I had heard of cash carraway via her Instagram page. Many parts of the novel were heartbreaking in their honesty and completely realistic as a single mother. However some parts were clearly dramatised for effect.
Well worth a read

Cash Carraway's memoir 'Skint Estate' details her experiences raising her daughter alone in a succession of refuges, tenuous private rentals and with only zero hours jobs to keep them afloat. She is impassioned and sheds vivid light on the poverty trap particularly as it affects single mothers. The memoir is a compelling and very relevant read...and yet, and yet......

Part of me doesn't want to write what I am now going to write because Cash Carraway herself would instantly dismiss both me and my opinions, as she does throughout her book. Married - check. Middle class - check. Therefore I must be a tory, a bore, a coldplay fan...and nothing I have to say can possibly be valid or true. And yet, I am still going to say what I felt after reading this memoir which is...I don't buy it. I don't actually believe that it is true in substantial part. And the disbelief created in the reader has the quite tragic effect of undermining those sections of the memoir which undoubtedly are real and powerful. Some examples: I don't believe that she worked in peep show with a Russian called Vladimir who then threw her a.baby shower. I don't believe that she fake married a man who was previously like her pimp but who was then gay, and then she had a massively successful mum account on instagram for two years. I don't believe that every facebook friend told her to abort her baby; I don't believe that everyone she met in Kent was a racist...the list could go on.

Maybe the author is making a point- that she has a right to fictionalise or choreograph her truth - like so much of what she disapproves of in the middle.class world on Instagram. Fair enough - but the effect of the exaggerations and omissions is very disengaging. It is very difficult to feel.emotionally connected to a story you can't believe in.

Carraway herself is extremely and unapologetically opinionated...good for her. So I will be the same. I felt let down by the inauthenticity of this memoir. If the author told her actual truth and owned her own part in the decisions she made, it would.undermine nothing. It would be a much more powerful memoir as a result.

This book hits really really hard and is definitely a must-read for anyone in the UK. Whilst I’ve never been in the extreme position that Cash has, having come from a place of privilege, I could still really relate to the anger and exhaustion coming from her words. As someone who’s had to move out of my hometown near London because it was unaffordable, who works two jobs (one of them being zero hours, which is discussed A Lot) and my struggles with my mental health I felt this book in my bones and devoured it in one day.
When it comes to politics I’m 50% constantly furious and 50% completely burned out, and this helped ignite the flame of fury and ebb away at the burn-out.
Don’t vote Tory lads

A fascinating read, a series of stories in a memoir of how society treats who it considers to be lower working class. It’s funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. It’s not often I read a book twice but I would with this one. I’ve recommended this to a lot of people.

I enjoyed this book but found the format a little difficult some of the facts and timeline seem wrong in parts.
The ideas and opinions are really important ones but I found the voice a little difficult as there are inconsistent areas in the story.
I did enjoy the book but as a memoir I think it falls down as the voice has quite a lot of humour and sarcasm throughout.
think that Cash is a very strong character and I hope she finds some peace now that she has written her story.

This is a brutally honest tale of life living as a single mother. Cash Carraway puts a humorous spin on this but underlying you can feel the heartbreak of the reality of her life. From uncaring and often violent parents. She struggles through life. Then at 29 finds herself in the midlands in an abusive relationship and pregnant. Having been given the offer of having an abortion or he partner beating the baby out of her. Cash flees back to London.
Working in a peep show whilst pregnant. Trying to get together enough money to give her child a better start in life.
But life throws curve balls. Cash describes the reality of life of a single mum. This book has certainly opened my eyes to the current state of my country.
Certainly a must read.

A brutally honest book about the deplorable state of existence below the poverty line in this country. All politicians should read this and think long and hard about their policies and the way that a large proportion of the population have a hand to mouth existence. The book is difficult to read not only in content but in style but such is the way of angry rants that need to be said especially by women who bear the brunt of appalling situations. Read this book, be appalled but learn and empathise.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. I enjoyed this story very much and felt like I knew each character personally due to the description of them. I enjoyed the storyline. This is not my usual genre but in this instance I am extremely pleased and grateful for opening up my mind to something totally different. Thanks again.

I don't know where to start with this review.

Maybe at the horror of reading about Cash in a filthy train toilet, with faeces artwork, trying to pee on a stick. Or maybe the heartbreak of her social media announcement with her 12 week scan and instead of messages of congratulations and support, she receives messages about abortions. The beating that resulted in her fractured cheek? Her abusive relationships, both with men and her mum? The constant disappointment of her dad? Her struggle to provide a stable home and food for herself and her daughter despite having numerous jobs?

She takes a job in a peepshow whilst pregnant, she works on sex call lines and as a secret shopper in a desperate attempt to raise some money. There's a visit to a food bank that offers some much needed support for the small family.

But, whilst I read the book with compassion for Cash's horrendous struggle, I could not pity her. Pity seems too condescending for someone you respect, and I have nothing but respect for Cash. She is an unbelievably strong woman. Whilst she was left broken numerous times, she wasn't defeated.

What comes through is her utter devotion to her daughter, everything she does is to provide for her.

There is an angry speech at the end which surprised me and I first thought was 'there was no need for that'. But then I realised that I was speaking from a position of relative privilege. Whilst I'm not rich, I have not had struggles that come anywhere close to those Cash experienced. So, yes, Cash deserves to be angry and everyone should be angry that women like her are struggling, every day, battling the government and society, just to live. It's not humane, it's not fair and it's not right.

