Full Marks for Trying by Brigid Keenan will feature on the Radio 2 Fact not Fiction Book Club on Thursday 2 June.
The book was selected with the help of a panel made up of Reading Agency and library staff from across the UK. Find out more about the non-fiction strand of the Radio 2 Book Club.
You can win 10 copies of Full Marks for Trying for your reading group – just visit our Noticeboard.
Read an exclusive extract of Brigid’s book, and take a look at these discussion questions for your reading group.
Full Marks for Trying
Brigid Keenan was never destined to lead a normal life. From her early beginnings – a colourful childhood in India brought to an abrupt end by independence and partition, then a return to dreary post-war England and on to a finishing school in Paris with daughters of presidents and princes – ordinary didn’t seem to be her fate. When, as a ten-year-old, she overheard her mother describe her as ‘desperately plain’, she decided then and there that she had to rely on something different: glamour, eccentricity, character, a career – anything, so as not to end up at the bottom of the pile. And in classic Brigid style, she somehow ended up with them all.
Fate often gave Brigid a helping hand – in the late fifties, in her teens, she landed a job as an assistant at the Daily Express in London, and by the tender age of twenty-one she was a Fashion Editor at the Sunday Times. It was the dawn of the swinging sixties, and London was the place to be. Brigid worked with David Bailey and Jean Shrimpton, had her hair cut by Vidal Sassoon, drove around London in a mini-van, covered the Paris Collections and was labelled a ‘Young Meteor’ by the press. Despite always trying her hardest, Brigid’s enthusiasm – and occasional naivete – could lead to embarrassing moments, such as when she turned up to report on the Vietnam war in a mini skirt…
Candid, wickedly funny and surprisingly touching, Full Marks for Trying is a coming-of-age memoir that will delight, entertain, and make you cry with laughter.
Selection panel review
Our reading panel from libraries and The Reading Agency loved Full Marks for Trying – here are some of their comments:
“I loved this book. It covers a time of great social change, especially for young women. As someone who lived through it she mentions some of the small changes, missed by historians, which had a massive impact on women’s lives – such as the advent of seamless stockings even before tights came in. The book is written in an easy, casual style. It feels as though you are sitting with Brigid having a chat.”
“This is the story of Brigid’s early life, as a child in India, and in early adulthood as a fashion journalist in England. She writes in an easy and engaging style, and is very open and honest in her account. There is no hint of self-justification, nor of introspection, which leads to a charming memoir. For me, with little knowledge of Indian history and no interest in fashion, its greatest appeal was as a social history. It threw light on everyday life for English people in India in the last days of the British Raj, and gave some insights onto the harsh and chaotic transition. This is an endearing and warm book, written from a grateful perspective by someone who eventually entered a comfortable life of privilege.”
“Keenan’s book is not just heart-warmingly nostalgic (which it is) but the way in which she can put her experiences into context with history is incredibly thought-provoking. Keenan often describes her younger self as ‘plain’ and ‘ordinary’ but this page turning biography reveals a life that is anything but!”
About the author
Brigid Keenan is an author and journalist. She has worked as an editor on Nova magazine, the Observer and the Sunday Times. She has published two fashion histories as well as Travels in Kashmir, Damascus: Hidden Treasures of the Old City, the bestselling Diplomatic Baggage, and, most recently, the companion memoir Packing Up. Brigid Keenan is a founding board member of the Palestine Festival of Literature. She has spent most of her life in far-flung diplomatic postings, but now lives with her husband in Pimlico and Somerset; they have two daughters and four grandchildren.
A word from Brigid
“I am thrilled to bits that Full Marks for Trying has been chosen for the Radio 2 Book Club, what an honour, but – help – what a responsibility too, to amuse/entertain/inform you all!
I wrote the book because I wanted to show – through my own slightly unconventional life – that if you try hard enough you can get there: I was an unattractive, timid, self-conscious, not particularly bright teenager but somehow it all worked out better than I could have dreamed. The book is also a ‘thank you’ to my parents for trying so hard on my behalf. I am longing to hear what you think about it!”
Get involved
Tune in to the Radio 2 Arts Show on Thursday 2 June to hear an interview with Brigid Keenan talking about her book.
Have you read Full Marks for Trying? You can share your thoughts with us on Twitter, using #FullMarksForTrying, leave a review, or add the book to your group’s reading list.
Want to find out more? Take a look at the Radio 2 Book Club Twitter feed or find out more on the Radio 2 Book Club website
