The author has once again created vivid believable characters.
The story is told from 3 POVs.
The writing style flows perfectly.
I absolutely loved this book.

Connie has left her parents' house when still very young, without leaving a note, disappeared. From London she moved to Leeds, where she was able to embrace her true self without her mother's harsh judgement.
Fast forward several year later, Connie has a new surname, a daughter, Sadie, and gets to do what she loves (singing) whilst still having to work at Morrisons, as she is not able to sustain herself just with her passion.

Due to a tragic accident, Sadie has to move in with her grandparents, whom she has never met and, after finding her mam's diary, she is determined to find her dad.

This book is 3.8, a bit of a slow burner for me, even though I found the story line interesting, however there is a lot of back and forth with the narration point of view and, at times, it is difficult to keep up.

I really enjoyed the authors previous book The Queen of Bloody Everything and not only found it a great story but also a wonderful trip down memory lane. Unfortunately I didn't engage with this second novel as much.
I enjoyed the characters and was interested to read the grandmothers story unfold, but the overall story line of this one just didn't keep my interest enough. I very slow moving book too.

The Talk of Pram Town was a bit of a walk down memory lane for me, as someone who was born in the early 1970’s: playing out with my friends, arranging to meet by speaking face to face with them, no mobile phones. I can remember watching Charles and Diana’s wedding, whilst holding commemorative coins bought by my Nan and commemorative mugs that would never be drunk out of (I still have mine somewhere!). But that’s where the similarities in my life, compared to that of 11 year old Sadie and her mum Connie, end.
Sadie and Connie live in Leeds, and don’t appear to have any other family. Connie wants to hit the big time as a singer, but instead sings at local working men’s clubs, and works at the local supermarket. Sadie certainly lives the first 11 years of her life in a much different way to many other people. This house in Leeds seems to be the most stable and ‘normal’ way of life that she has had so far.
So when Sadie is forced to go and live with the grandparents she has never met, her introduction to Essex suburbia is quite a shock to her system!
I loved this book. It has a real sense of time and place, making me feel so nostalgic for my childhood. I really enjoyed Sadie's grandparents: Jean, her grandmother, especially. It’s clear from the beginning that she has her own secrets, secrets that have embittered her over the years. I felt that the slow reveal of her younger life, and how she deals with Sadie as well as her feelings for Connie and Bernard, were fascinating.
But Sadie really is the most wonderful part of this novel. The way that she approaches her new life with such stoicism, her intelligence and curiosity of the new world that she has to grow to at least like, really made me want to read more.
I can’t wait to see what Joanna Nadin writes next - I’ve loved both this and her last novel (The Queen of Bloody Everything), both of which look at mother-daughter relationships.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this - it’s a joy to read.

Adored Queen of Bloody Everything, and I have been looking forward to this for months. Another well crafted tale of eccentric mothers and loving daughters, this is a wonderful book. Connie ran away from home when she was pregnant with her now 11 year old daughter but goes back to try and reconcile with her mother. Full of emotion and heartache, The Talk of Pram Town was impossible to put down, and made my heart richer through reading it

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read it.

The Talk Of Pram Town by Joanna Nadin - secrets are revealed - you don't know what you have until it's lost.

Description

Is it always mother, like daughter?
It’s 1981 and eleven-year-old Sadie adores her beautiful and vibrant mother, Connie, whose dreams of making it big as a singer fill their small Leeds house. It’s always been the two of them — until the unthinkable happens.
Jean hasn’t seen her good-for-nothing daughter Connie since she ran away eleven years ago from their home in Harlow – or as the neighbours affectionately call it – Pram Town.
But in the wake of the Royal Wedding, Jean gets a life-changing call: could she please come and collect the granddaughter she's never met?
We all know how Charles and Di turned out, and Jean and Sadie are hardly a match made in heaven – but is there hope of a happy ending for them?


Review.

This is my first Joanna Nadin read, I will be heading for her other book The Queen of Bloody everything. This novel investigates the back lives of Jean, daughter Connie, and granddaughter Sadie. It is an emotional and heartbreaking story of their lives as they move from the 1950’s, 60’s to the 1980’s. The 1980s era is conjured up through the various references to Charles and Diana's wedding, Ask the Family, and the invention of the Soda Stream! There are references to Bucks Fizz and Dollar. I loved the nostalgia of the era, and the book conjured up memories of my attempts to record the charts on a Sunday evening without any DJ chat between the songs!

