A review by birdwithabrain
Know Your Place by Nathan Connolly

5.0

This was an excellent collection of essays. Many of them were extremely thought-provoking and they all brought new and interesting perspectives on the various aspects of being 'working class'. There were elements of humour and joy mixed in with frustration and anger, and despite many of the essays being quite different they all tied together very well. I loved the variety of themes being explored. In particular, I loved Gena-mour Barrett's 'Living on an Estate Gave me a Community I Never Knew I Needed' discussing the positives of growing up in a close-knit estate community versus a middle-class urban neighbourhood - a refreshing narrative compared to many in the media. Kate Fox's 'The Wrong Frequency' was also brilliant, and Laura Waddell's 'The Pleasure Button: Low Income Food Inequality' resonated on many levels. Rym Kechacha's 'What Colour is a Chameleon?' was beautifully honest and introspective, and possibly my favourite essay of them all (although as so many were excellent it is very hard to choose).

The single niggle - and it is a very small niggle - with the entire book was that I couldn't get the first author's 'voice'. I thought she penned an essay on a very important subject, but unlike the other authors I couldn't quite get into her voice and perspective. However, it may just be that I lack understanding on the subject - or the fact that as a reader, I have always struggled with books written with colloquialisms.

This is an extremely important anthology that allows a generally poorly-represented group of people to discuss their culture and experiences with the world. Highly recommended.