The former mining town of Stanley lies only twenty minutes drive from the beautiful cathedral city of Durham. Yet the two are worlds apart.

Marilyn Hardy recounts in touching detail the trials of growing up in this impoverished mining town and her life-long struggle to find happiness, from her troubled relationship with her undemonstrative mother, an early suicide attempt and the death of her much-loved father to her violent relationship with her second husband and her long-term struggles with serious health problems. Her journey from troubled childhood and early adulthood to her current happy marriage and eleven grandchildren is shared with candour and grace in this heartfelt memoir, and gives a fascinating insight into a time gone by.