The Stirrings: Winner of the 2024 TLS Ackerley Prize

by Catherine Taylor

No life exists outside the times.

This is a story about one young woman coming of age, and about the place and time that shaped the North of England in the 1970s and 80s.

About the scorching summer of 1976 - the last Catherine Taylor would spend with both her parents in their home in Sheffield.

About the Yorkshire Ripper, the serial killer whose haunting presence in Catherine's childhood was matched only by the aching absence of her own father.

About a country thrown into disarray by the nuclear threat and the Miners' Strike, just as Catherine's adolescent body was invaded by a debilitating illness.

About 1989's 'Second Summer of Love', a time of sexual awakening for Catherine, and the unforeseen consequences that followed it.

About a tragic accident, and how the insidious dangers facing women would became increasingly apparent as Catherine crossed into to adulthood.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Politics, True Crime

Paperback

Reviews

[Sarah Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

God, this resonated with me in a way that was sometimes nostalgic, sometimes like a punch to the stomach. So many references to music, books, misogyny, loss, and anger triggered me - a phrase we didn't use back then. Beautifully crafted in spare prose, it's a perfect example of a memoir written with clarity and heart.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am old enough to have to have grown up in the 1970s and 1980s. I grew up in leafy Surrey and the north then for me was a place that was almost a foreign country. Catherine was growing up in the north, and had all the pressures of life there to contend with and this is her story of her time.

Beginning in 1976, a summer I remember being so very hot and long, it would be the last time she would spend with both her parents at their home in Sheffield. Having parents that had separated and divorced back in those days was really unusual, it would be a while before I would find out that my dad is a divorcee.

I remember the Yorkshire Ripper being a news story at the time. He claimed he was offering a public service by ridding society of certain types of women. He killed at will, with women of any profession, though and was a brutal psychopath. It was horrible but not a threat to a lad growing up in Surrey. For Taylor and her contemporaries, the threat was real, so much so that she wasn’t allowed to walk home alone.

What we did have in common was the spectre of nuclear Armageddon. For me, the fear was real, and as the two super powers jostled for supremacy. I thought I would hear that public announcement, ‘Mine is the last voice you will ever hear’ For Taylor, though, she was seduced by the non-violent protest at Greenham Common by thousands of women. She is an extra in the film Threads, a story about a nuclear strike on Britain, and to be honest, it sounds pretty grim. It horrified the audience that watched it in 1984

This isn’t just a story of the age, though; this is a personal memoir. We read about the relationships that came and went and friendships that deepened. She goes to University and works part-time in a knife factory. She has major health issues that she is convinced she is not going to survive.

Life, thankfully, continued, but she had an unexpected pregnancy. Taylor is going to have to make some difficult decisions. As her degree finishes, she applies for a job in a bookshop. She got the job along with another girl and began work in the travel section, She really wanted to work in fiction where she could put her English degree fully to use. At the end of the trial period, only one of them would be kept on though.

In amongst all of this, there is a tragedy. A friend of hers, Rosa, who she shared a house with, dies, Theo out pouring of grief from friends and family makes for painful reading. Her life is punctuated with the events of the time that I remember, too. Where and when I heard them was a different context to her, but they were equally memorable for me as well.

This is an honest and raw memoir. Taylor had a tough life emotionally, and this is eloquently recounted in this book. It also shows that we all have a story to tell, not just the rich and famous and that these stories need to be heard by everyone. This is well worth reading.

