Post 21st Century Autobiography 'Ugly' - Costance Briscoe

University Degree Linguistics, Classics and related subjects

Unit 1-post21st century Autobiography

This is a marked coursework task out of twenty. We have read long extracts from Constance Briscoe’s 2006 autobiography “ugly”. We have seen news night interview and read a daily mail interview with her mother.

Repeatedly kicked, punched, terrorized and yet survived all that to become England’s first black barrister1 Constant Briscoe reveals her shocking past in her autobiography, UGLY. Now Constance Briscoe, who lives with her partner, Anthony Arlige who is a distinguished lawyer and 2 children. Martin and Francesca, and has a great occupation of a barrister for the last ten years, has decided to tell the truth about her disturbing past after astonishing years of shielding it! In the shocking, yet inspired book she describes how she was tortured day after day for wetting the bed but couldn’t do anything about it.

The book is mainly based on the pain that she went trough in her childhood and how day after day of torture from her mother and her mother’s partner led her to attempt suicide. She did this by drinking bleach but unfortunately for her she didn’t die. The prologue starts of with her wanting to sign herself up for care but the social worker turning her back. She also describes how her mother’s torture made her stress levels extremely high as her hair started falling out and her bed wetting didn’t stop even though her doctor assumed it would do in about six months of using her bed wetting alarm. But the book also describes her academic life and how she was really ambitious and succeeded by getting into college. But theirs always a catch in a story and in someone’s real life. This time her grant form got ripped up and there were no surprises on who ripped it up. Constance wrote about her being upset because her mother wouldn’t let her go to grammar school although all of her other friends were going because she thought that Constance wasn’t clever enough and, absurdly because she wet the bed. She also wrote in the book and also printed this extract on a article for the daily mail that her mother ripped her grant form up for university. ‘Why would I do this? The fact that she got into university is down to my hard work…’ was what her mother said to this ‘accusation’ in her interview. She also said in this book that her mother was a cash addict sleeping with her husband, even after the separation, and while he was asleep she would steal wads of cash from his purse. Carmen also stabbed George once in the stomach with scissors while pregnant wit Patsy. Constance wrote in the book that she witnessed it. But her mothers declaration to this was that ‘how could she have seen it if I was pregnant with patsy?’

In her book she describes her family mainly. The villain as we all know is her mother, Carmen but surprisingly she also admits that her mother looked like a films star. Garfield Eastman is another villain in the book. Then there are all her eleven sisters and brothers (some step siblings) and Denise was adopted. George, Constance’s father is the good in the book. But that’s not what Carmen says. She says he’s a bad man who didn’t help raise the children.

‘My mother kneed me in the face then punched me as hard ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

‘My mother kneed me in the face then punched me as hard as she couldn’t the stomach. I was only thirteen and she attacked me like this all the time.’ Something that is described well in the book is the abuse she had to suffer. In the book a split split stick is introduced. This was taken from the floor board on the stairs. Her mother used to terrorize her with this stick and threaten her by hitting her so she would wet the bed. Constance also wrote about the time when she was sliced on the wrist because she didn’t pluck the chicken feathers properly. But Carmen wasn’t the only one doing all the terrorizing. Eastman, Constance claims that he lashed her with his belt, stubbed cigarettes on her hand and hurt her. In one particularly bad fight he smashed her head through the window. This went to court. But Carmen cannot remember anything like this in her past. She said ‘he helped me with the children. He was a good gentleman.’ And its staggering as Eastman’s solicitor cannot find any statements to prove this. Being tormented and hurt viciously wasn’t Constance’s only problems. Because of the terrible stress and pressure she was being put under, she suffered from hair loss and had to wear a wig to cover it up. And she had to go to the doctor because her nipples looked exactly like symptoms of breast cancer. This was because Carmen used to pull by them and pinch and twist them. And as well as all these troubles she suffered from normal teenage pressure. She was embarrassed immensely by her mother as she told her friends Constance still wet the bed.

She also suffered from verbal abuse as her mother called her clear because she could see right through her. But Carmen replied to this by saying that she only called her clear because he had clear skin and it wasn’t a term of abuse. She stated that she was also called ugly When she asked her other to by her school picture.

This book, I believe unique as all the emotion and pain described in the book isn’t fiction, it’s the truth. Or is it? The million dollar question is: whose crying out the truth and who’s spitting out lies forged as reality.. Is Carmen really innocent and has been savagely accused? Or has Constance’s really suffered in silence in her traumatizing past. As I zoomed closer into the speech made in the interviews and seized seemingly exaggerated facts I really didn’t know who to believe. Oddly enough nearly all of Carmen’s sons and daughters declared that none of this happened and Constance is just lying. But they may not know what happened as Constance ‘suffered in silence’. And they may have not noticed the abuse that she was suffering as Carmen made up convincing excuses to steer her children away from suspecting anything as her excuse for Constance with bumps was ‘she fell. It’s nothing…’ which is believable. Here are some quotations and reasons too justify against Carmen, who I believe may be lying:

‘I will never speak to you again as long as I live’

The picture in which her and her mother attended at her sisters anniversary could prove that they weren’t talking to each other as neither of them were smiling yet they were ready for the photo.

‘I did not smack them and did not want anyone else to hurt them.’

Most Jamaicans believe in strict discipline like in the schools where they get harsh beatings. So this is highly unbelievable as they were immigrants.

My hair stated falling out…’

Signs of stress begging to show. Wetting the bed should have stopped around the age of eleven, but it didn’t because of the stress and anxiety her mother put her in.

And if she did make it all up then how does she remember all the little horrific details which she has to have suffered to have remembered this much. Even I, when I write a short story cannot remember all the details so how can she remember without having experienced it. And why would she make up such cruel lies? She lives in a one million home with a great occupation so she doesn’t need the money. And even if she did why would she use her mother as a bait when she could use hundreds of other people who have died or someone made up with different excuse? Carmen, in her interview with the Daily mail said that Eastman’s solicitor said that was no reports of this prosecution but they could have been lost. And there was no statement in which the abuse was reported but could just be because back then social workers weren’t as careful on children as they are now.

And although the fact that there is no evidence to support Constance’s claims there is no evidence that she I still believe that she was abused and so does her older sister pasty as she agrees with her. So I conclude with saying that don’t judge a book by its cover. Carmen may have been shy and peering short sightedly but who said no one can’t act. It seems so reckless that a daughter would do such thing to her mother if it wasn’t true. And I also empathise on Constance as if I hurt my foot by hitting it on the door I get so angry and it stings for a long time, so I can’t imagine how Constance must have felt.