HOPPING

An interesting description of life in a part of the East End. However, I wonder how much of it is true. In the introduction in is stated that parts of the dialogues are invented. I also doubt the authenticity of the accounts of the person who told the story to the author.

This book, although about people from the eat end of London,brought back happy memories for me as a child. My family went hopping every year,and I loved every minute of it. The hop fields were opposite my primary school and I couldn't wait for school to finish, to go across the road and start picking. Thank you for such a great story .

This book kept me reading and reading! It tells of the grinding poverty of the children of London who have never seen green fields in the whole of their lives. It was a very warming tale of children who never leave the poverty or meaness of their environment except for a few weeks in the summer to go to the hop fields and fruit picking of the Kentish Garden.A very heartwarming story, not to be overlooked as just another poverty tale as it is full of humour and rough kindness well documented about the Hop Pickers of this era.

A really excellent read , my partner had spent many happy summer holidays as a boy , in the hop fields in Kent , so came over all nostalgic for his lost youth! Well written and full of humour and wit , really enjoyable .

This was not so much about hoppicking as about the lives iof an extended family some of whom went hoppicking regularly and the rest of their lives i n Poplar.I found the book somewhat incosistent, it seemed to jump about a lot (datewise) which made it difficult to follow.I come from a hoppicking area in another part of England (Herefordahire) and the hop part rang very true.

After reading authors other book Silvertown I wanted to read this one & wasn't disappointed, very true to life as my family was an East End hopping one

Great read, took me back to the days when I used to watch everyone else going hopping, I never went myself but always wanted to, the other kids made it sound so exciting! However, the book told me all about it and I almost felt that I was there.

A very nice read, of the times when east end families combined holidays on the farms picking hops and having a sort of holiday at the same time, and going home after wards with money in their pockets,