[Bookthesp1 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why does one read a memoir? Especially one set in the relatively recent past - the 1970s and 80s mostly and one that I can only tangentially relate to mainly through time, place and age- yes I was born in the 60s and grew up in the 70s and 80s. Yes, I can relate to the places mentioned -I was born in Bucks, lived in Sheffield for 12 years and now live in Cardiff- all places that are part of Catherine Taylors bracing elegy to these times excellently told; not overwritten and both moving and eloquent. Its a book that early readers have "devoured" and finished within a day- I sort of mirrored this early praise by opening it with a sort of trepidation but slowly being drawn into the coming of age story of Catherine Taylor- someone i've spoken too on Twitter and someone who i've oddly followed the writing journey in the Twittersphere- of this book. yes I did finish it within 24 hours.
So one relishes any reference or place name check that resonates. Taylor is a writer for hire; journalist and reviewer and this is her first book- a memoir written with a searing love and a frank, no nonsense poetry of anecdote, memory and time passed -an almost photographic record though ironically and sadly perhaps there are no photos as though Taylor knows the words do the work- we are left to the lovely piquant one of Taylor on the cover- yes the words do the work otherwise but some more photos would have added to the atmosphere.
She was somewhat exotically born in New Zealand (not a place I know at all) and moved to Sheffield due to her fathers job - she sells herself a little as an outsider finding school something of a chore; enduring bullying until the blessed release of a decent sixth-form; being the first in her school to experience divorcing parents; being saved for literature by plundering her beloved mothers bookshop and undergoing the pain of an absent father and negotiating a female adolescence, often alone in the early years at least until the release of easy friendships in sixth form and beyond. The grain of the periods covered is well told with key moments in news and the times deftly sketched. The theme of male violence is continuous and cleverly woven throughout the narrative and one gets the real sense of threat and the depressing consistency of this insidious thing as it lurks in the background forever threatening to burst out and encompass the whole damn thing. Taylor takes us through school, university and just beyond and it's a journey worth reading for story, drama and anecdote bookended by a fiendishly clever scene in a cemetery in two time scales.
So why does one read a memoir? To remember we're all human and all our stories are unique and worth telling- a pat answer perhaps but Taylor proves this in spades. Highly recommended to Northerners and everyone else besides. Room for a volume 2? I should cocoa.......

[Jennie Godfrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an easy five stars for me. This is a hugely evocative memoir and one which I devoured within 24 hours. The writing is gorgeous, it’s meticulously researched (and I should know, having immersed myself in this same period of time for the last 3 years!!!) and conjures up a place and time in history in a way that is both deeply personal and universal. Highly recommended.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A typical family and an ordinary story, although neither the family nor the story seems commonplace when it is your family and your story.” Taylor, who was born in New Zealand and grew up in Sheffield, won the Ackerley Prize for this memoir. It is bookended by two pivotal summers: 1976, the last normal season in her household before her father left; and 1989, the “Second Summer of Love,” when she had an abortion (the subject of “Milk Teeth,” the best individual chapter and a strong stand-alone essay). In between, fear and outrage overshadow her life: the Yorkshire Ripper is at large, nuclear war looms, mines are closing and protesters meet with harsh reprisals, and her own health falters until she gets a diagnosis of Graves’ disease. Then, in her final year at Cardiff, one of their housemates is found dead. Taylor draws reasonably subtle links to the present day, when fascism, global threats, and femicide are, unfortunately, as timely as ever. She’s the sort of personality I see at every London literary event I attend: Wellcome Book Prize ceremonies, Weatherglass’s Future of the Novella event, and so on. I got the feeling this book is more about bearing witness to history than revealing herself, and so I never warmed to it or to her on the page. But if you’d like to get a feel for the mood of the times, or you have experience of the settings and period, you may well enjoy it more than I did.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Veronica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This appealed a) because it was recommended by Jonathan Coe and b) it's a memoir of Sheffield, where I was born and spent some of my childhood. That was quite a long time ago now, but it was nice to recognise names and places.

I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would though. The narration felt somehow distant, and the transitions between Taylor's personal story and history were sometimes jarring and clumsy. For example, she writes at one point about the activities of Women Against Pit Closures in 1984.

1984 was not the first time Sheffield and its environs had seen widely reported direct action.

The notorious Sheffield Outrages were a series of explosions and murders by trade union militants which took place in the city in the mid-1860s ...

