ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER (AND HER MOTHER)

“My granny Conchita had a really tough life. My granddad left when my mum was only a few months old and went back to Portugal. My granny fled Spain in the civil war and arrived in England just in time for World War II.

“She didn’t speak English. She didn’t have shoes. She always said that because she was beautiful that life is easier when you are beautiful. People helped her out. I think she got a job stitching parachutes initially in a factory. It was really tough on your hands.

“She was from Motril, south of Granada. Most people aren’t familiar with that part of Spain. Johnny and I were married in Seville because of her. I love that part of Spain.

“In the post-Franco years there is still a shadow over Spain. There is a darkness to Spanish people who don’t talk about it. Before my granny died I recorded her about it. I was chatting to my cousins and uncles after she died and they said: ‘Oh, that’s not true at all’. That’s why they always say that history books can’t be written until at least one generation has passed.

“My mum was born in England and stayed with Conchita until she was about four but then went to live with her Aunt Maria in Weston-super-Mare while Conchita stayed working in London. Her Uncle Arthur became a dad to her. I never knew him sadly. My mum ended up being raised by her aunt and her uncle because when my granddad left she just couldn’t...” Cope? “Conchita was a born coper. She was pretty tough. But she was doing whatever jobs she could, working long hours in catering and living in a flat in a tower block in London. So she knew my mother would be better off in Weston-super-Mare. My mother was really happy there and is a well-balanced person despite her upbringing. It is kind of extraordinary.

“My grandfather married again and, we think, settled in Lisbon. My mum never saw him again.”