The characters are all created with depth and warmth - Jean and her buttoned up straightness, Connie's desperation to escape the straight jacket of her strict upbringing to seek fame and fortune as a singer, and Sadie who your heart breaks for, with her optimism and probing of the past.

The book is immensely readable with its cultural references, the writing makes you laugh and cry, and you ultimately care about the characters making it impossible to put down. For anyone who remembers the 1980’s, get stuck in and enjoy the nostalgia, enjoy the family saga and the secrets that emerge that leave you with a better understanding of Jean's uptight demeanour, and an optimism for Sadie's future. Read and Enjoy.

Rating ⅘
#TheTalkofPramTown #NetGalley

This is my first novel by Joanna Nadin, and it contains a lot of truths alongside a plethora of questions . . .

Sadie is eleven and she lives with her mam, Connie who works supermarket shifts to keep body and soul together whilst she pursues her first love, singing. Her mum ran away from home when she was pregnant and hasn't seen her parents since; Sadie is unaware of any grandparents but, when Connie dies suddenly she finds herself bundled off to live with them.

This is a story of three women; Sadie, her mother Connie and Jean, who was Constance's mother as she grew up. Their individual tales are woven together intricately and all three lives are revealed little by little, pulling me in and before I realised it I was completely engrossed and desperate to find out not only where it was going but what happened in the past. This is one of those books which worms it's way inside your head without you being aware of it and you find yourself comparing events to your own life. Mothers and daughters are never easy but this author has their relationships nailed. Crafted with realism, well-written with a satisfying outcome, this is a novel I'm happy to consider as a four star read.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is my honest, original and unbiased review.

I thought that this one was good but not as good as this authors previous book. It was a nice story with good characterisation but nothing stand out.

If like me (and the author) you were born in 1970, and therefore are a child/adolescent of the 80’s then reading The Talk of Pram Town will be like taking a trip down memory lane. It’s very appeal is that it is such a nostalgic read,conjuring up many fond memories. With my rose tinted spectacles firmly in place, Connie and Sadie’s story harks back to a more innocent, technology free era where children were free to play in the streets, telephone boxes were on street corners and Ask the Family and Grange Hill and We’re in the Sun were favourite tv shows. Soda streams were the height of sophistication (although our family didn’t have one), clothes were bought in Tammy Girl and the only fast food outlet in the high street was Wimpy!! Bucks Fizz and Dollar, amongst many others provided the soundtrack to our childhoods and the iconic Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana sparked public fascination and media frenzy, whilst giving us all the opportunity to watch the day unfold via our tv screens and celebrate with street parties.
It is the wedding of all weddings that proves to be a significant event in the lives of Connie and Sadie. Living in Leeds as a single mum, Connie is a wannabe pop star, singing in the local clubs and pubs whilst daydreaming of making it big in London. A dream that unfortunately she’ll never realise. Her taste in men is dubious, just take a look at current boyfriend Elvis, and although she’s never been short of attention,it’s often unwanted. It is this kind of unwanted attention that gives the young Connie, troublemaker through and through, reason and incentive to escape her home town of Harlow aka Pram town in search of fame and fortune, automatically cutting all ties with her parents. Although her part in this wonderfully evocative novel is cut short on the day of the Royal wedding you can tell daughter Sadie is much loved and that Connie is one of those larger than life lovable characters you’d love to have a natter with over a cup of tea and a ciggie, (I’ve never smoked!) perhaps whilst neighbour Donna cut your hair!
The day of the wedding is when Sadie’s life is turned upside down and her character is fully developed. Plucked from her familiar surroundings and plonked straight into life in Harlow with her grandparents, Jean and Bernard, complete strangers to her, you can only wonder at how this child with no mother or father will cope. Leaving behind best friend Deborah who is definitely a bossy little madam, Sadie approaches her new surroundings with such fortitude and just a rucksack of mementos that you realise are like comfort blankets to her. She’s plucky, inquisitive, fiercely intelligent and an absolute cracker of a character. No longer allowed crisps or biscuits or Coronation Street, Sadie is reluctantly in the care of Bernard and Jean where church on Sunday is a given and where love isn’t openly displayed. All three of them were the reason I thought this novel to be brilliant and such a delightful, heartwarming read. Back in the day I’d have loved to have Sadie as a best friend, partner in crime, leader of the gang, but that honour falls to Nirmal. He is yet another character that fits perfectly into the narrative and just the sort of boy Sadie needs as a new best friend. Hearing Sadie’s voice in her own dialect adds authenticity whilst poor Jean is at pains to banish words like nowt and aye and in’t it!
The dynamic between Jean and Bernard is completely believable and relatable; she is the uptight, snobby and strict parent/grandparent with so many airs and graces whilst Bernard, mild mannered, goes with the flow but secretly relishes his new relationship with his granddaughter, forever allowing her to do ‘banned’ things as long as she doesn’t tell her grandmother. It’s impossible not to fall in love with all three of them with Jean reminding me slightly of tv’s Hyacinth Bucket.
The writing style is easy, flows perfectly and keeps you engaged, going backwards and forwards in time so that you learn more of Connie’s past as well as Jean’s. In doing so you realise that mother and daughter aren’t so dissimilar as Connie’s diaries would have you believe. Her diaries play an important role in uncovering Connie’s secret past, which does have a serious aspect, and also provides the perfect means for Sadie and Nirmal to act as amateur sleuths investigating who Sadie’s biological father could be, which had me in stitches. There is so much warmth and humour in this book but it is Sadie’s burgeoning relationship with her grandparents that is a real winner for me.
Do you need to be a child of the 80’s to fully appreciate this novel. No, would be my answer since the characters, particularly Sadie and Jean and Bernard here are so wonderfully imagined that it is a shame to come to the end of their story and say goodbye. Naturally, the novel will feel extra special to those of us who do clearly remember growing up in this era and my heartfelt thanks goes to the author for vividly bringing these years alive and providing ample opportunity to reminisce.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED this novel and I shall be recommending it to all my book friends as a must read. This definitely has become a favourite book of mine and in a year of turning fifty amidst such troubling times, the author has brought a huge smile to my face and I can’t wait for book number three!!!
My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

