West End Girls cover art

West End Girls

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About this listen

Now a top-ten best seller. Barbara Tate was 17 when she heard the whispered word that would change her life: Soho. It would take four years for Barbara to escape her loveless home, but when she finally made it to the forbidden streets of Soho - just as London was recovering from the trauma of the Second World War - things would never be the same again.

There, the naive Barbara meets the beautiful and capricious Mae. When she takes a job as Mae's maid, Barbara imagines she'll be housekeeping. But down a shabby backstreet, Barbara discovers the secret lives of Soho's working girls: an astonishing world full of fierce friendships and bitter rivalries, dangerous men, and desperate measures. Barbara soon learns that taking the money from a staggering supply of punters and making copious amounts of tea are only the bare essentials. She will need to be nursemaid, protector, and confidante to impossible, adorable, self-destructive Mae.

The tumultuous and heartrending friendship at the heart of this spellbinding tale gives us a window on a people and a place almost lost to us. It's a true story of adventure, survival, and growing up, told with experience, honesty, and real heart.

©2010 Barbara Tate (P)2011 Orion Publishing Group Limited Europe Great Britain Historical Women England Heartfelt Friendship
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I got this as I was curious about behind the scenes of London's seedy, historical Soho district, and what a gem. Told with a joie de vivre and a spot on narration.

Soho of the 40s

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