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Aisleyne: Surviving Guns, Gangs and Glamour [Paperback]

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
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Book Description

7 May 2009 1845964365 978-1845964368

Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace is the ultimate Big Brother survivor, and in Aisleyne: Surviving Guns, Gangs and Glamour, she reveals a shocking life story that surpasses any reality-show plotline.

Her childhood journey began in a crazy punk household, where Siouxsie Sioux and Boy George were regular visitors. It shattered for the first time with the nightmare of seeing her half-naked dad dragged bleeding from the bathroom by police after a suicide attempt, and it ended when she saw her mum start a strict new life as a devout Jehovah's Witness.

Hospitalised after an extreme bullying incident at school, Aisleyne left home at 16, having been cut off by her mother and let down by her father. Alone in London, Aisleyne's lifeline was a place in a hostel, where she shared the roof over her head with the frightened women and predatory men of the city's gang culture. While some of her friends were lost to drugs, knives and gun crime, Aisleyne vowed to pick herself up and get out of there.

Aisleyne threw herself into a new career as a promotions girl and glamour model. Slowly making a name for herself, Aisleyne's big break came when she was selected to compete on Big Brother in 2006, and she was voted the most popular female housemate that year.

Three years on, Aisleyne is living proof that it is possible to escape the streets and make good. She's become a successful businesswoman, fashion designer and established media celebrity. This is her remarkable story.


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Product details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Mainstream Publishing (7 May 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1845964365
  • ISBN-13: 978-1845964368
  • Product Dimensions: 2.5 x 15.2 x 23.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 124,785 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Inspiring (Reveal )

Remarkable (The Independent )

Worth reading (Heat )

Book Description

A warts-and-all confessional by the former Big Brother star

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Customer Reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5 stars
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A difficult read at times, but highly impressive. I'm not sure what the mix between Aisleyne and her editor was, but it's a well-constructed (more thought-provoking than page-turner) book with a serious and authentic tone - pleasantly surprised at that.

I'd have bet money that the book would start with the emotion of Aisleyne leaving the house on finals night - instead the show gets a fairly disinterested chapter. Ash did it, made some good friends, is cool with the rest - and that's about it. Big Brother is a strange pressured situation, people say and do things they wouldn't on the outside, so just enjoy it, then leave and get on with your life and any opportunities your 15 minutes presents - is Aisleyne's no-nonsense take on the BB experience.

Instead the book starts with a domestic involving the infant Aisleyne, her parents and their mutually destructive relationship. That sets a mark for this life story - incidents mundane, horrible and often extremely violent, hours in the cop shop, which then blow over with just the legacy of damage to an insecure and bewildered young girl.

The gangs and Aisleyne's decade or so in the hostels and seedy nightlife of North London form the most impressive part of the book, and it is grim. How she copes with the violent, thieving, druggy awfulness of this scary world, is I suppose admirable and pragmatic, but her own professed liking (the bling, designer fashions, fast cars and easy money) for the trappings of an amoral, violent culture fed by the drug economy, suggests she hasn't escaped her past. Added to this is her touching but unrealistic view of her parents' relationship before their break up - and her longing throughout the book for reversing her long estrangement from her mother.

Aisleyne clearly likes the doors that Big Brother has opened to a brighter world, Kanye, Amy, Charlie Brooker et al - and it struck me that these people actually wanted to meet her either through watching Big Brother 7 themselves or interest in the BB phenomenon worldwide. Annoying and brash as Aisleyne can be, she's a decent ambassador for the good and bad in the programme, even if the book itself is not for the addicts of the programme or those looking for kiss and tell - there isn't any.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars a must read! 16 July 2009
Format:Paperback
anyone reading this who has never liked aisleyne will most definitely change their opinion after reading this book, this girl has been through a lot and has come out the other side, anyone thinking of buying this should most definitely do it now, its a very good read, better than expected this girl has not been given enough credit!
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By Ceecee
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book, it was a detailed story of Aisleyne's life from her earliest memories as a kid to her present day to day life. It was very emotional as Aisleyne has seen things in life not everyone sees and has come a very long way into achieving her dreams. Great book!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars A very good & moving read
The author has led an exciting life and does a good job reciting most of her stories succeeding in coming off as a likeable and admirable protagonist. Read more
Published on 11 Oct 2010 by Mark Packham
5.0 out of 5 stars Aisleyne is NOT a dumb blonde
There's more to Aisleyne than meets the eye. I heart her. She is funny, warm, inspirational and much more than the dumb blonde/glamour model you might dismiss her as. Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2010 by Maggie Muggins
5.0 out of 5 stars what an amazing world!
after all these years maybe my favourite moment from all the big brother shows was when one of the housemates threw the glass of water in the face of the older lady in the house on... Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by Alli
4.0 out of 5 stars Great Holiday Read
Really good holiday read. This book covers dark topics but with a sense of survival.
Published on 6 July 2009 by J. Tomlinson
5.0 out of 5 stars I love it really.. Good and simply interesting!
I have always been an Aisleyne fan (use to spell it ashlyene lol) i think this girl is top!! Her big brother house experience showed her what kind of person she is.. Read more
Published on 6 Jun 2009 by !
5.0 out of 5 stars A Thriller
This book is a real thriller, Aisleyne come through stuff some just wouldn't survive. Most of the book but a few chapters talks about her experiences before her time in Big... Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by Crystal
1.0 out of 5 stars Awful
I like biographies and usually enjoy a stimulating personal journey. This was so bad I didn't even bother to finish it.
Published on 25 May 2009 by Juliet
5.0 out of 5 stars More than just a throwaway celebrity tome
Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace reveals a quite shocking but ultimately uplifting story about religious repression, drugs, guns, violence and the glamour of fashion and photoshoots. Read more
Published on 11 May 2009 by A. Woodcock
5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific read
A thoroughly enthralling and fascinating account of a quite extraordinary life. This is no celebrity cash-in: some of the things that Aisleyne admits to in this book must have... Read more
Published on 10 May 2009 by Mr. Julian A. Segal
5.0 out of 5 stars Grim but compelling story
Definitely not a book to read for celebrity gossip or funny catwalk stories. Aisleyne's grim, distressing story is all the more powerful for the slight colloquial awkwardness of... Read more
Published on 8 May 2009 by allwillbewell
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