The complex trajectory of a white working-class family, marked by intergenerational chaos, addiction, and political disaffection, is detailed in Nicola Wilding's memoir, "These Wild English." The book, sparked by a news report about an alcoholic father attempting to carjack a police officer with a replica gun, reveals the subject to be Wilding's younger brother, Billy.
Wilding, a television documentary maker who now identifies as middle class, uses her family's experiences to explore themes of social mobility and the challenges faced by those growing up in unstable environments. Her brother Billy's life is depicted as a descent into addiction and crime, beginning in a chaotic childhood shaped by his mother Sandra's difficult relationships.
A Cycle of Adversity
Billy's childhood was profoundly affected by his mother's second husband, Simon, a violent and manipulative stepfather. During their time in Cyprus, Billy endured psychological abuse, including threats of being thrown from a balcony. This instability, coupled with a lack of positive male role models, contributed to Billy's later struggles. He failed to achieve academic success and abandoned an apprenticeship after misrepresenting his grades.
The narrative also traces the life of Sandra, Billy's mother, who navigated her own difficult upbringing as the eighth child in a poor farming family. Her early life was marked by poverty and her mother's frequent absences. Seeking excitement, Sandra became a teenage skinhead and football hooligan, eventually joining the English Defence League and marching as a Tommy Robinson follower. Her political views, which she expressed with slogans like "England till I die!", led to her being labeled a bigot and a fascist.
Sandra's personal life was also marked by instability. After marrying the father of her first child, Nicola, she experienced financial precarity despite purchasing a council house under Margaret Thatcher's 'right to buy' scheme. Following a divorce and a second marriage marked by her husband's heavy drinking and infidelity, she left her third husband, Simon, after ten years. She then moved to Deal, Kent, and worked as a carer for adults with learning difficulties, a job she felt had been devalued by market forces.
Political Alienation and Identity
Wilding's mother's journey into far-right activism stemmed from a sense of perceived racial injustice, questioning why pride in other identities was accepted but not "white and proud." Wilding, while acknowledging the validity of her mother's feelings, draws parallels between her slogan and the historical cries of radical figures, suggesting a long-standing undercurrent of English identity in flux.
Billy's adult life continued the pattern of instability. His relationship with Jen and the birth of his child initially seemed like a turning point, but he ultimately succumbed to alcoholism, becoming an absent husband and father, culminating in the carjacking incident. Wilding's memoir presents these intertwined stories as a stark illustration of the struggles faced by a generation often overlooked by mainstream political discourse.
The book is available now from the Mail Bookshop.