A funny and engaging wartime memoir - Rated 
Brian Thompson has written a funny and interesting memoir of his wartime childhood. His mother seems to have been an extremely difficult woman and yet Brian somehow survived the experience and is now able to write about his early life without bitterness - quite an achievement.
From his early days, his father had given up on his family, preferring to follow his own course, firstly by joining up to fight in the RAF and then by leading a successful commercial life in London. Brian's mother on the other hand made hardly any attempts to care for her son, disappearing into the nearby city of Cambridge to enjoy herself with American servicemen, and to indulge her passion for dancing. We read of the young Brian waiting by the window in the evening for his mother to return home, then putting himself to bed in the empty house, in terror of ghosts and invading Germans.
Later on, he is sent to live with his aunt and uncle, who seem to do a much better job of bringing him up, until their house in New Malden is destroyed in a bombing raid. Brian recounts wonderful stories of his grandparents and their home in Lambeth, and clearly despite the poverty of his immediate family, he had many warm relationships in his life which balanced out the disaster of immediate home-life. Although his mother obviously suffered from bouts of severe depression, it is perhaps his father who showed the strangest attitude. He seemed to show no guilt whatsoever for leaving his young son with his hopeless "Mum", but on his occasional appearances, seems to treat Brian as though there was nothing wrong at all and that it is a privilege to be taken out for the day by his father.
There have been many published memoirs of wartime childhoods. This one is worth reading and reminds us of the difficulties families faced in coping with the disruption of those years, quite apart from the added problems of living in a highly dysfunctional family at the same time.
Laughing and crying - Rated 
Brian Thompson's childhood memoir `Keeping Mum' is the best account of a less-than-functional childhood I have read. He brings the time and place into vivid focus - the reader can almost taste the poverty of his upbringing. As he begins to blossom, despite his circumstances, we cheer him on. The book made me laugh, but more significantly, cry at the unspoken sadness of his mother. I won't be keeping mum about the book - recommended to all.
Dysfunctional, Irrational and Astounding - Rated
From reading the title, one could be forgiven for thinking that Brian Thompson's memoirs would be yet another description of 'British spirit' in the face of wartime adversity. In some ways this comment may be true, the story being an account of a boy's journey, against the odds, towards a life his circumstances would deny. The story is not, however, an exercise in self pity, nor indeed a blame by blame account of all that went wrong in the author's life. There are points of great humour; the embarrassing sexual fumblings of an inexperienced boy, coupled with sections of great sadness; the sudden death of the lovably grounded Queenie. In many ways this is a tale of survival. Yes life was hard, yes his parents made mistakes, but in the end isn't that how all childhoods go? You simply have to work with what your given, and hopefully (as is the case here), you'll come out at the end in one piece. 'Keeping Mum: A Wartime Childhood' is a wonderfully warm story, that keeps you turning pages from beginning to end. Brian Thompson has related an amazing piece of history, which I would gladly recommend to anyone interested in how life really is.
You must read this book. - Rated
This is perhaps the best memoir I have ever read. Brian Thomson's parents were eccentric to say the least, and not in a loveable way. He was perhaps the only child evacuated TO London during the Blitz, so that his mother could 'entertain' American servicemen, and his father - absent in London all week even after the war was over - never missed a chance to humiliate him as a punishment for his 'collaboration'. As a small child he had to bring himself up while his mother sulked in bed, look after his baby brother, hide from the postman and above all "Never tell nobody nothing" about what went on - or didn't - at home. But the extraordinary thing about this book is that it's not only very very funny, but one of the most touching stories you're likely to read this year. It's full of terrible incidents that have you laughing out loud when they could just as easily have made you cry. There are happier moments - presumably the reason that Thomson is still around and capable of writing this book - with his father's family in the East End, with schoolfriends and early girlfriends ( the authour is only sixteen when the book ends) and, strangely enough, with his parents. There's a brief period of family harmony following the birth of his brother, his mother's unlikely social triumph at a grammar school dance, chats about girlfriends at the kitchen table and even his father belatedly takes an interest in his son's academic career in the run up to his O-levels. Praise for the outstanding results was, of course too much to expect.
Thomson could have written a bitter, unforgiving book about his childhood and nobody could have blamed him, but to have written this funny forgiving account of his parent's stumbling attempts to bring up their family - a thing they were quite obviously not equipped to do - to show how awful they were and at the same time to show them as people, who were, by their own inadequate crazy standards, doing their best, is a remarkable achievement. This book is more than just funny and beautifully written. It's the most generous, intelligent and tender love letter an honest man could have written after such a childhood.It's unforgettable.
Brians best book yet - Rated
Although it may seem cheeky reviewing my cousins book, I feel I must for several reasons.Firstly because without a doubt this is Brians best book yet, possibly because he has put so much of himself into it, if you want to know Brian Thompson read this book.
secondly I learnt a lot about my family that I did not know before. I was Five when My grandmother Queenie died and cannot remember her well,When I read the section of the book where she died and my father turned up I wept, it was so moving.
Lastly because of the wonderful picture of my mother,Jessie holding Brian, on the back of the dust cover. She would to use her own phrase, have been tickled pink.
Buy this book,But if you are too mean or broke, borrow or steal it, it's that good.
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