Ugly - Constance Briscoe

Ugly
Constance Briscoe
Hodder and Stoughton
£12.99

'This is a tough read - it's the autobiographical story of a terrible childhood. Growing up in South London in a large West Indian household, little Constance was singled out for physical abuse by her mother and stepfather ... Few such survivors' stories have ended so triumphantly - Briscoe is now a practising barrister and also one of Britain's first black women judges.'
Marie Claire

'Ugly, her account of her upbringing, makes for harrowing reading. Her Jamaican mother's vocabulary included "Black Bitch", "Scarface" and "Miss Pissabed". When she asked her mother why she treated her so badly, she replied: "Oh, just the fact that you breathe . . ." ... She has written the book to let her children, now teenagers, know "something about their mum", and at the behest of her partner, Tony Arlidge, a writer and QC. Her daughter, studying at St Paul's girls' school, read it and was appalled. Her son, currently applying to Cambridge, is stuck in the middle of the story, too pained to continue.'
The Sunday Times

'This is a lawyer's memoir with a difference, an inspiring antidote to the usual catalogue of tedious milestones towards legal eminence. Constance Briscoe's youth was as different from a typical lawyer's upbringing as it was possible to get. Brought up poor and loveless in south London by a mother who disliked and abused her, physically and emotionally, and a stepfather who abused her too, she went to schools that failed to recognise her intelligence and abilities. As if that wasn't enough, she was seen by all around her, and regarded herself as - in the title of her autobiography - Ugly ... She is now a highly regarded barrister and was among the first black women to become a recorder, a part-time judge. She's also managed - a rare feat for a lawyer - to write an absorbing book in language untainted by convoluted legal-speak.'
The Guardian

'Compelling autobiography Ugly by Constance Briscoe (Hodder, £12.99) One of Britain's first black woman judges tells of her own miserable childhood. Rejected by her mother at the age of 11, Constance applied to be taken into care. Sent home, she endured two more years of emotional abuse until her mother left her. Disturbingly honest.'
Woman and Home