Author:Hunter Davies,Janine Birkett
Ivy, Dulcie, Barbara, Ann, Dorothy and Jean all had different reasons for applying to work at Carr’s biscuits, but once they had put on their overalls and walked through the factory gates they discovered a community full of life, laughter and friendship.
To those who didn’t know, the biscuit factory that towered over Carlisle might look like just another slice of the industrial North, a noisy and chaotic place with workers trooping in and out at all hours. For the biscuit girls it was a place where they worked hard, but also where they gossiped, got into scrapes and made lifelong friends. Outside the factory walls there might be difficult husbands or demanding kids, and sometimes even heartbreak and tragedy, but they knew there would always be an escape from their troubles at Carr's.
Some, like Barbara, only applied because she needed the extra cash, until things got a bit easier at home. Her supervisor cross examined her about who would be looking after the kids while she was at work, but let her have the job. Like many of the women who joined up ‘temporary’ Barbara went on to stay at Carrs for 32 years.
Beginning in the 1940s, these heartwarming and vividly-remembered stories have all been told by the women themselves to Hunter Davies.
Hers is an extraordinary story, exceptionally well told
—— Lilian Pizzichini , Independent on SundayIn the course of an unstructured life, her compassionate nature matures and endures, to the benefit of a great many people
—— Joan Bakewell , New StatesmanHer life makes a wonderful read
—— Caroline Gascoigne , Sunday TimesIt is surely rare to find a book that describes a marriage with such breathtaking intimacy as Diana Melly does in her autobiography, Take a Girl Like Me
—— Nicholas Haslam , SpectatorDiana Melly writes with a kind of stoned simplicity that is very effective, telling her often harrowing tale in a bleak and candid manner that carried great conviction
—— Sunday TelegraphTold with admirable candour
—— Woman & HomeHardly short of a masterpiece...Diana Melly writes with compelling candour
—— Daily TelegraphThis is Diana Melly's book, and she has the good literary sense (and the courage) to live in its pages in a way that makes me throw my hat in the air
—— Andrew O’Hagan , Daily Telegraph