The end of the book was more moving and engaging though, as Catherine and her friends deal with the tragic death of one of their flatmates, an event that clearly traumatised them. She gets the three stars for this, and also for mentioning Krysztof Kieslowki's film La Double Vie de Véronique
Ironically, I think one reason I found this memoir unsatisfactory is because I had just finished Tessa Hadley's Clever Girl. This fictional account of growing up in the same time period felt so much more real and vivid than Taylor's real-life account. I imagine she wanted to avoid specificity to protect other people, but it makes them seem distant and unreal.

[Ellie Breen · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book has been rated and raved about, and as someone who has also come of age in the northern time - i thought i’d love it, but the writing was just so weak. it was something that would get rejected from a creative writing class. good story, and the protagonist is very honest but just not great writing.

[Callie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horrible writing. I really wanted to like this book.
But horrible writing.

[Lyn Lockwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Sheffield resident, this book was a wonderful evocation of my beloved home city. But also a very engaging description of being a teenager/ young adult in the late 80s/early 90s. Taylor left Sheffield for university in 1989, which was the year I arrived in fact. Our paths may well have crossed at the last days of the Limit or the early days at the Leadmill. very interesting social history aspect - nuclear threat, the Yorkshire Ripper, the miners strikes, the Hillsborough disaster alongside her own family difficulties and challenges. Very readable and powerful.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed this as it’s mainly based around Sheffield and the author is not much older than me so I could relate to the times, music and culture. It’s well-written and interesting but I dropped half a star as I felt it rather petered out at the end.

[Antonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting life this woman has lived.

[Cal · Rating 4 out of 5]

high 3.5
i feel so smart getting all the references l wonder if books with pop culture references only work in a retrospective manner
also i just loved the writing style

[Liz C · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a bit older than Taylor, and I moved north from Cardiff for university, but this book resonated so strongly that it's hard to write an objective review. Whilst it's a beautifully written personal memoir, it also summoned my own past. As a picture of growing up female in the 70s and 80s, it's a must read. Highly recommended

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Stirrings by Catherine Taylor is a powerful and evocative memoir that dives deep into the author's personal history and the socio-political landscape of 1970s Sheffield.

The author's narrative is infused with a palpable sense of anger and frustration, as she confronts the injustices and inequalities of her time. Her writing is both lyrical and unflinchingly honest, making for a gripping read that stays with you long after the final page.

The memoir not only provides a window into Taylor's life but also serves as a poignant commentary on the broader societal issues that continue to resonate today. An intense and thought-provoking journey, "The Stirrings" is a must-read for those interested in personal narratives intertwined with social critique.

[Annette Kane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant read about a pretty ordinary life

[Eleanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Stirrings is a story about the coming of age of a young woman and the events that shaped the north of England in the 1970s and 1980s. Writer and critic, Catherine Taylor, was born in New Zealand and moved to Sheffield at a young age, growing up in a tumultuous time of political divisions and a serial killer. The Stirrings takes its title from the nickname given to the 1860s Sheffield outrages where a series of explosions and murders by trade union militants were carried out due to poor wages and lack of workers’ protection. This evocative memoir is her debut book and eloquently captures life in South Yorkshire in the near past and how she was moulded by time and place.

The setting of the beginning and the end of this autobiography mirror one another and highlight the ominous tone of the memoir. It begins against the backdrop of the 1980s industrial unrest and the haunting presence of the Yorkshire ripper when Catherine is 13. Peter Sutcliff was captured on the road behind Catherine’s school, thus, unsurprisingly, the unease was ample and is expressed palpably through her writing. Furthermore, she delves into the events that characterise Yorkshire, most famously the Miners’ Strike and subsequently the Battle of Orgreave due to the onset of Thatcher’s Britain, but also international issues such as the nuclear threat. Pop culture references are laced throughout such as Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Two Tribes to represent the perturbing Cold War and protest songs such as Ghost Town by The Specials which is a bitter commentary on 1980s Tory Britain, making it an interesting read for those who also grew up in this period and anyone with contemporary political and cultural history interests.

