Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma

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Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma

by Kerry Hudson (Goodreads Author)

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 85 ratings · 29 reviews

A dazzling new Scottish voice.

When Janie Ryan is born, she's just the latest in a long line of Ryan women, Aberdeen fishwives to the marrow, always ready to fight. Her violet-eyed Grandma had predicted she'd be sly, while blowing Benson and Hedges smoke rings over her Ma's swollen belly. In the hospital, her family eyed her suspiciously, so close she could smell whether th...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published July 5th 2012 by Chatto & Windus

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This Book Is Full of Spiders by David Wong

Swallowing a Donkey's Eye by Paul Tremblay

Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma by Kerry Hudson

My Mother Was An Upright Piano by Tania Hershman

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Nov 14, 2012 David Hebblethwaite rated it 4 of 5 stars

Boasting one of the best (and longest) titles I’ve come across in ages, Kerry Hudson’s debut chronicles the childhood of one Janie Ryan. Born to a single mother in Aberdeen (her American father having long since disappeared from their lives), Janie is a battler from the start (‘fishwives to the marrow, [the Ryan Women] were always ready to fight and knew the places that would cut deepest,’ p. 1). Janie’s childhood is spent in a succession of B&Bs and run-down council properties; and her moth...more

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Jul 08, 2012 CuteBadger rated it 4 of 5 stars

Janie Ryan is born to a single mother in Aberdeen and lives on the bottom rung of society. Her childhood consists of dangerous housing estates, B&Bs, a long parade of sometimes violent "uncles" and the frequent need to move house in a hurry. The book follows her from birth to leaving school and sees the world around her through Janie's eyes.

I read this book at a single sitting as, once I'd started, I wanted to know how it came out. Janie is a warm and observant character who, as a child, doe...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Elaine rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012

Seems like I'm in the minority in not enjoying this one. It was certainly a vivid (and from the limited experience I had in the early 90s with Scottish council estates and people living from dole check to dole check, very realistic) depiction of growing up in desparate poverty in Britain's very recent past, surrounded by alcoholism, drugs, violence, where employment isn't even seriously considered as an option and the "social" provides all the means of living, such as they are. But I found the b...more Seems like I'm in the minority in not enjoying this one. It was certainly a vivid (and from the limited experience I had in the early 90s with Scottish council estates and people living from dole check to dole check, very realistic) depiction of growing up in desparate poverty in Britain's very recent past, surrounded by alcoholism, drugs, violence, where employment isn't even seriously considered as an option and the "social" provides all the means of living, such as they are. But I found the book unrelentingly grim -- if the intent was to humanize Janie's teenage alcoholic depressive mum, or to show how social forces created these women, the book failed for me. It seemed rather an endless indictment of terrible parenting and terrible choices -- you are hoping that Janie and Tiny will be taken into care. When Janie gets bigger, the endless violent recriminations between mother and daughter are again, super realistic, but just draining to read -- there's no character growth or enlightenment, just more bad choices, more booze, more brutality.

The end of the novel bogs down in Janie's struggles to decide between the blondes and the goths, and the associated high school traumas. After the almost documentary like focus on Janie's horrific upbringing, this part feels frankly banal and stolen from another book about an unhappy high schooler.

And then the startling final chapters are truly moving and gut wrenching, but seem to be yet another book again.

In sum, a bumpy first novel effort. Hudson obviously has things to say, but one wonders if this wouldn't have worked better as memoir than as novel. There is no character growth or development, no plot as such, no insight into how this brutal subculture came to be, just a chronology of more bad things. I'm sure it wasn't Hudson's intent, but the book made me feel rather Republican (or Tory in this case) -- just wanting Jany's mom (and then Jany) to get her act together, take responsibility and make some decent choices. Not an enjoyable or even edifying read. (less)

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Jul 14, 2012 Sharon Thomson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Debut novels are usually loosely autobiographical, drawing on the author’s life experiences. Kerry Hudson spent a lot of her young life growing up on Council Estates and in B&Bs. These experiences have allowed her to paint a very vivid and believable picture, bringing the character of Janie Ryan and her family to life.

