The Necessary Aptitude

By: Pam Ayres

Narrated by: Pam Ayres

‘I never once attended a Sunday morning church service in Stanford. There was always the feeling that they weren’t aimed at families like ours.’

Pam Ayres was the sixth child in a hard-up family who lived in a council house, her parents’ generation were harrowed by the war. Yet they lived by the green in the village of Stanford in the Vale, where everything you needed was within walking distance and the sound of motorcars was rarely heard. Then reaching her teens, Pam realised how few opportunities she had. At fifteen she started working for the civil service, and for a social life she had the local ‘hop’. Pam knew she had to reach out for more, and sought it first in the WRAF. But it was some time before she discovered the unique talent that would make her one of Britain’s best-loved comics …

Containing Pam’s much-loved combination of humour and poignancy, The Necessary Aptitude is a beautifully written memoir of growing up in the country in post-war Berkshire.

©2011 Pam Ayres (P)2011 Random House Audiobooks

Critic reviews

“Ayres gives a wonderful account of what it was like to grow up poor but respectable in post-war rural England. Some of her writing in the early chapters, describing life as the youngest of six children in a council cottage in the Vale of White Horse, Berkshire, has the original freshness of classics such as Flora Thompson's Lark Rise to Candleford.” Mail on Sunday

This woman is a treasure

Pam Ayers is a treasure and makes me wish I were British! I only recently discovered her and can’t get enough of her humor. I HAD to listen to her book after I became aware of it. From heartbreak to hilarity, her life is a story well worth listening to.

Inspirational

I love Pam, her stories, and her poems. When I found her on the Internet I looked for more and found some audio books which I enjoyed and am enjoying. Thank you all for producing this book and thank you Pam for writing it. I had a conversation with my grown daughter as I was listening to the last few chapters and realized how important it was for Pam to do what she loved and for me to do what I love. It was a directional change for my life.

Just great!

This was a delightful listen! Pam Ayers come across as completely genuine, and very nice women who is immensely talented and hard working and who truly appreciates the gifts of her innate talent, of her family of her friends, and of her audience. She shares her joy and wonder of life with the listener. Do not misunderstand this is not a sticky sweet book. It is a book that makes you laugh out loud and that makes you pause in thoughtfulness. I highly recommend this book.

Very discritive

Would you listen to The Necessary Aptitude again? Why?

yes because I remember lots of things sheb talks about

What other book might you compare The Necessary Aptitude to and why?

none

What does Pam Ayres bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

her dialoge

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no

Any additional comments?

her poems will be next