While this book has universal elements, it is a story of personal stirrings too: a family breakdown, a debilitating illness, and the struggles of youth. This is a poignant memoir of love, violence, anger, feminism, and youth that epitomises the North of England through its recent history.

[Carrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this: growing up in the north against the backdrop of the events and politics of the time, but it very nearly became a DNF. I persevered because I had got halfway through on a long journey, but I'm glad I did because the ending was much better.
So, firstly the reasons I nearly put it down. The links between the author's life and the events of the era weren't cohesive. It didn't flow and some parts were very clunky. I believe the writer is an essayist and this makes sense as some parts read more like an essay. There were explanations that made me wonder who the intended audience was. Some assumed knowledge would have been better. We don't need to be told what being sent to Coventry means.
Having lived in Haworth for 10 years, I was surprised to read that the moors were right outside the back window of the Parsonage and that they travelled over those some moors back to Sheffield. (That road leads to Lancashire). However, I know the place very well and if the author visited a long time ago, then the recollection may be unclear. Such is memory.
Some of the metaphors like listless snow and a sky like a throat lozenge didn't work for me.
However, chapter eight was beautifully written, desperately sad and poignant. It was woven together so that I became invested in finding out what had happened and the pain of the event was tangible. Possibly because this was a first hand experience rather than tying into wider events as in the earlier chapters, this was haunting and moving.
2.5.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had very personal reasons for reading this book. Throughout the memoir, Catherine Taylor talks about her mother, Pearl. The person she remembers every day. And I knew Pearl. She was a member of the wonderful book club who met each month in Sleights, near Whitby. I also remember Pearl as a lovely and thoughtful person.

Catherine Taylor is very similar in age to me and I was constantly reminded of books and music from my childhood. A Traveller in Time and Charlotte Sometimes are still on my own bookshelf. Betty Blue posters did indeed decorate so many student walls. Sheffield, though, I don't know as well and felt very different from the North East where I was growing up. As a result, Taylor's awareness of politics seemed more direct. Certainly Greenham Common was in the news but nobody I knew went there.

This is an intensely personal memoir. At times I wondered whether she felt any discomfort sharing such intimate things, especially about her parents. However this is a thoughtful book and definitely took me back down memory lane.

Pearl would be delighted to see her daughter's book on a bookshelf!

[Till Raether · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

I wanted to like this book much more than I did.
When I was at university, a professor I didn't even particularly like had a printed-out sign at his door, saying: "Resist the urge to allegorize." When I read memoir that constructs metaphorical links between historical events and personal experience, I sometimes think of that.
In that vein, I had to put down the book and stare off into space for a moment when I reached the part where Taylor connects some paragraphs about the "civil war" of the 1984 miner's strike with paragraphs about the discovery of her chronic thyroid condition by writing: "That stasis, that civil war, was in me too." When she's done with her personal memoir paragraphs and resumes the rather wikipediaish account of the miner's strike, she writes, in breathtaking earnestness: "While my body underwent discombulating inner and outer transformations, the body politic was experiencing a more serious convulsion."

[EclecticReadswithAsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️
Catherine recounts her preteen years growing up in Sheffield, England in the late 1970s all the way through her postgraduate years in Cardiff, Wales. She describes the tension everyone felt in the years before the Yorkshire Ripper was caught right by her school in 1981, the protests against nuclear armament and the miner's strikes - to name a few.

This memoir is set in a very particular time and place - one that wouldn't resonate with anyone who isn't familiar with one or the other. Living in Sheffield, I can appreciate the geographical references, but not the ones relating to the '70s and '80s. I still found it interesting. Her writing style is a bit hard to follow, at times lyrical and not always seamlessly moving from one point to the next. I enjoyed it, but it isn't a stand out read for me.