The story is told wholly through Janie’s eyes and words, from the day that she was born. There are sad moments, some laugh out loud funny moments and times when you feel sorry...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Lech Mintowt-czyz rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a cracking read. Told first-person from the moment of birth it takes you to some pretty dark corners of British life. It’s unflinching in its treatment of the subject matter – domestic abuse and extreme poverty among them – and the nicely-played vein of humour is never used as an easy exit.
It is beautifully written with finely observed detail throughout. The plot is understated and all the better for that – this is not a book that is seeking to throw you around for the hell of it but ins...more

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Jan 10, 2013 Karen Clarke rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this beautifully written, sharply observed novel. Despite the mostly grim circumstances of the feisty heroine there was plenty of warmth and humour throughout. Janie is an original and engaging voice, easy to relate to in spite of everything, and it was interesting (and horrifying in parts) to read a story about people on the outskirts of society - the sort of people we perhaps turn away from in real life - feel uncomfortable being around.

The Yarmouth setting is well-observed, and the re...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Hayley Stewart rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Full review can be found here

Janie Ryan is born to a long line of Aberdeen fish wives and into a childhood of living in hostels, B&Bs and council estates. This book follows the trials and tribulations of growing up with a mother who, whilst always wanting to provide the best for her child, has poor taste in men and really does get close to hitting rock bottom all shown through the eyes of a child.

...Throughout most of the book I'd say that her innocence protects Janie from what could've been...more

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Oct 29, 2012 For Books' Sake rated it 5 of 5 stars

"Kerry Hudson’s début novel, Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice Cream Float Before He Stole My Ma was recently announced on the long list for the Guardian First Book Award 2012.

A story loosely based on Hudson’s own childhood, growing up in various council estates and caravan parks, critics have praised her sharp eye for idiosyncrasy have proven united in their opinion that Hudson has created a cast of characters that it is impossible not to root for." (Excerpt from full review at For Books' Sake.)

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May 10, 2013 Heather Hill rated it 5 of 5 stars

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Very, very funny, real, imaginative - this has everything - including an opening line that gives me a giggle every time I imagine some literary types reading when Kerry was submitting this around. Absolutely stunning book, so well written and very clever. I was really engaged with the characters and even related in certain places. It shows you another side to life on Britain's tough estates. I think Kerry will go on to great, great things. She has been...more

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May 16, 2013 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't want to engage in a harsh review on someone's first novel - it's a hurdle I have yet to stride but one I'm running for and it would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment with supercilious tones on the beginnings of a career I am striving for. What I will say is that this novel definitely shows a career of potential promise for Hudson as long as she is able to expand and develop on this tale, avoiding a repeat formula that can trap writers and stagnate careers.

While the story itsel...more I don't want to engage in a harsh review on someone's first novel - it's a hurdle I have yet to stride but one I'm running for and it would therefore be inappropriate for me to comment with supercilious tones on the beginnings of a career I am striving for. What I will say is that this novel definitely shows a career of potential promise for Hudson as long as she is able to expand and develop on this tale, avoiding a repeat formula that can trap writers and stagnate careers.

While the story itself was enjoyable, chronicling the life of a Scottish working-class, single-parent family, I felt it didn't give any new insight into these lives we know are lived up and down the country. There were no philosophical or even literary reflections that made a statement on the culture the narrator and mother were trapped in. Plus, it felt a bit odd that it was placed from the late eighties into the mid-nineties. Something more powerful may have come if the book were set in the current climate, focusing on contemporary issues - things not too dissimilar to the ones described in the novel.

While the book does contain some lovely passages - Hudson has a clear talent for original description and dialogue - character development does seem lacking, the popping in and out of characters did make it a bit confusing but not enough to spoil it. Also, while the subject matter could have provided us with a good story arc, we instead just get one damn thing after another. Then again, this may have been the point: a definitive chronicle on how lives were lead on the poverty line two decades ago. While this method can provide insight it can also lead to the story dying quickly.

Nothing massively original or exciting but nothing bad either 'Tony Hogan...' (the title is one of the best things about the book by the way and will definitely sway people into reading it) is a story we've all read before in different strands but does add any new colour to the dismal palette.

As a first novel, it is a definite achievement. For a reader, it is an experience that leads one to shrug shoulders, say 'meh', reach for a fag, stick on daytime TV and think 'I could write a novel'. And maybe for that reason alone, we should be thankful it was published - that young writers are still getting published!

