Skint Estate is a searing account of the author's battles against the Tory government's war on the underclass and single mothers in particular.It is brutal in it's honesty and also funny as we get to read just what life is like living on the edge,Cash Carraway deserves to have come out of this period of her life with some credit as you learn just what she endured before and after giving birth to her daughter Biddy,and you learn more about what in my opinion is one of the biggest scandals of the last 2 decades of social cleansing which is a national disgrace.It is a story told with brutal honesty and fully deserves to be published so that this shameful Tory government can see just what their policies are doing to the underclass of this country,they should all be made to read this book and then hang their heads in shame,but i won't hold my breath on that happening.A brilliant 5 star read.

WOW!!! This book absolutely needed to be written. The reality of poverty needs to be shouted about. I’ve been the single mum on a council estate. I was lucky. It was hard but years before the benefit caps came into play. I see friends in similar situations now and I have so much admiration that they can provide for their kids despite everything against them. I have read so much of this book out loud so others can hear the harsh reality. Cash Carraway, you are an amazing mum and I am so bloody proud of you for all of this.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion. And a massive thank you to the author for telling what everyone needs to know.

4 Stars from me

Being rejected by a parent - the very person whose sole job it is to protect you - leaves it's mark.

I loved her description of walking around the estate hoping to be discovered as the next White Dee!

Cash tells her story with a unique voice - I loved the USE OF CAPITALS to emphasise a point and the (ALBEIT - UNNECESSARY - PULLING - OUT - OF - PRASES) which all added to the personal identity of the memoir.

This is a hard hitting read, you will need to be ready for the cold hard facts that are relentless in places, for the IN DEPTH descriptions of all parts of her and human anatomy - along with all kinds of secretions...

This could easily have been a pity me, feel sorry for me, woe is me tale, yet it is peppered with intelligence and humour throughout. None of which detracts from the stark awfulness of what she has been through.

This is not a light read or a fun read, but in a lot of ways it should be an essential read - maybe for the Tory government that she so blatantly despises!

Cash is telling her story honestly, loudly and boldly; it’s not a pretty read, but it’s not supposed to be. She’s angry, and there’s no apology for that; she is drawing on her life
story and calling out for a manifesto for change.

She’s not afraid to explore the gap between the Haves and Have Nots in contemporary British society (read that as within a Tory patriarchy) and she is fighting against the hurdles that austerity measures put in her way, time and time again. Cash wants her story to be known so that women like her are heard, listened to and supported (rather than demonised) by the public that they’re a part of.

Determined to carve out a better life for herself and her daughter than she had had growing up, in spite of abusive partners, exploitative landlords and a plethora of others who have kicked her while she was down, Cash tells it how she sees it. This story is packed with emotion, which sometimes means the writing style stumbles, but her way with words is both inspiring and damning; she will make you feel the love she has for her daughter as well as the bitter disappointment she has for those who vote Tory - she uses it like a dirty word.

I’d have liked her to go a little deeper into why she holds the political viewpoints that she does, and be a little less sweeping with some of the statements that she makes (Tories=bad, Kent=racist etc) but I still found this a very thought provoking read, and I hope she gets the chance to share more.

With thanks to Penguin and NetGalley for the ARC.

Wow! Easily one of the most moving books I've read in years and a book that everyone should read.
A lot People in the UK think that people like Cash Carraway are a drain on society, worthless and not worth their time.

WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Cash left home at 16 and was punted around the care system and a life on benefits.

This memoir gives you an insight into life in modern Britain for an ever growing group of people who live life in the margins and below the breadline.
Brutally honest and with enough humour to lighten the load, this is a fascinating and honest, warts and all, look at a young mother trying to make her way in an increasingly unwelcome London in the 21st Century.

You will laugh, cry, be offended and laugh out loud, sometimes all in one chapter.

Every single adult in the UK should read this book and reappraise your prejudices.

Book of the year.

I found this one if the most harrowing and uplifting books I’ve read in a long time. Well done to Cash for never giving up.

I found this account to be very down to earth and believable. It is upsetting to read about the lives some people live but moving to see them able to come out stronger.

