Common People: In Pursuit of My Ancestors, Light Alison

Most of us, however, give up a few generations back. We run into a gap, get embarrassed by a neer-do-well, or simply find our ancestors are less glamorous than wed hoped. That didnt stop Alison Light: in the last weeks of her fathers life, she embarked on an attempt to trace the history of her family as far back as she could reasonably go. The result is a clear-eyed, fascinating, frequently moving account of the lives of everyday people, of the tough decisions and hard work, the good luck and bad breaks, that chart the course of a life. Lights forebears--servants, sailors, farm workers--were among the poorest, traveling the country looking for work; they left few lasting marks on the world. But through her painstaking work in archives, and her ability to make the people and struggles of the past come alive, Light reminds us that every life, even glimpsed through the chinks of the census, has its surprises and secrets.