Lucky Jack by S. Bavey - #bookreview

 

My name is Henry John Rogers, but I'm known to most people as Jack.

I was born at the very end of the nineteenth century, on 21st March 1894, in a room above my father's boot repair shop, in Hammersmith, London.

Most of my nine siblings (I was the second eldest) were born in the same room. Of course, I had no idea then that my life would be full of adventure...

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Meet Jack Rogers. Born in 1894, he once locked eyes with Queen Victoria and was one of the first travellers on London’s ‘Tube’. An early car owner, he had many escapades on his days out to Brighton, including a time when his brakes failed and he had to drive through central London without them!

His skills as an entertainer earned him popularity throughout his life, and kept him out of the deadly mines while a prisoner during the First World War. At the tender age of 103 Jack earned the title of ‘The World’s Oldest Columnist’ as he began dictating his life’s exploits to a reporter from the local newspaper.

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This is the story of the author's grandfather, and what a lovely book it is. Ms. Bavey has every right to be as proud of her book as she clearly is of her remarkable grandfather.

Jack Rogers, lived to the grand age of 106 (1894-2000), making him one of the few people to have lived through three different centuries, whilst experiencing the reigns of six different monarchs. And what a remarkable life it was! He faced the ordeal of two world wars, being held in a prisoner of war camp, the establishment of the London Underground and saw the progression from horse drawn carriages to motor cars.

Jack's voice is very apparent throughout the narrative. He was clearly a man of good humour, and I could almost imagine a twinkle in his eye as he told his stories. He described himself in childhood as "a naughty scamp" and it was this boyish enthusiasm that propelled him through life. He faced many challenges throughout his years, but he accepted life with both fortitude and resolve.

This pleasing memoir was a delight to read and my life feels richer for knowing of this man. I could almost imagine him relating his stories to his granddaughter in her childhood, just as my own did, and I appreciated the nostalgia this created in me for bringing my own grandfather to mind who had a good few stories of his own to tell. 

The book has been well written in a first person narrative and thus feels like listening to Jack's stories at first hand. I think the author has done an excellent job of bringing Jack to an audience who would probably never have known of his existence had she not told his story. Bravo Ms. Bavey for this excellent memoir of a life well lived.

I highly recommend this book.

ISBN:  979 8766392583

Publisher:  Independently published

Formats:  e-book and paperback (currently available on KindleUnlimited )

About the Author:

Sue is an English mum of two, living in Massachusetts since 2003 with her husband, kids, a cat named Midnight, a bunny named Nutmeg, a leopard gecko named Ziggy Stardust, and occasional frogs and salamanders.

She loves alternative music, British alternative comedy and unusual art.

During the Covid lockdown she wrote her grandfather, Henry John Rogers’ biography, Lucky Jack (1894 – 2000) and it is now available for purchase on Amazon.

In 2022 she collected together all of her late father’s writings and selected what she considered to be the best ones for an anthology she has entitled Daydreams & Narcoleptic Nightmares which is now available for purchase on Amazon with 15% of all profit being donated to the UK charity Narcolepsy UK.

She has two stories (one is an extract from Lucky Jack) in an anthology which came out in December 2021 called 40 Life Changing Events 2022 Edition, edited by Robert Fear. She also contributed a chapter to the Travel Stories Collection Box Set (only available digitally).

In 2022 she also contributed stories to a memoir anthology: 50 Intriguing Personal Insights, 2023 Edition and a creative fiction anthology, 15 Fascinating Fictional Tales, both edited by Robert Fear.

She holds a BA (Hons) in ‘German Studies’ from Manchester University, UK and a MSc in ‘Communication in Computing with Italian’ from Middlesex University, UK.

Thereafter, she worked for many years in London, UK, in publishing, multimedia project management and website production. She currently does some freelance marketing work, in addition to website management, proofreading, writing, beta reading, and reviewing books for booknest.eu, Rosie Amber’s Book Review Team and her own blog, Sue's Musings. She likes a variety of genres, but prefers to support indie authors where possible.

More photos of Jack can be found on the author's website https://suelbavey.wordpress.com/lucky-jack-photo-gallery/