(less)

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Aug 24, 2012 Sharon Goodwin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Tony Hogan begins with Janie’s birth and what the family think she might grow up to be. The reader is introduced to her extended family. Janie’s granny is not there to bring them home from the hospital – she’s gone out to play bingo – and when they get home, there’s a note left on Iris’ (her mother’s) bed:

“Well, my wee one, Granny wants us tae run out for some milk an’ twenty Benson & Hedges. Welcome fuckin’ home.”

It’s not long before Iris argues with her mother and leaves home. She goes to...more

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Sep 14, 2012 Lindsay (Little Reader Library) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: debut, contemporary-fiction

'We were a glass family, she was a glass ma and I needed to wrap us up, handle her gently.'

The fragility of this family's existence is evident early on, and throughout this wonderful debut novel, which arrested my attention from the very first words, as little Janie Ryan first comes into the world. She joins the family of 'Ryan Women, with filthy tempers, filthy mouths and big bruised muscles for hearts.'

Janie recounts her very personal story to us throughout the whole novel, and this is certa...more 'We were a glass family, she was a glass ma and I needed to wrap us up, handle her gently.'

The fragility of this family's existence is evident early on, and throughout this wonderful debut novel, which arrested my attention from the very first words, as little Janie Ryan first comes into the world. She joins the family of 'Ryan Women, with filthy tempers, filthy mouths and big bruised muscles for hearts.'

Janie recounts her very personal story to us throughout the whole novel, and this is certainly a warts and all account. She endures a very unsettled childhood, moving often from flats to B&Bs to tower blocks, and never staying in any one town very long, and her and her ma are always poor, scraping to make ends meet. Men come into her mother's and therefore Janie's life too, and leave more than one kind of scar behind when they disappear again.

The intensity of her life and the rough treatment she has witnessed is mirrored very effectively in the language used by the author to describe Janie's perceptions of nature and things around her: 'The wind pummelled angry fists against the windows and threw its weight against the walls and the oven burner jumped and sighed, like a scared girlfriend.' The images that these descriptions conjure up are harsh and violent, and therefore fitting interpretations by Janie of these aspects of the world that surround her, because these are things that she has heard and seen. Janie is often left to take on the role of looking after everyone, caring for her ma when she can't cope with the world anymore, and looking after herself as best she knows how.

I was delighted to read of Janie's joy as a little girl at discovering the library and a love of books, of pictures and of words, all available to her without cost.

'Running to sit at the little plastic chairs I felt the library's warm, still air push inside me to slow my thumping heart and the second-hand-shop smell snake up my nostrils, winding itself snug around my insides. When I opened the books, and I could open as many as I liked because it cost us nothing, the pictures lay on my eyes like oil on water and the dancing letters settled on my tongue with the smell and the taste of black-jack sweeties. While Ma bit at her lips, ripped at her cuticles and read old magazines, I was learning how stories could make me feel safe. '

I was amused by the humour that could be created even in the midst of yet another move to another temporary home. 'Ma said it wasn't a proper B&B, even though it was called the 'Pride of Shields B&B', but a halfway house, and when I asked halfway to what, she told me to 'shut it, smart-arse.'

Many of the references to the culture of the time as Janie was growing up really struck a chord with me, the trends like everyone wearing adidas gazelles, and remembering the character Zammo's addiction in Grange Hill. Unlike those for whom this was a plotline in a television show though, Janie has to cope with a close relative's similar addiction at first-hand, witnessing the desperate, tragic lows.

I was absorbed in this story; I was so hopeful for Janie when things started to go a bit better, then so worried for her when they took a turn for the worst again. Kerry Hudson has painted a convincing picture of Janie's life, one that I believed, and I was keen to turn the pages and discover her fate. I don't think a life like Janie's is one that is often depicted in fiction, or certainly not in the fiction I have generally come across. I think it is an important novel in this regard. It gives a voice to someone who is on the fringes of society, living a harsh brutal existence, but nevertheless growing and developing and somehow getting through each day and even sensing that there could be a better future out there - and that's a wonderful thought.

