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It's now 1976 and 17-year old Bev is about to undergo a dramatic change from shrinking violet to... well... let's just say that Bev spends the latter half of 1976 making up for lost time. But 1976 doesn't get off to a good start. Bev is trying to shake off a nasty case of teenage depression. Her confidence and self-esteem, not to mention her love life, are at an all-time low. And, to add insult to injury, Bev has just been stood up by a boy she met at Judith Bates' party. But Bev is determined to change things... She joins a new youth club, makes new friends and ends up falling for 'Mystic' Mark - a joss-stick burning psychic who's quit college to meditate on the Meaning of Life. But when Mark dumps Bev, it's like the Mike Heslop heartbreak of 1975 all over again (see Flares, France & Serious Fashion Crimes: My 1975 Teenage Diary). As the long, hot summer of 1976 gets underway, an unforgettable July follows as Bev and the others from the A-Level French set join forces with a group of French students on a course at the university. Bev spends the rest of the red-hot summer in Weston-Super-Mare with her Grandparents where, away from the confines of the family home, she is free to do pretty much as she pleases. 1976 is the summer when Bev meets up with Christine and Paula who become her New Best Friends and show her how to live life a little more dangerously. Gradually Bev transforms from the shy, shrinking violet of her early teens into an 18-year old that wows the boys and oozes self-confidence, sometimes bordering on the arrogant. In their almost nightly trips to the rowdy Lakeside Bar, frequented by underage drinkers, Bev, Christine and Paula are determined to rise above what they call the 'grockles' - the kind of girls who follow the crowd and dance around their handbags at discos. The trio see themselves as superior, immersing themselves in all things Gallic following the French exchange. God forbid that anyone might mistake the girls for being mere English... 1976 is a summer of burning joss-sticks and candles, of listening to Eric Clapton and Radio Caroline, of wearing hippy clothes and walking bare-foot, of reading Cosmopolitan and talking deeply - and, of course, discussing that all-important topic: boys. Thunderstorms put an end to the heat-wave, followed by a wet, drab autumn. But the weather fails to put a damper on Bev's Self-Improvement Plans. She meets Jesus look-alike Tony. His friend Oliver isn't too bad, either. And then there's Nick, plus David Bowie clone Andy. Not to mention the dishy Steve Brown and biker Kev... Aaarrggh So many boys, so few days in the week... Thankfully this problem is solved by the arrival of 21-year old medical student Jeremy who sweeps Bev off her feet in The Romance of the Century. But will it last? This is Bev's real-life 1976 diary, in the raw: hilarious yet familiar, bitchy yet philosophical. This nostalgic trip down Memory Lane will appeal to anyone who's struggled to overcome teenage shyness and attract the opposite sex, especially 50-somethings who will look back fondly on an era before emails, texting or mobiles, where you depended on the family phone, phone boxes or letters to keep in touch. An era where you watched Charlie's Angels on TV, saw the Omen at the cinema and listened to Peter Frampton, Chicago and Gallagher & Lyle while wearing Stevie B or Blas scent, big hair, kohl eyeliner and vibrant red lipstick. An era where - despite the freedom of 'the pill', the publication of the Hite Report in 1976 and Dr Alex Comfort's famous Joy of Sex four years earlier - it still wasn't unusual to be a virgin at 18. If you liked Rae Earl's 1980s Mad, Fat Teenage Diary, you will love That Summer Changed Everything: My Real-Life 1976 Teenage Diary - the sequel to Flares, France & Serious Fashion Crimes: M
