Bad Blood by Lorna Sage (Fourth Estate . £6.99 in UK )

Memoirs of harrowing childhoods are - regrettably - two a penny but the late Lorna Sage's Bad Blood stands out for its ferocious optimism, gentle wit and ability to perfectly capture life in Britain from the 1940s until the start of the 1960s. The daughter of a docile mother and a mostly absent father, she grew up in the dull post-war years in a rectory on the English-Welsh border. Her childhood was dominated by her warring grandparents - a hard drinking womanising rector and his bitter, vindictive wife. It's a squalid, dull life made worse by their poverty and isolation. If it sounds a miserable read, it's not. Her matter-of-fact approach is a refreshing change from the culture of blame that typically infuses such memoirs and Sage's skill is that she tells the story in a vivid compelling way that is powerfully moving. Sage eventually escaped of course to become a well respected academic. Her most recent book of literary criticism, published posthumously, is reviewed today on Weekend 8.