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Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother: My Autobiography
by
Sue Johnston
'There was a lot that we kept from my mother. My dad would say to me as a teenager, "Don't tell your mother." We couldn't face the disapproval.'
Sue Johnston always seemed to be disappointing her mother. As a girl she never stayed clean and tidy like her cousins. As she grew older, she spent all her piano lesson money on drinks for her mates down the pub, and when she disc
...more
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Community Reviews
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Well seeing I've never heard of her, live in the south, don't like football, soaps or vote labour and bought the audio book on a whim it was an enjoyable listen. I usually like biographies and this one didn't disappoint.
The only things I was really expecting from Sue Johnston's autobiography were that it would be funny in parts, have some insights into the TV worlds of Brookie, The Royales, being Grace in Waking the Dead and from the title `Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother' I hazarded a guess that either Sue had some skeletons in her cupboard or her relationship with her mother might be a fraught one. Indeed it is the latter and really if I was to say Sue's book is about anything then it would really be about t
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Things I Couldn't Tell My Mother published by Ebury Press is Sue Johnston's memoir and it's a warm and honest read. You can almost hear Sue's voice as she tells of her childhood, her relationship with her parents, her marriages and her career. What struck me the most is the fact that Sue has stayed 'real' throughout her career, despite the success and the fame and the OBE, she never strayed far from her roots and never lost that no nonsense attitude or her belief in social justice.
Sue's relatio ...more
Sue's relatio ...more
It's a must for a Sue Johnston-fan - and I am one. But apart from the fannish value, I've always found the stories Sue Johnston has to tell quite interesting - growing up in the North, hanging out with The Beatles, training in London, working all over the place (in TIE and later on telly), a lifelong LFC fan --- you don't get a greater wealth of story material.
Above all though, it is stories of a woman who has done almost all (and many of those things not exactly smart), has tried it all and bee ...more
Above all though, it is stories of a woman who has done almost all (and many of those things not exactly smart), has tried it all and bee ...more
I really enjoyed this book and picked it up due to being a huge Waking the Dead fan and wanting to learn more about the actress who played Grace in the series.
I know this book was for me when in the opening pages Sue spoke about how, after losing her mother, she still gets the urge to pick up the phone and call her about something that she has read or seen before realising that her mother is dead - this too still happens to me and it just drew me in.
The book is well written and a fairly easy rea ...more
I know this book was for me when in the opening pages Sue spoke about how, after losing her mother, she still gets the urge to pick up the phone and call her about something that she has read or seen before realising that her mother is dead - this too still happens to me and it just drew me in.
The book is well written and a fairly easy rea ...more
I really enjoyed this book. Sue seems to have a Love/ indifference relationship with her mother. Sur tried her best to get her mother to admit she was proud of her but her mother found it hard to say. I found the book very enlightening and the various nights/ dinner times she had in 'The Cavern' were very amusing but poignant. It seems that until she had her son she was on a very much well trodden road on the boards of a lot of different theatres and the ones during the miners strike found me re
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Love Sue Johnston and think she is one of our finest actresses. I got this book when I took my mum to an afternoon tea with Sue Johnston at Houghton Towers when the book was first published. This isn't my usual cup of tea but as it's been on my bookshelf for ages thought I best get it read. Easy and interesting to read, I flew through the pages as Sue recounts her memories of what has been a pretty remarkable life through the good times and not so good times. Sue Johnston, is obviously a warm, f
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This was a really enjoyable, interesting read , Sue tells in her own words the struggles she's had in her life , that she kept to herself and her relationship with her parents, and also her heartache at losing them, and losing friends , She talks of her relationships , her son Joel and how proud she is of him , and of course her acting career, from plays to well known TV shows, and also her passion for Liverpool FC . What comes across in the book is what a lovely emotional , but down to earth Su
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I loved this book. It's brutally honest and open without going into gossipy details or tell-all proportions. Sue writes with warmth and humor and you get a real sense of the person behind the words. I was a fan of Sue's before reading this book, but my admiration and respect for the woman has grown tenfold after reading this book.
A definite must for all fans and others, too.
A definite must for all fans and others, too.
I have always enjoyed watching Sue Johnston. I enjoyed this book. I did not watch some of the programmes she mentions, but others I have enjoyed. She is a very versatile actress.
Her relationship with her mother, Margaret, was not always an easy one, but she loved her very much.
Her relationship with her mother, Margaret, was not always an easy one, but she loved her very much.
Not great. I was told it was a good autobio, but it lacked passion and feeling. Ok so her mum was disapproving, I suspect many mums can be, maybe?
I found this book just reeled off the facts in turn and I felt it was lacking in depth.
I found this book just reeled off the facts in turn and I felt it was lacking in depth.
Nov 03, 2014
Carla
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biographies-memoirs
,
celebrity-memoirs
I really enjoyed this book. It is interesting and funny with some very poignant moments. I loved the way everything was referenced back to the mother daughter relationship which is often tricky. Good luck to Sue in the future.
I couldn't put this book down. Sue Johnston tells her life story and of her relationship with her mother. It made me laugh and also cry and was so beautifully written. A must for anyone who follows sue's career.
This book was exactly how i thought it would be , easy to read uncomplicated and most of all down to earth , bit of a teary eye when Sue is talking about losing her Mother , all in all a very good read . . .
I loved this autobiography - being a self confessed Brookie in my youth. It was both funny and sad and written from the heart - well worth a read.
shelved it for now, not a riveting read I am sorry to say.
I liked her style and found this really interesting.
Another run of the mill autobiography....
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