Review: The Frog Princess Angie Beasley

First Active Media Books: The Frog Princess Angie Beasley

Synopsis: Life didn't hold much promise for ordinary little Angie.

With few jobs around, bland food and cold weather, the best that Angie could hope for was a job at the local Findus factory.

Her family didn't have it easy. Her baby brother was a cot death and the tragedy caused her mother to turn to the Jehovah's Witness faith. Their poverty, now combined with an austere belief system, meant no Christmas, no birthdays and little joy.

But aged 16, Angie decided that she was destined for bigger things. After seeing a TV advertisement she entered a beauty pageant. And won. She went on to take 25 titles, including Miss Leeds, and her home town title Miss Cleethorpes, giving her the opportunity to model while travelling the world.

Just as Angie felt that life couldn't get any better, she got engaged to a man who trapped her in a terrifying cycle of domestic violence. When she eventually escaped him, she had lost all of her money and self-esteem. She was on the bottom rung of the ladder yet again. But Angie picked herself up, turned her talents to event management and grafted her way to becoming Director of Miss England.

Evoking the magical, lost world of the 1970s beauty pageant, Angie's story is a real life fairytale with heart and humour.

What we think: This true life story brings to life the lost world of the 1970s beauty pageant. A nostalgic memoir which describes how an ordinary little girl from the fishing port of Grimsby defied her critics and background to live her dream though the beauty pageant, winning 23 beauty titles, before becoming Director of Miss England. A tale expressed with heart and passion with more than a touch of gritty northern humour it will appeal to readers of all true life. Joclyn Manners First Active Media Book Critic