Summary

Jeanette writes about the Accrington Market. The people of Accrington like bargaining at the market and to this day Jeanette dislikes supermarkets. She sees them as a "loss of vivid life" (88). Accrington isn't known for much except for its production of bricks. These bricks were used to build the foundation of the Empire State Building and give the people of the town a sense of pride.

Jeanette laments the destruction of communal centers like markets and libraries. She believes social breakdown and alienation are caused by the destruction of "centers that did so much to keep people together" (90). In addition to the library, teenage Jeannette finds escape in a second-hand junk shop where she buys cheap books by Dickens and the Brontes.

Sometimes, Mrs. Winterson has particularly bad days after a sleepless night. On those mornings she makes egg custard and when Jeanette...