Searing account of the author's struggle to carve out a reasonable life in the brutal austerity world we live in. Vital reading for anyone who wants to know the stories behind the statistics. Be warned, the author takes no prisoners, this is not - as she points out - poverty porn for the well-intended to satisfy a guilty pleasure with.

This book is the most honest and fearless searching moral inventory I have read in many years.
On many levels Cash's life resonates with me and many shared experiences bind our lives.
This book needs to be read by people no matter their class or political views.
This is England 2020 and this book is a snapshot of life below the poverty line.
Absolutely fantastic and I'm so pleased to have had the opportunity to read and review, thank you!

Cash will probably be very angry with my review.

I was appalled to be presented with such a stark picture of the plight of normal women on the poverty line and whilst I am always on the side of the underdog in most things, the book made me have a long hard think about my own lower middle class presumptions about how people end up in dire straits.

Raw , rage filled, honest and heartbreaking in equal measure.

Being disowned by her parents and being pushed from pillar to post in different establishments as a young child Cash Carraway finds herself pregnant, with no home, a job in a peep show displaying all her wares for men to pay sitting in booths, doing what they do, she is at the lowest anybody can go. She has been a victim of not only mental violence but physical as well She moves into a women's refuge and is living below the poverty line. She doesn't want this for her little girl so she works and fights to make her daughters life nothing like hers at all, she has so much love to give.
There are some funny laugh out loud moments but all in all, this is a story of a woman that fights and fights for herself and her daughter, who like many have been abandoned by society.
Maybe a copy of this should be sent to the prime minister as it is a good factual account of how people are living in today's society and struggling with living day to day.
Cash says it out loud and is very matter of fact in her descriptions.
I would recommend everybody read this book as it is life in "rich" Britain today, where everybody thinks it is the land of golden opportunity but in FACT, is far from it for the people who live here.
Thank you, NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Should be required reading for anyone running as an MP.
However due to the authors admittance for "embellishing" I found it difficult to know how much was entirely true.

Thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for an ARC of Skint Estate.

Skint Estate is a brutally honest look at the welfare state in the UK, not just for single mothers but for everyone. The demonisation of those below (or on) the poverty line and the pushing of people and families out of the capital. Carraway details her childhood, her twenties and having a baby at 29 in 2010. The majority of the book centres around her daughter (Biddy) and the life they lead up until Carraway was given this book deal. It does not shy away from the real horrors that are faced by women and those in the poorest communities.

Whilst the content of this book and the message it is pushing is very relevant to our times and needs to be shared, I struggled in some places with the writing style. The chronology / timeline frequently jumped around and in some instances seemed a little confused and did not line up. Carraway's frequent use of the term 'YouTuber' was also very jarring, it is used to compare her life, what her life would be like if she were one and even her daughter discussing the merits of it. This seemed an unnecessary comparison and took me out of the book a number of times.

Carraway's story reads so alarming in places you might even believe it to be fiction/dystopia but it is her real life account and tells it like it truly is. For that reason alone I really think that everyone should read this book.

3.5/5

Note: there are numerous trigger warnings for this book that should be noted before reading.

Sorry not for me. I work with disadvantaged vulnerable groups of people and I just found this a little boring.

Hard hitting, thought provoking. The reality of zero hour contracts, living below the poverty line and working many low paying jobs to keep paying rent in London. Juggling bills, safety and caring for her wonderful young daughter. Opened my eyes to a different reality that at times is painful to read and know it's the truth of Cash reality and not just in years ago but as recent as 2019.

Cash Carraway describes herself at one point as '...a chancer and a fake, searching for a version of myself that could never exist.' At many points throughout this memoir, I admit that I agreed with her.

The author may be a classic anti hero- as a reader you may not at all agree with her decisions or her madness but the truth of her statements are undeniable. These are truths that need to be written, shared, and shouted until change occurs. As much as I enjoyed the sensationalist side of things- frankly who hasn't wanted to bleed all over the face of Jacob Rees Mogg- I appreciated much more the call to action. My book copy is littered with notes of affirmation because we ARE marginalising the voiceless and the vulnerable. We ARE ring fencing London and other major cities to make sure that only the rich survive, unless you are lucky enough to cling to multigenerational housing. We ARE at the mercy of capitalism, and we ARE definitely headed to a crisis point if indeed that point has not already been reached. By the end of Skint Estate I am convinced it is a love story. Not just from a mother to her child, but from a citizen to her city. From a woman, to other women. From one human being to every other human being and from one small voice to all the other small voices.

"Imagine if we all spoke up together."

A very good look at poverty and how it can change your life. Very funny in bits but heart wrenching as well

Hmm, an interesting one that I find difficult to place. While this memoir wasn’t quite the representative look at life on the poverty line that I was expecting (the author’s experiences are certainly unique), it’s entertaining, it makes some very pertinent points about social housing stock and the system being stacked against people needing support.
Her writing style is certainly engaging, although it was a bit choppy in places and I found the non-linear timeline overly confusing (perhaps that was intentional, there seemed to be some parts of her life skipped over, maybe because they didn’t support the narrative she was pushing here?).
All in all thought provoking and a sad look at the welfare state.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy