufferers and their loved ones.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311898079605,"sku":"9780749958060","price":13.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749958060_dd16abd5-9c80-4ebf-8bb9-937a8520bfdd.jpg?v=1786015005"},{"product_id":"9781787637160","title":"They Can't Burn Us All","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eIceland, 1655\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen a land of ice and fire, legends and sagas is swept into the Protestant Reformation, a witch-hunting craze begins. Unusually, those condemned and burned as witches are not women, but respectable men of learning.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eÞuríður Jónsdóttir has grown up praying to the old gods, and watching her father and brother practise rune magic. When the two men are accused of witchcraft and condemned to burn at the stake, Þuríður is helpless to save them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut as Lutheran Pastor Jón Magnússon's accusing gaze turns to Þuríður, he will find that she is a woman prepared to fight back.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn an age of fear and persecution, whose side will the village take? Who will fight for justice?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSet against a backdrop of sweeping religious and social change, this is a story of the most famous witch trial in Iceland – where one woman stands up to the patriarchal forces against her.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":56369162551669,"sku":"9781787637160","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":57682769903989,"sku":"9781804992340","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781787637160_9bc379f4-ccc7-4988-a43e-d2b2972e5285.jpg?v=1792511628"},{"product_id":"coming-clean","title":"Coming Clean","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'A brave, heartfelt and extraordinary book' Corinne Sweet, author of\u003ci\u003e Overcoming Addiction\u003c\/i\u003e, psychologist and broadcaster \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhat if the drugs that were meant to cure you slowly started to kill you?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter falling dangerously ill with acute-on-chronic pancreatitis, Cathryn Kemp left hospital with a repeat prescription for fentanyl, a painkiller 100 times stronger than heroin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWithin two years she was taking almost ten times the NHS maximum daily dose - all on prescription - and her life began to spiral out of control. Cathryn discovered she had just three months to live, unless she gave up the drug she clung to so desperately.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAfter selling everything she owned and checking into rehab, Cathryn was told by the doctors that recovery was highly unlikely. Yet to everyone's amazement, she proved them wrong.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eComing Clean\u003c\/i\u003e is a poignant, vivid and honest memoir of a woman's struggle with, and subsequent victory over, her demons. It is a love story, a horror story, a survival story, and one that shows the very real dangers of the over-prescription of painkillers.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57481547841909,"sku":"9780749958077","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780749958077.jpg?v=1786089817"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-cathryn-kemp.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}