The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Jenny Fulcher was born in the East End in 1903 and stayed put until she died 91 years later. Now Melanie McGrath has committed her life to print, and she's done her grandma proud.

We see Jenny as a 14-year-old leaving school to start sewing in the local sweatshop, getting all her teeth pulled out three years later to pre-empt dentists' bills, marrying a spivvy ex-soldier called Len, bearing him two children, losing one of them when Len moves to Hampshire with his mistress.

It's a difficult mix of fact and speculation but it's beautifully done, affectionate yet unsentimental, funny and moving.

McGrath largely keeps herself out of it, but those odd moments of personal memory are some of the best.

Anyone whose own grandmother also stashed sweets should get a lot out of lines like, "Even after her hearing went she was never quite deaf to the rustling of humbug wrappers."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in