A memoir by Nicola Briggs – Coming soon

Peacock On The Moon

A powerful, unflinching account of a 1970s childhood shaped by privilege, silence, and a growing racism within British society.

Debut Book – Peacock on the Moon

Synopsis

Our story begins with a young girl who is sent to an English boarding school in the 1970s, but we find ourselves drawn into the views within her family that are to shape her identity. That girl was me.

We don’t really look at our parents until we have made it to our own middle age, with some of what we unearth coming as a surprise or as confirmation of that which we already suspected. These discoveries only lead to further questions, but death or dementia can remove the opportunity to go straight to the horse’s mouth, and, more than likely, the truth would have been buried anyway in answers distorted by a desire to present a more perfect self.

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You may claim an awareness that the 1960s and 1970s were decades marked by a rise in anti-immigration sentiment, but do you know how Middle Englanders came to believe they had the right to behave so? I grew up in a family where the head of the household led our behaviour until we came to develop minds of our own, and once we did, he hated us for it. Aligning his rhetoric to that which is in favour today reduces its impact. I have chosen to share with you the facts as to how it was, our facts, a snapshot of non-PC social history from a time now half a century ago.

My privileged childhood is one you may feel lucky to have escaped, but then I cannot speak for what was your normal. This story is about mine.

Read full excerpt
★★★★★

Fascinating


 “Once started, I could not put this book down. Nicola masterfully weaves a fascinating story of her upbringing and family life through childhood memories and the diaries of both her and her father. The narrative is witty, insightful and very thought-provoking. A real page turner!

~ Julie Evans

★★★★★

Tauntingly Funny


 “I expected nothing less from Nicola. A fascinating window into times past, evoking memories of an era when free speech knew no bounds. A magical, tauntingly funny recount of childhood insecurities and memories, which I could not put down.”

~ Helen Chapelow

★★★★★

Stunning


 “At times a poignant description of the experience of growing up at boarding school. At others a witty social commentary on the mores of the aspiring classes of the 1970s, this is an inside account of a family dominated by its patriarchal head, whose ambitions bring crisis after crisis.”


~ Matthew Tognarelli

The Voice Behind the Story

Set in the north of England during a time of economic decline, social upheaval, and rising anti-immigration sentiment, Peacock on the Moon revisits a childhood that was at once materially comfortable yet emotionally constrained.

Through Nicola’s family diaries, the memoir offers a rare view inside a world of class, privilege, unspoken assumptions, and uncomfortable complicity. This is not a nostalgic look at the past – but a story of reckoning, told with humour, clarity, and deep personal insight.

Learn more about nicola

“My privileged childhood is one you may feel lucky to have escaped, but then I cannot speak for what is your normal. This story is about mine.”

Nicola Briggs

Nicola’s debut is nearly here.

Peacock in the Moon is now available for Kindle pre-order.
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