This is a frank account of a difficult childhood and adolescence, at times very sad, yet it is written with such honesty and grace and it is certainly not without optimism, humour and even joy. Janie is looking back at where she has been, what she has lived through, and then she is looking to the future, as the very last words in the book indicate. She is a resilient girl, now a young woman, and she has a good head on her shoulders despite, and perhaps because of, what she has learned about life thus far. As her ma says, 'you're smart enough tae take the good bits and leave the rest, Janie.'(less)

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May 10, 2013 Steven Pilling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Picked this up on the title alone.

Its wonderful Hudson creates a very nice self contained world, she creates characters that feel real (sadly).

It is funny in parts and its the right parts, it is also sad and at times depressing but again at the right moments.

I cant wait for her next book, really good novel if you have looked and wondered do i want to try it , wonder no more

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Jul 28, 2012 Claire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ahhh, I think I'd give it a 3.5 if I was able. Overall, it was a great read- and though I read it with conviction, I don't think I was really invested in the characters until 200 pages in. Maybe that's how it's supposed to be, though, because there's not a whole lot of likeability to be found in Ma, her men, or her family. I liked Janie, but could never put my finger on her enough (all of a sudden she was six, and then eleven, etc) to really connect until (what I think were) her high school year...more

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May 09, 2013 Christine Doir rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The title rocks and the book doesn't disappoint. It's gritty and poignant with strong characters. I love that much of it is set in Scotland. I think this a bold, brave and brilliant debut and I look forward to reading more of this writer's work. Kicking myself that I didn't get to see her read at Polari!

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Sep 16, 2012 Carmel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Beautifully narrated, funny and yet heatbreakingly addictive. If you've ever lived in Scotland, this is a must-read book which kept me gripped form beginning to end. I loved Janie, the main character and really wanted a better life for her, can't wait for more books from this author.

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Dec 10, 2012 Tara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Gritty realism has become a cliche of Brit lit - great when it works, but all too often contrived. Fortunately, Kerry Hudson's debut is consistently funny and moving. I liked Janie as a narrator, and her mother even more.

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Jan 05, 2013 Prital Nicholls rated it 4 of 5 stars

A story about a young girl and her bleak upbringing in various council estates across Scotland. I enjoyed reading this with the Scottish voice coming through the writing , and while the story is bleak there is something about Janie's character which is uplifting and heartbreaking at the same time. Ma and her ma I'm not sure of!! I thought more would come out of the story for the characters but a still a good read. It almost needs a what happens to Janie next....

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Oct 17, 2012 Amy Plum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hudson adds just enough comic relief to the heartbreak to ensure that you fall hard for her characters. What a beautifully written book.

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Oct 27, 2012 Sarah Hare rated it 3 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this, all the way through until the ending which seemed a little like she'd run out of steam all of a sudden.

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Aug 22, 2012 Lisa Odonnell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hudson's pen breaks your heart and for all the right reasons. I love this book, it will stay with me for always.

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Apr 12, 2013 Niamh rated it 5 of 5 stars

excellent book - not cheery - but very uplifting all the same - thoroughly enjoyed it

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Jan 22, 2013 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really loved this book. First time in years where I've read a bout in 3 days!

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Jun 23, 2012 Iuliana rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: giveaways

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. A gripping and at times simply heartbreaking story, that (had I the time) I could easily have read in one sitting.

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Dec 15, 2012 Hillingdon Libraries marked it as awards-promos_2012

Shelves: guardian1stbk, awards2012

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

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May 10, 2012 Anette rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: thebookbag-co-uk-review-books

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Feb 12, 2013 Peter rated it 2 of 5 stars

Mostly unmitigated misery, told in a feisty tone, but din't really move me

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Jan 07, 2013 Roger Beardsworth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Starts well, the middle is a bit long, and the last two chapters are brilliant and moving.

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May 15, 2013 Tiffany marked it as to-read

May 11, 2013 Sue Cole rated it 2 of 5 stars

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About Kerry Hudson

Kerry Hudson was born in Aberdeen. Growing up in a succession of council estates, B&Bs and caravan parks provided her with a keen eye for idiosyncratic behaviour, material for life, and a love of travel.

Her first novel, TONY HOGAN BOUGHT ME AN ICE-CREAM FLOAT BEFORE HE STOLE MY MA, will be published by Chatto & Windus in Summer 2012. It has since been shortlisted for the Guardian First Boo...more

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