A taste of honey

Shelagh Delaney

A Taste of Honey, occurs in Manchester, and tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl whose mother, Helen, is a crude, sexually indiscriminate 'slapper'. Jo's mother abandons her after finding Peter, a rich and much younger lover. At the same time, Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor she meets in school. Their budding love becomes a marriage proposal, which Helen strongly denounces, by ridiculing the idea of Jo marrying. Jimmy goes to sea, leaving Jo alone to find lodging with Geoffrey, her gay acquaintance. Geoffrey assumes the role of father until Helen's return, when the future of Jo's new family is put into question. A Taste of Honey commented on gender matters in mid-twentieth century Britain, but also questioned the constraints of family, and re-evaluated the "nuclear family ideal" of that generation of working class Britons.