Shop Girl

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Mary Portas

Jo Coombs

Hannah Marshall

Book of the Week: Mary Portas - Shop Girl: Episode 4

Episode 4

Mary Portas - Shop Girl

BBC Radio 4 - Book of the Week, Mary Portas - Shop Girl, Episode 4

As Mary Portas' father emerges from his grief, how will his new romance affect the family?

As her father’s grief subsides, Mary Portas’ recounts her thriving creativity and how his new romance affected the family.

Mary Portas reads her moving and hilarious memoir of her early years.
 
Ten months after her mother's sudden death, Mary's dad is finally beginning to emerge from his grief. At the Widows' and Widowers' Club, his brylcreemed hair and Night Fever dance moves prove attractive - soon he's bringing his new girlfriend Rebecca to meet the family.

Mary has started a course in 'visual merchandising' at the local college, but she knows her future doesn't lie in anything as mundane as shops – she spends her nights at the Roxy in Soho listening to Siouxsie Sioux and the Banshees, The Clash and The Jam, and craves drama and excitement. 
 
Then, one work experience at Harvey Nichols, she begins to see that shop windows can be as theatrical as any stage. They are a performance, a fantasy landscape where anything could be played out.

But just as Mary starts to see a future for herself and an outlet for her talents, the foundations of her life are pulled from beneath her when her father announces his intention to sell the family home and move in with Rebecca.

Read by the author
Abridged by Jo Coombs

Produced by Hannah Marshall
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 4

Book of the Week: Mary Portas - Shop Girl

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Mary Portas reads her moving account of growing up in a small Watford semi in the 1970s.

Mary Portas reads her moving, funny account of growing up in a large Irish family in a small Watford semi in the 1970s. Abridged by Jo Coombs

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