Memories, reflections and new chapters from Maureen Howley.
Some stories belong in books. Others begin with a photograph, a remembered conversation, a place, a person or a moment that suddenly returns to us.
This is where Maureen will share stories behind Small Shoes, Impossible to fill reflections on writing and family history, memories of Glasgow and Ireland, news, interviews and updates as the next book takes shape.
The Gorbals: Our Streets, Our Lives
The Gorbals was more than a collection of Glasgow streets. It was a community of families, neighbours, workplaces, shops, schools and shared experiences.
The places in which we grow up become part of the way we remember our lives. Through family memories and stories, Maureen explores a Glasgow that has changed enormously while remaining vivid in the memories of those who lived there.
The ATS and Egypt
For a young Glasgow woman, joining the Auxiliary Territorial Service opened a very different world.
The stories of service and Egypt preserved in Small Shoes, Impossible to Fill reveal independence, adventure and experiences that later generations of the family might otherwise never have known.
Before It Is Too Late
How much do we really know about our parents’ lives before we were born?
Often, the questions occur to us only when opportunities to ask them are disappearing.
Maureen’s experience of recording her mother’s memories became the beginning of Small Shoes. It also demonstrated something much bigger: the importance of asking, listening and preserving family stories before it is too late.
Latest News
News about Small Shoes, interviews, appearances, events and Maureen’s progress on Book Two will also appear here.