Shoes Were For Sunday Paperback – September 1, 2012

Molly Weir, who later became a relatively known TV actress, chronicles her childhood, growing up between the wars in Springburn, a Glasgow slum that's still notorious for being the poorest parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom. She was the youngest in a large family, born in 1910; her father was killed in War War I. Weir does nothing to romanticize her surroundings and makes it clear just how poor everyone was, and how hard life was, how there was no extra money for anything, but this book cannot be described as sad or depressing. She came from a warm, loving family that lived in an overcrowded apartment in a close-knit neighborhood where everyone looked out for each other, and she has a knack for describing the details of her life: the way her mother was able to hunt out bargains and using a bit of sewing magic to turn an adult's dress into a child's school uniform, for example.I highly recommend this book to anyone who's interest in the lives of the poor and working-class in the UK and Scotland in particular during this period. I'd be interested in checking out the other two books in the trilogy Weir wrote about her childhood.

This was a good book which reminded me of stories my mother used to tell us about growing up in Scotland.

good story

I really enjoyed this book. Ms Weir has a wonderful gift in that she paints pictures in the readers minds. Her description of family life and family dynamics brought back lovely memories. I remember curling up with my Granny Bella in the bed in the wall. With only curtains to shield my young eyes from adult family life. I recall laying there on more than one occasion then giving away the fact that l was still awake and listening. My gran would tell me off for listening to the grown ups. I learned a lot laying in that wonderful bed in my grans little tenement flat in Johnstone. I would recommend this book to anyone who had or is interested in family life in Glasgow just after and indeed during the second world war. Many memories will be nudged back to life I promise.

I loved this book. I feel sad at some of the other reviews on here. The speech and Scottish slang words and stuff were a bit tricky to understand, but a lot of it was explained, and it wasn't hard to get the gist of it. Plus on the eBook you can use the dictionary if you click on certain words.But for me it brought to reality the life of Molly, and her grannie. It was lovely, and so interesting. I was hooked. I'm 30 years old from South of England, but I love hearing about this way of life, and from a Scottish perspective too was so enthralling for me. I even cried at the end of the book. I recommend it, just remember it isn't a story, it's a collection of memories of someone's life. Stick with it. I also learned a fair amount too

Uplifting tale of gritty childhood though it seems they lacked material items they made up for in family bonds. Molly’s granny shines as a tribute of a lynchpin who kept the family and community together. No one knew they were poor as everyone else was and they were rich in friendship and family. The description of her childhood is narrated as how much was expected of children which was just accepted as they way things were. Everyone had a part to play and no one knew any different. Didn’t stop people having aspirations and fulfilling them given hard work and a bit of luck.

I first bought this book in hardback many years ago and loved it. I lent it to someone and didn't get it back, so I bought it in paperback, read it again, and loved it again. I have now bought it for my Kindle and it was like meeting an old friend, I loved it all over again, and can now hardly wait until all of her other books have been made for the Kindle. She writes with fluency and her descriptions of the people in the Glasgow tenements is so like I remember them, that I felt as if I knew them. A great read.

Anyone who is a Molly Weir fan will enjoy this early biography. What a lovely truthful account of her meagre beginnings in Springburn, Glasgow. The love and care from her Granny obviously had an impact on her life along with a hard working mother who kept the family going financially through this hard era. Such a pleasure to read about the growing up of Molly Weir by Molly Weir.