Skint Estate is a brutally honest account of one woman's life and experience as a single mother living in modern Britain.At 29, Cash Carraway finds herself pregnant, homeless and fleeing domestic violence. She is determined to do whatever it takes to earn enough money to find a home and make a life for her and the new life growing inside her. And if this involves working 13 hour shifts in a peep show, so be it. Abused by her mother, abandoned by her father, she longs for a family and some semblance of security. But as the Tories win the General Election, she discovers that no matter how hard you try, the system is designed to stigmatize and keep you living in poverty. Zero hours contracts, being forced to take out payday loans that you have no chance of repaying, exorbitant childcare costs and constant threats of homelessness, keep you trapped in situations that no human being should have to endure. Feeling humiliated at having to rely on food banks, crushing loneliness and a dependence on alcohol equal increasing isolation and depression, with no foreseeable way out. Suicide, at times, seems like the only light at the end of a very dark tunnel. But surviving becomes living when Cash is offered a book deal, and this book is important. It highlights the injustice and extreme conditions that people are forced into. Austerity policies are designed to vilify the most vulnerable in our society, but Cash Carraway is not to be silenced and this book is defiantly angry, and rightly so.

This was fantastic. Darkly funny, and never shies away from essential truths. Everyone should read this book.

A stark and well observed look at the harsh realities of life.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I am always keen to read a memoir so when this was offered to me by Netgalley in return for an honest review, I jumped at the chance.
Cash's memoir is brutally honest, raw and heartbreaking at times. It is obvious life has not dealt her an easy hand but she is clearly a strong person. I really liked the way some bits, like the way she spoke to the solicitor were written. It gave an urgency to the situation. A great read and I am glad that her and her daughter, who she clearly loves lots, are now living above the poverty line.

Angry is the word that springs to mind. Injustice. Unfairness. Class discrimination. Brutal. Honest. Shocking.
I would not have said this was a darkly humorous book. It is at times harrowing, not always an easy read but then the truth can hurt.
Too easy to assume that someone who falls to the lowest of the low doesn't have a brain, or deserves that lifestyle when in reality they have been abandoned by the system at a very young age and since then have been trying to make a life for themselves and their daughter.
It is gritty, it makes you think about all the things we take for granted....

A darkly funny debut memoir following a young single mother living below the poverty line in austerity Britain.

Carraway's voice is raw and angry as she paints a stark and brutally honest picture of poverty in modern Britain, and her relentless fight to escape the poverty line. Amongst others, she explores her experiences with abusive childhood, abusive relationships, alcohol abuse, food banks, women's refuges, instability as she is forced to move every 6 months as a young single mother and her life working several minimum (or below minimum wage) jobs including in the sex industry just to make her rent. It's at parts horrifying and heart-breaking to read, and should be required reading for all political decision-makers and voters to showcase the real-life implications of their actions.

I did really like this memoir and came away very inspired to continue to fight in what I believe in - equality for all and the preservation of human rights and a minimum standard of living. However... there was an overt political angle to Carraway's writing, which I did feel was not always best articulated. More specifically, while Carraway's anger re-energised me in my support for Labour/leftist politics, I find it unlikely that others with a different political outlook reading this would have been persuaded to change their minds, which is a real shame and, I think, a lost opportunity. Skint Estate really seemed to lean in to the fact that this book will only be read by those already sympathetic. As such, generalisations are rampant - all Tory voters are evil, all Labour voters are good, all of Kent is racist, and, of course, Carraway's allegation that being moved to Kent was part of a social cleansing agenda to rid working classes from London, all repeatedly expressed without fully making any case for it.

Carraway does actually explicitly address this at one point, stating that the way she articulates her politics is not readily accepted because it does not conform to the language espoused by the middle classes and educated persons when discussing these issues, which is definitely a very valid point and I do agree with her that people should be allowed to express their anger at injustice in this sphere. UK politics does need to be more inclusive and progressive, and that does include getting rid of the public school stuffiness ripe in the culture, with a deluge of privately educated politicians at the echelons of power and influence. However, I was disappointed that some of the issues raised were not discussed in a more nuanced fashion as it overall made her message less persuasive.

A bleak and depressing story of trying to exist with the horrors of abuse and poverty. Although the author succeeded in getting her point and her story out there it was full of bitterness and unresolved anger to the end. Her style is aggressive and disjointed and I felt no peace was sought.