I adored Joanna’s previous book and this was the same for me , I loved it. A little slow to begin but it’s well worth the wait , it’s such a relatable story (you find yourself thinking back to your experiences) You are just into Sadie’s life (and Connie’s and Jeans too but I loved Sadie most) and you share her journey, which is emotional but definitely uplifting. Being born in the late 70s I loved the references and nostalgia here. An entertaining and great story I recommend highly.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Joanna Nadin, the first one of hers that I have read.

Initially slow going, I soon became wrapped up in Sadie's world, and felt very protective towards her. My heart in turn broke for her in her vulnerability and cheered for her optimism.

A three generational story of strong women - thanks to Netgalley for the advanced copy.

I absolutely adored The Queen of Bloody Everything but I just don't think I loved this book as much. It was tense, nostalgic and again focuses on female relationships and domestic complexities but there were just a few niggles that I struggled with and I couldn't quite engage with the plot as much as I should have. This was probably down to me and how I wasn't quite able to follow the swaps in narratives and timelines quite as well or just not the story I needed right now.
I did love the character of Sadie and her innocent journey through tragedy and life changing circumstances I just wanted to hug her so much. The events that unfold inevitably change your opinions of other characters and this was done really well.
If you lived through the 70s or 80s there's lots of nods to this era and I enjoyed these references.

Told from the perspectives of three generations of women. Jean, Connie and Sadie. The book looks at how a woman's role is shaped by societal expectations, family relationships (or lack of), money and class and how teenage dreams and desires can disappear in the blink of an eye.
Jean is the strict Grandmother to Sadie and mother to the runaway Connie. When a tragic event brings Sadie into Jean's life, she wonders how she will cope. She sees Connie, and by extension Sadie, as a changeling who she has nothing in common with, and longs for her staid life to return to normal. However, the discovery of Connie's diaries and memories of her own youth make her realise that she has more in common with her daughter and granddaughter than she realises.
This is a book that transported me straight back to the 1980s and the Royal wedding, microwaves and collecting Wade Whimseys and the author's keen observations had me alternating between laughter and tears. It's a wonderful book and I wish the author every success with its publication.

