A vivid depiction of an East End community that has all but vanished.
A powerful and compelling portrayal of the East End during its finest hour, and a way of life that has vanished forever.
Paragon Place, an ordinary square of two-up, two-down houses in Bermondsey, has pretty well survived the Blitz. But it's taken its toll on a hard-working and tight-knit community even the old sycamore tree in the middle of the square has been scarred by shrapnel. Despite going through the very worst of times the never-ending fight against poverty, rationing and bombs the residents of Paragon Place have been drawn even closer together by laughter and tears in the face of despair. Now that they have survived the horror of the Blitz they are looking forward to a brighter future.
Harry was born in 1931 in a back street off the Tower Bridge Road. Only when his own children began to ask questions about the war, did Harry realise how many stories he had to tell. He became known as 'the King of Cockney sagas', and he wrote eighteen bestselling novels of London life. After Harry died in 1999, the Harry Bowling Prize was set up in his memory.