Mary Quite Contrary

An adaptation of a nusery rhyme

Hark! hark! the dogs bark,The beggars are coming to town;Some in rags and some in tags,And some in a silken gown.Some gave them white bread,And some gave them brown,And some gave them a good horse-whip,And sent them out of the town.Little Jack Horner sat in the corner,Eating a Christmas pie;He put in his thumb, and pulled out a plum,And said, oh! what a good boy am I.

The author, a poet, recounts her difficult childhood growing up in a Texas oil town.

How do you cope with family conflict that seems so overwhelming you don't know where to turn? According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there are more than twenty million people with Bipolar Disorder. Gayle Carson Lagman-Creswick believes there are millions more who go undiagnosed, at least for a good part of their life-people like her daughter Mary, who wasn't diagnosed with the disorder until well into her thirties.From violence to hospitalization to prison, Lagman-Creswick shares her experiences with Mary and the roller coaster of emotions and struggles that leads to her daughter's Bipolar Disorder diagnosis and subsequent treatment. Through a combination of tenacity, determination, and patience, Lagman-Creswick learns how to balance the daily demands of a career and raising six kids.Mary Quite Contrary is a beautiful story of how one family overcame the crippling effects of mental illness with unconditional love. The determination and the ability to forgive by both mother and daughter is an inspiration to anyone dealing with family members or friends who may have a mood disorder.

Written with charm and humour, Mary Essinger's page-turning memoir takes the reader on a highly entertaining journey from her pre-war life of spirited poverty in a Leicestershire village to a career as a lecturer in Spoken English, novelist and stand-up comedian. With a sharp eye for tragedy and a warm appreciation for joy, Mary recounts her wartime life and subsequent life as a dress designer in the economic boom conditions of the 1950s and falling in love with a German Jewish refugee who clicked his heels when he met her family. It's all here, in Mary, Quite Contrary.

Mr Jack has been nimble and he’s been quick, searching through the history of nursery rhymes and he’s found out all kind of plum tales, just like little Jack Horner. He's unearthed the answers to some very curious questions... Who were Mary Quite Contrary and Georgie Porgie? How could Hey Diddle Diddle offer an essential astronomy lesson? And if Ring a Ring a Roses isn’t about catching the plague, then, what is it really about? The ingenious book delves into the hidden meanings of the nursery rhymes and songs we all know so well and discovers all kinds of strange tales ranging from Viking raids to firewalking and from political rebellion to slaves being smuggled to freedom. Children have always played at being grown up and all kinds of episodes in our history are still being re-enacted today in a series of dark games (Oranges and Lemons traces a condemned man’s journey across London to his execution, Goosie Gander is about dragging a hidden Catholic priest to prison) And there are many many more... Full of vivid illustrations and with each verse reproduced, here are a multitude of surprising stories you won’t be able to resist passing on to everyone you know. Your childhood songs and rhymes will never sound the same again.