A review by davidjames
America Over the Water by Shirley Collins

enjoyed this a lot! Collins' prose is as modest and unaffected as her singing, to much the same effect: even in her own autobiography, she rarely takes centre stage, focusing far more on the other people in her life and on the singers she meets. Admirable as this approach is, it's only as effective as it is because the story she's telling (briefly: how a young, working-class girl ended up travelling across the southern US recording folksongs) is completely fascinating. The parts about her upbringing in Hastings are charming but probably mostly interesting to people who are already fans of Collins herself (like me!); the trip across America is essential reading for anyone interested in traditional music and America immediately before the Civil Rights era.