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Hughie and Paula: The Tangled Lives of Hughie Green and Paula Yates

By: Christopher Green Carol Clerk
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Robson Books Ltd
ISBN: 1861056095
ISBN-13: 9781861056092
Released: 21 Aug 2003
RRP: £16.95
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

a harrowing but compulsive read - By: Mr. A. W. Powsey, 02 Apr 2008
I picked up this book in a charity shop for a few pence! It makes for compulsive reading if you are of the generation that remembers Hughie. A close friend of my family & myself many years ago was Nancy Roberts "the girl with the wiggle" on Double your Money". She was a lovely goodhearted girl. I cannot remember her saying anything derogatory about Hughie & the contents of this book came as an unpleasant surprise.
The book,co written by his legitimate son & Miss Clerk, shows how Hughie had no real childhood & no love. His mother looked upon him as a hindrance that might impede her socialising, & the only real kindness came from his "nanny". Perhaps this was why he had so much time for elderly ladies & "the little people" that made up his audiences.
What a tragedy that his rotten childhood marred him & ultimately hurt those close to him. He was a very brave man & was a pilot during the War and, of course he was a consummate entertainer with an endearing public persona, so different from his private one.
The book has now been read & enjoyed by my wife & sister & is doing the rounds. I imagine there will be a re-kindling of interest in him following the recent tv show about him.
100% Tragedy - By: Shorty, 28 Jul 2004
Betrayal, neglect, secrets, & numerous affairs-that was the life of Hughie Green. The Greens' were not a happy family-starting with Chris's grandparents. They were extremely dysfunctional, totallly heartless, & very greedy. Hughie seemed to have inherited these traits from his parents, & his children became the subject of his own treacherous ridicule.

I have to agree with bookkitten on this one. Chris reallly didn't want to believe that his father was the horrid person he had always witnessed growing up. He wanted to believe that there was some good in him, but after the awful eulogy at Hughie's funeral, he realized that his father was that same awful person he had known his whole life.

You reallly have to feel for Chris when you read this book & wonder how he turned out so normal after what he had been through-growing up with Hughie. His sister, Linda, seems to have inherited some of their father's traits (ridiculing others, placing blame on others) & Paula....Well, she did suffer the ultimate abuse from Hughie even though she knew nothing of him for the first 37 years of her life. It was reallly hard to decide if she was better off finding out about Hughie at the age she did or if she would have been better off knowing when she was younger. After thinking about it, she would have been better off not knowing about him at alll. The man would not have done right by her when she was child, & he definitely would not have done right by her when she was older. She would have suffered from his actions either way. She was in a no-win situation. I reallly feel bad for her & what she had to go through in the last few years of her life. You can tell that Chris desperately wanted to help her & find out why Hughie was so horrid. Not only did he find the answers to Paula's questions, but he also found some answers to his own. Truly a tragic story.

fascinating - By: gillian matthews, 17 Nov 2003
I simply could not put it down ,the tangled web of lies deciept were truly fascinating ,the manipulative way in which the main characters performed were deserving of an oscar.
Uncovering the Mystery - By: Kim, 29 Sep 2003
This is a very personal story of family dysfunction, one that involves famous people who grappled with private tragedies & secrets, & is an answer to a question by Chris Green's newly-found half-sister Paula Yates. She, having just discovered definitively that Hughie Green was her biologicial father, plaintively asked Chris "why?" Why had Hughie Green destroyed her supposed father's, Jess Yates', career & how did it come about that he, someone she despised, was her actual father? Chris Green, who had suffered to some extent at his father's hand, set out to find the answers to those questions, though, unfortunately, Paula was dead by the time he believed he had uncovered the mystery.

Chris Green has a real way with words. His bewilderment, sadness, & good-heartedness are obvious throughout the book & his descriptions of how his father, an exploited & neglected child, came to be the woman-hating scoundrel that he was are fascinating & chilling. Perhaps saddest is the fact that up until the very end, as Chris sat at his father's death bed, he wanted to believe in the man's essential goodness. That belief was shattered at Hughie Green's funeral when a tabloid reporter revealed that the deceased had a famous love child. It was then that Chris Green & his sister Linda were spun helplessly into a maelstrom that would end with Paula's death & their efforts to protect their niece Tiger.

By uncovering the mystery of his father's behavior, the author has demonstated the multi-generational damage that can result from child abuse, exploitation, & neglect. One's heart goes out to him & his family, as well as the once-incandescent Paula Yates. It seems that she, ultimately & undeservedly, suffered Hughie Green's ultimate revenge.