81 Cadogan Square - Daphne Economou

'There are happy homes and unhappy homes, and Mother always said that one should never compromise with a house that does not like you. So it was a relief that 81 liked us....'

81 Cadogan Square is not a conventional autobiography. Once again Daphne Economou has laid herself open and the cool, clear voice of the growing girl dispassionately watching and taking stock of the adult world, comes to us in another remarkable book from the author of Saturday's Child - a journey through an Indian childhood. 

The magic of early childhood when anything seemed possible is shattered by the stark reality of battered, post-war Britain, and by the struggle of a still half-tamed child to come to terms with the conformity of boarding school life.

With the devastating truthfulness of a child's non-negotiable sense of justice and a wry sense of humour that never tries to be funny, Economou retrieves the figures and events and the strangely meaningful relationships, that transformed 81 Cardogan Square into a home-away from home for a girl with a foot in three worlds.

This story about families, people and places moves easefully between Athens and London, with the inevitable sadness of partings and loss and the constant pain of return for a lost Indian childhood. A story that is hard to put down.