Book Choice : The Road To Nab End [William Woodruff]

A few weeks ago while out for a beer or two with some friends I got talking to someone at the bar, just the normal pub conversation which soon turned to music, films and books. My new aquaintance told me he had just finished a book called 'The Road To Nab End' and recommended I should read it. The town I live in doesn't have a decent book shop and I couldn't find a copy in the local library so it looked like I would have to order it online or wait until my next visit to Glasgow to purchase a copy. However a few days later while browsing in a local charity shop I found a hardback copy for £2. Result!
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The book itself is an autobiographical work telling the story of his impoverished upbringing in Lancashire during the Great Depression. The story itself tells us much about the social conditions of the time as families struggled to survive during some of the bleakest times ever. It really is a story of hardship but through this hardship there is always hope and above all love. There is a sense of family values that just don't exist anymore and although nobody could ever look back on those times with any great fondness there is a feeling that something special has been lost since those days. I found the book very illuminating and a fantastic piece of social commentary from that time.