Constance Briscoe - Ugly - Hodder & Stoughton
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    • ISBN:9780340994658
    • Publication date:03 Sep 2009
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    • ISBN:9781844560660
    • Publication date:16 Jan 2006
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    • ISBN:9781848940512
    • Publication date:13 Nov 2008

Ugly

By Constance Briscoe

  • Paperback
  • £7.99

The number one bestselling memoir, set to top the charts once more in paperback

Constance's mother systematically abused her daughter, both physically and emotionally, throughout her childhood. Regularly beaten and starved, the girl was so desperate she took herself off to Social Services and tried to get taken into care. When that failed, she swallowed bleach 'because it kills all known germs and my mother always told me I was a germ'. When Constance was thirteen, her mother simply moved out, leaving her daughter to fend for herself: there was no gas, no electricity and no food.



But somehow Constance found the courage to survive her terrible start in life. This is her heartrending - and ultimately triumphant - story.

  • Other details

  • ISBN: 9780340895993
  • Publication date: 02 Nov 2006
  • Page count: 448
Biographical Notes

Constance Briscoe practises as a barrister and in 1996 became a part-time judge - one of the first black women to sit as a judge in the UK. She lives in Clapham with her two children, Martin and Francesca. Her partner is Tony Arlidge QC.

'Utterly extraordinary . . . harrowing, often deeply disturbing, but ultimately inspiring'

Daily Mail
'Reading the book is like an exercise in bottling up your rage. Afterwards, you feel helpless and disturbed. Which is only right.' — Standard
'An astonishing true story of hope over adversity' — Mail on Sunday
'Remarkable' — Good Housekeeping

'Compelling . . . Disturbingly honest.'

Woman & Home

'Horrific, but remarkable too. Let us hope that Constance's story will inspire young people everywhere to not only hold onto their dreams and make them happen, but also to be better parents themselves.'

— Lesley Pearse

'This is a lawyer's memoir with a difference, an inspiring antidote to the usual catalogue of tedious milestones towards legal eminence . . . She's also managed - a rare feat for a lawyer - to write an absorbing book in language untainted by convoluted legal-speak.'

— Marcel Berlins, Guardian
'UGLY is the life story of Constance Briscoe. Starved, beaten and told she was an "ugly waste of space", this is a heart-rending account of a mother's cruelty from one of the first black women to sit as a judge in the UK.' — Elle
Hodder & Stoughton

Beyond Ugly

Constance Briscoe

From the Number One Bestsellign author of UGLYDespite her mother's constant physical and psychological abuse, Constance Briscoe has gained a place at Newcastle University to study law - a long-held ambition. She finances her studies by several jobs at weekends and during the holidays, including working with the terminally ill in a hospice. She also finds the money to pay for several cosmetic surgery treatments in an attempt to transform the face that her mother has convinced her is ugly, ugly, ugly. With the degree achieved, Constance takes up Michael Mansfield's invitation to become a pupil in his prestigious chambers. But she didn't find the support and encouragement she expected.

Extract

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Constance Briscoe

Constance Briscoe practises as a barrister and in 1996 became a part-time judge - one of the first black women to sit as a judge in the UK. She lives in Clapham with her two children, Martin and Francesca. Her partner is Tony Arlidge QC.

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