My Review of The Rat In The Python: Book 1 The Home by Alex Craigie #nostalgia #humour #Memories #TuesdayBookBlog

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Book Description:

If you haven’t heard of a liberty bodice, believe that half-a-crown is something to do with impoverished royalty and never had the experience of slapping a television to stop the grainy black and white picture from rolling, then this series might not be for you. Please give it a go, though – I suspect that most of it will still resonate no matter where you were brought up!

The Rat in the Python is about Baby Boomers who, in the stability following the Second World War, formed a statistical bulge in the population python. It is a personal snapshot of a time that is as mystifying to my children as the Jurassic Era – and just as unrecognisable.

My intention is to nudge some long-forgotten memories to the surface, test your own recollections and provide information and statistics to put it all in context.

Are you sitting comfortably?

My Review:

This really is a gem of a book. For anyone who lived through the nineteen fifties and sixties in the UK, for anyone who wants to know how their mothers or grandmothers existed in the two decades after the Second World War, this is the book is for you.

Filled with so many details of the homes and everyday life at the time, there are also delightful pithy recollections and humorous facts of the author’s own life, such as this section on decorating and her father’s hilarious attempts:


“ Not only did gloss paint drip and take ages to dry, it had a powerful smell. My father used the tried and tested remedy of floating half an onion in a bowl of water and leaving it in the newly painted room as an early form of Fabreze. I can’t say that it reduced the pungent odour, but the paint smell still lingered for day – and as it began to fade, you’d pick up the top notes of old onion. Enchanting.”

And then the bathroom accessories:

“We had a wire rack, with cracked and splitting rubber handles, that spanned the bath and in one end was a bar of soap…. There was also a scratchy flannel.”


I loved these! In fact there are many places in this book where I actually cackled with laughter, remembered sections with nostalgia. And then sighed with relief that homes are more comfortable and housework and such is so much easier these days.

Crammed with illustrations that are a story in themselves, The Rat In The Python is a winner for Alex Craigie, and I have absolutely no qualms in recommended this to … well absolutely everyone!

And I look forward to the sequel.

About Alex Craigie


Alex Craigie is the pen name of Trish Power.

Trish was ten when her first play was performed at school. It was in rhyming couplets and written in pencil in a book with imperial weights and measures printed on the back.

When her children were young, she wrote short stories for magazines before returning to the teaching job that she loved.

Trish has had three books published under the pen name of Alex Craigie. The first two books cross genre boundaries and feature elements of romance, thriller and suspense against a backdrop of social issues. Someone Close to Home highlights the problems affecting care homes while Acts of Convenience has issues concerning the health service at its heart. Her third book. Means to Deceive, is a psychological thriller.

Someone Close to Home has won a Chill with a Book award and a Chill with the Book of the Month award. In 2019 it was one of the top ten bestsellers in its category on Amazon.

Book lovers are welcome to contact her on alexcraigie@aol.com

30 thoughts on “My Review of The Rat In The Python: Book 1 The Home by Alex Craigie #nostalgia #humour #Memories #TuesdayBookBlog”

  1. That’s a terrific review, Judith! Thank you so much – I very much appreciate it and I’m sure my delighted grin can be seen from space. ♥♥

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    • You’ve no idea how happy thay makes me, Sally! It’s a bit scary taking my writing in another direction, but if it strikes a chord with some people then it’s worth it. ♥♥

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  3. Oh, I am SO looking forward to this one, and will probably get to it in the next two to three days! I can’t wait! Thanks for such a great review, Judith, and congratulations, Trish, on what sounds like a great book! Here’s wishing you tons and tons of sales, my friend! 🤗❤️🤗

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    • I have no doubt you will love Trish’s book, Marcia – she has a way of remembering even the smallest details of everyday life in those times – and bringing a smile to the reader at the same time. Thank you for dropping by to comment. 💕

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    • Thanks, Marcia! There’s no rush, but when you get round to it I’ll be interested to hear how it goes over the pond! ♥♥

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    • Ah, that’s interesting, Darlene – comparing lives in the two countries, in the two decades. Many thanks for dropping by to comment. looking forward to seeing you before too long.😊

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    • I bought yours as soon as it came out, Darlene, and hope to read it next week – it’s had some terrific reviews. Congratulations!

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  9. What a fantastic review for Trish’s book, Judith. I’m just finishing it and will have a review as well. I gained a whole appreciation for the 50s UK style. Hugs ❤ Congrats again to Trish. ❤

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  10. A wonderful review of Alex’s book, Judith. It brought back memories for me too, a bit of nostalgia, and some of that relief too that managing a home has become a little easier for most of us. 🙂 Congrats to Alex on another success!

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