It's now 1976 and 17-year old Bev is about to undergo a dramatic
change from shrinking violet to... well... let's just say that Bev
spends the latter half of 1976 making up for lost time.
But 1976 doesn't get off to a good start. Bev is trying to shake
off a nasty case of teenage depression. Her confidence and
self-esteem, not to mention her love life, are at an all-time low.
And, to add insult to injury, Bev has just been stood up by a boy
she met at Judith Bates' party.
"But Bev is determined to change things..."
She joins a new youth club, makes new friends and ends up falling
for 'Mystic' Mark - a joss-stick burning psychic who's quit college
to meditate on the Meaning of Life. But when Mark dumps Bev, it's
like the Mike Heslop heartbreak of 1975 all over again (see
"Flares, France & Serious Fashion Crimes: My 1975 Teenage
Diary").
As the long, hot summer of 1976 gets underway, an unforgettable
July follows as Bev and the others from the A-Level French set join
forces with a group of French students on a course at the
university. Bev spends the rest of the red-hot summer in
Weston-Super-Mare with her Grandparents where, away from the
confines of the family home, she is free to do pretty much as she
pleases.
1976 is the summer when Bev meets up with Christine and Paula who
become her New Best Friends and show her how to live life a little
more dangerously. Gradually Bev transforms from the shy, shrinking
violet of her early teens into an 18-year old that wows the boys
and oozes self-confidence, sometimes bordering on the arrogant.
In their almost nightly trips to the rowdy Lakeside Bar,
frequented by underage drinkers, Bev, Christine and Paula are
determined to rise above what they call the 'grockles' - the kind
of girls who follow the crowd and dance around their handbags at
discos. The trio see themselves as superior, immersing themselves
in all things Gallic following the French exchange. God forbid that
anyone might mistake the girls for being mere English...
1976 is a summer of burning joss-sticks and candles, of listening
to Eric Clapton and Radio Caroline, of wearing hippy clothes and
walking bare-foot, of reading "Cosmopolitan" and talking deeply -
and, of course, discussing that all-important topic: boys.
Thunderstorms put an end to the heat-wave, followed by a wet, drab
autumn. But the weather fails to put a damper on Bev's
Self-Improvement Plans. She meets Jesus look-alike Tony. His friend
Oliver isn't too bad, either. And then there's Nick, plus David
Bowie clone Andy. Not to mention the dishy Steve Brown and biker
Kev... Aaarrggh So many boys, so few days in the week...
Thankfully this problem is solved by the arrival of 21-year old
medical student Jeremy who sweeps Bev off her feet in The Romance
of the Century. But will it last?
This is Bev's real-life 1976 diary, in the raw: hilarious yet
familiar, bitchy yet philosophical. This nostalgic trip down Memory
Lane will appeal to anyone who's struggled to overcome teenage
shyness and attract the opposite sex, especially 50-somethings who
will look back fondly on an era before emails, texting or mobiles,
where you depended on the family phone, phone boxes or letters to
keep in touch. An era where you watched Charlie's Angels on TV, saw
the Omen at the cinema and listened to Peter Frampton, Chicago and
Gallagher & Lyle while wearing Stevie B or Blase scent, big
hair, kohl eyeliner and vibrant red lipstick. An era where -
despite the freedom of 'the pill', the publication of the Hite
Report in 1976 and Dr Alex Comfort's famous Joy of Sex four years
earlier - it still wasn't unusual to be a virgin at 18.
If you liked Rae Earl's 1980s "Mad, Fat Teenage Diary," you will
love "That Summer Changed Everything: My Real-Life 1976 Teenage
Diary" - the sequel to "Flares, France & Serious Fashion
Crimes: My"
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