[Rania T · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book in the discount section of the Collins Street Dymocks Bookshop in Melbourne. Finished in a day. At work we usually joke about Melbourne looking like the North of England when it's grey and cold outside. This memoir fitted well with the unpredictable weather patterns yesterday. In saying that, Catherine's story is fraught with the angst and anxieties any young adult had growing up in the 80s and 90s, especially with the looming threat of nuclear melt down which kept everyone on edge at the time. Furthermore, a lot of great music came out of Sheffield in that era, though Pulp would get their limelight much after this memoir ends. With gothic and feminist undertones, it is also a historical source of information of Thatcherite Britain and its indifference to common people.

[Gareth Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evokes Sheffield, the City I’ve called home for most of my adult life, perfectly. Taylor also illuminates the threat and fear of being a (young) woman, not only because of the Ripper, but because of the way she and her friends expected to be treated. Sheffield for me was an escape, a sanctuary, and an opportunity to be my authentic self, but I arrived in 1990, a little after the heyday of the People’s Republic of South Yorkshire, but well before its current decline. It’s significant and indicative of her skill as a writer that she also creates a vivid impression of Cardiff, a place I’ve never been.

[tabitha✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

Whilst there is nothing particularly striking about the language or writing style, thematically it is very strong. Taylor evokes a particular place & time (Sheffield in the 70s & 80s) very successfully & managed to trigger in me a sense of nostalgia for a time that I didn’t actually live through.

I think it lost momentum a little towards the end once she moves away from Sheffield for university & also once she reaches a certain age. That being said, I do recognise that books set in a place with which you are intimately familiar will automatically resonate that bit more.

Overall I enjoyed & have recommended to family that grew up nearer this time in Sheff.

[Kim Pears · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up in Thatcher's Britain too and experienced similar examples of the misogyny she described. What I admired most about this memoir was Catherine Taylor's ability to instill in me an undertone of unease throughout, in part due to the so-called 'Yorkshire Ripper' being at large during her teenage years, but mainly due to her skill as a writer.

I was lucky enough to hear Catherine read from and talk about her book at Christchurch's Word Festival earlier this month.

She said that it took her three weeks to write the last two sentences of the book. I'm glad she did. They made me cry.

A gem. I highly recommend.

[Ivan Neary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is simply a brilliantly written book. It has an emotional honesty that is moving and at times harrowing. The book is a surprising page turner. As a male reader it is at times a hard read given the misogyny the author experiences personally and from society in general. However the over riding feeling is one of admiration for the writing and the honesty that comes through this book.

[Mary Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mum grew up in Sheffield and I have moved here recently at my big age of 22. Although much of this book is before my time it made me feel more connected to my mum and my new city. Talking to my nan and grandad about all the places mentioned was great. Nostalgic stories from them alongside nostalgic novel

[✰matthew✰ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i thought this book was astounding, i absolutely ate it up and read it in a couple of sittings. i thoroughly enjoyed the rollercoaster of emotions and patchwork of life events. everything was woven together seamlessly and it was beautifully written.


side note: i wasn’t born in (most) of the period of time this book is exploring but i am familiar with some of the locations mentioned in it.

[Helen J Altshul · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author of this memoir is the same age as my brother, a couple of years older than me, so I could relate to most of the references. It was interesting to hear how much the Yorkshire Ripper left a shadow on her childhood; growing up in the South of England we heard much less about him and his crimes at the time. Well written and by turns tragic and amusing, I enjoyed this read.

[Gerard Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written - capturing the 70s and 80s in Sheffield - The Yorkshire Ripper - miners strikes and Hillsborough.
Her time at Cardiff university resonated as that is both my home city and university.

An excellent book - strongly recommended

[Neil Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must have passed Catherine in the street so many time as a teenager. I found this fascinating as she describes growing up as a teenager exactly where I did in exactly the same years. So many memories resurfaced from school and teenage friendships.