This book was very open and frank and details the authors memoir of austerity Britain bringing up a child alone through doing sex work and moving from place to place. the thing I liked the most was cash's frankness in describing things which made the book for me and didn't brush anything under the carpet

Hard hitting story of a single mother trying to survive and dig her way out of poverty.
Cash's life since early years was traumatic but she struggles on to provide a better life for herself and her daughter.
This story will resonate with anyone who has had to survive on benefits in the UK, who has lived in temporary accommodation or who feels invisible to the rest of the world.
Cash doesn't pull her punches throughout the book which can make it a difficult read but it is an important story and you have to admire her guts and determination.
Her love for her daughter pulls the reader through until the end.
Would have been 5 stars but story lost its place a few times.

This book is unflinching, direct and fizzing with energy. A memoir of navigating life in the UK as a single mother under a Tory government. Cash writes about working in. peep show while pregnant, suffering domestic violence, a broken welfare system that fails to support those who need it most, and her experiences in women’s refuges. Throughout, her love for her daughter is fierce and bright, and the situations she is forced to endure are shocking and frustrating. The chronology is quite confusing and I struggled to follow some parts, but the writing is brash and bold and the message is important.

By the time I’d finished reading this memoir I was more or less rendered speechless and can’t stop thinking about Cash’s story. This reads as a scathing attack on Tory politics and her experiences of poverty, patriarchy and capitalism with men continually abusing their power over women, physically mentally and financially and the voices of women like her who are drowned out by the privileged elite. I experienced so many emotions reading this memoir, ranging from embarrassment and guilt that I am fortunate enough to not be living the kind of life she has,through to sadness at the degrading way she has been treated by individuals and the state as well as shock and disgust at some of the things she’s had to do simply to survive. All this in a first world society that favours the wealthy with the gap between rich and poor ever widening.
Of course there’s no way this memoir could be anything other than political and it is the kind of book that will provoke heated debate, regardless of your own politics and the author is right in saying that she will be judged, as she has been for many years but her voice deserves to be heard and reach an audience from all walks of life. However I want to try and review her memoir on her writing style alone, if that is at all possible! I think Cash is fortunate in the sense that she’s intelligent and articulate when so many who find themselves part of this ‘underclass’ aren’t and whilst this book is about her own unique experiences, a lot of what she has to say will resonate with many. Her use of language is colourful, crude, graphic and obviously intended to shock but her prose is underlined with dark humour so that you can’t help but laugh at some of the stories she’s chosen to recount. ( the train toilet anecdote is one for starters!) I loved the humour in the way she offers her opinions and observations of the Boden wearing, Mandarin tutor seeking middle class parents; accurate and well observed. Like all of us, she’s a flawed human being but makes no apologies for that fact. Having a far from idyllic childhood, she’s been battling alcohol addiction and finding herself in abusive relationships with men that are vile human beings. Discovering herself pregnant and wanting to keep her child (I’m not judging here)she has to embark on a life that severely tests her will to survive. She probably despises someone like me (a single mum but super privileged by Cash’s standards) commenting on her resourcefulness, determination and courage to simply keep on going. Despite the often sordid and grubby nature of Cash’s story, she relives her experiences without self pity and her pure love for her daughter shines through constantly. Determined to not repeat the mistakes of her own parents, she is resolute in her desire to create something better for her daughter even though the welfare system and poor choice of partners continually wear her down. I found it heartbreaking to read of the times when she considered life was no longer worth living (and I couldn’t blame her) as I did with the food bank anecdotes. I wholeheartedly agree with her statement that for some no matter how hard you work you’ll never be able to rise above your station since those in power are determined to maintain the status quo and tough luck if you happen to be part of society living below the poverty line.
Reading this memoir, I was particularly intrigued about Cash’s time as a ‘wife tourist’ and the blogs she wrote at that time and I do wonder too about the editing process of this book and the glossing over of some periods such as her time at university.
All in all you’d have to be pretty heartless not to feel compassion for this woman and her daughter and if nothing else can be gained from writing her memoir I’d like to hope it could facilitate more discussion around issues such the closure of women’s refuges, lack of adequate housing and the need to further isolate already vulnerable people by moving them further afield from their friends/family/support networks.
I will be encouraging everyone I know to pick up this book.
My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't know what I was expecting when I started this but I wasnt disappointed.

It's a memoir of poverty and hard times. Its raw and honest. 

It should be read by everyone

This is an eye opening read. Cash’s story shows how bad poverty is in Britain and how hard it is to get out of. She has suffered abuse and had to live in women’s refuges and use food banks. There is so much talked about in this book that people need to be more aware of. Cash tells everything in her own unique style. I had never heard of Cash before I read this book. Her story is definitely memorable.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.