My thanks go to the publishers and Net Galley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

I requested this book because I liked the sound of the title. Life seems so real and raw in this book and I got totally caught up in Sadie’s world.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

Wonderfully nostalgic, this tale of three generations of the Earnshaw family really shines. Jean is the uptight mother and grandmother who is so concerned about manners and what the neighbours think, Connie is the daughter who ran away - a rebel and rule breaker, Sadie is the daughter of Connie who is just beginning to try to make sense of everything and wants to find her father. All the characters leap from the page and it soon becomes evident that it was not just Connie who reinvented herself, changed her name and removed herself from her home town. Told from the viewpoints of all three females, the action centres around the summer of 1981, time of Charles and Di's wedding, Deirdre and Ken and whimsies. Hugely enjoyable.

This was slow at first but I was so glad I stuck through it. What a real, rich world Nadin has built! You can taste the grime and feel the tears. Flawed but warm characters = one of my favourite tropes.

* spoiler alert ** This made me all nostalgic for the 80's,my childhood and classic coronation street.
Voiced by three generations of females from the same family.
Jean,was a thoroughly unlikable character, that you can't help but want to rebel against her.
Connie and Sadie though,were fab,a real warmth from both of them.
The whole finding the father story seemed predictable from the beginning to me,but it was good to follow the characters as they followed the clues.
I very much enjoy Nadin's storytelling.
Like her characters,it has a warmth and likeability to it....

Well most of her characters.

Connie dreamed of the big time and ended up singing in working men's clubs in Leeds, doing shifts in Morrisons and bringing up her daughter Sadie. Where did it all go wrong? We find out through the entwined stories of Connie, Sadie and Connie's mum, Jean. This is a wonderfully wrought, tense exploration of three generations of women trying to figure out their relationships with men, each other and the ever changing world around them. Spanning several decades, this focuses on one, drama packed summer in 1981 against the backdrop of the wedding of Charles and Diana and a lot of Coronation Street. Nadin writes so beautifully. I was introduced to her through her books for teens, but since she branched into adult novels with The Queen of Bloody Everything and now this, it is fantastic to see her range ever expanding. I loved this.

I really enjoyed The Talk Of Pram Town.

Set accross the 60's and the 80's and from the view of Sadie , Connie and Jean I was intrigued and hooked from the 1st page.
The story switches to each perspective to show the world through the teller's eyes and this allows the reader to form a great picture of what is happening.

Connie is the centre of the story and we get to see her from a teenager throughout her life to adulthood, with every bad decision we get taken along for the journey right till the heartbreaking conclusion which see's Sadie going to live with the grandparents she never knew.

It was so easy to relate to Sadie and what she was going through and to feel the same frustrations she felt with Jean as her grandma. Whilst Jean came accross as someone completely unlikable, I found her redemption both bitter sweet and poignant.

The talk of Pram Town is a great read and I would recomend, you won't put it down!

‘The Talk of Pram Town’ by Joanna Nadin is written from three different perspectives: Connie, Sadie and Jeans. It is set in different time periods; typically, the late 1960’s and early 1980’s. It moves between these voices and years through short chapters labelled as if they were diary entries. Indeed, a diary is used to great effect in the book.

Connie is an aspiring pop singer who’s stifling upbringing in Harlow – “pram town” – leads to her trying to run away and rebel. Sadie is her daughter, born when Connie is still a teenager after what we are led to believe is a one-night stand with a distinguished older man. Jean is Connie’s mother. Around them are other strong characters including the very loveable Bernard (Sadie’s Grandad), Nirmal (Sadie’s friend), Elvis Jenkins (Connie’s boyfriend and antihero), Olive Watkins and Mr. Collins.

The story is beautifully told, at times hilarious and at times tragic. There is a very strong sense of place and time within the novel and its characters are very believable. Both Jean and Connie spend much of the book struggling with who they are and trying to right mistakes they believe they’ve made. In counterpoint both Sadie and Bernard remain true to themselves throughout the novel and ultimately end up the heroes. The only thing I was left wondering at the end was what Bernard’s perspective would have added to the story.

Ultimately, this is a book I would recommend to others and I’m excited to know Nadin has written other books that I can explore.