A Taste of Honey

During gym class at her all-girls school in Salford, Jo struggles through a game of netball, underscoring her unease with peer pressure and authority. The moment hints at her stubborn independence and the challenges she will face at home and on the streets. It frames her as someone who resists easy classification.

After an argument with the landlady about overdue rent and Helen's visitors, Jo and her mother sneak out and ride a bus across town to a shabby new flat. They lean on each other as they navigate temporary shelter and a precarious living situation. This flight from home becomes a recurring pattern in Jo’s early adulthood.

Jimmy, a young Black sailor, helps Jo with her suitcases when they arrive at the flat, sparking a tentative connection. Their brief courtship grows as Jo's independence blossoms, and Jimmy later gives her an engagement ring kept around her neck on a ribbon. The romance introduces a potential source of stability amid Jo’s unsettled life.

Helen brings her new boyfriend Peter home after a night in the pub, but Peter leaves when he learns Jo is Helen’s daughter. The scene highlights Helen's unstable romantic life and the strain it places on Jo. It foreshadows further entanglements that shape Jo's decisions.

After being kept after class for mocking her teacher, Jo injures her knee on the walk home. She passes the Manchester Ship Canal, where Jimmy disembarks his ship and invites her aboard, starting their brief courtship. They begin a relationship that blends attraction with uncertainty.

Jo joins Helen and Peter on a weekend trip to Blackpool, where Peter issues an ultimatum to Helen to choose between him and Jo. Helen sends Jo home alone, rupturing the fragile family balance. The trip crystallizes the choices that will dominate Jo’s life.

Back in Salford, Jimmy waits for Jo, and they spend the night together. In the morning, Jo watches him board his ship and depart, signaling the end of their brief romance. The experience reinforces Jo’s need to navigate love and independence on her own.

Helen returns to pack and leaves to marry Peter, planning a suburban life with him. Jo is left to fend for herself, drops out of school, and takes a job in a shoe shop while moving into a loft apartment in a former workshop. The turn marks Jo’s shift from student to self-reliant young woman.

Jo meets Geoffrey Ingham, a gay textile design student evicted due to his sexuality, and invites him to live with her in the loft. He becomes a close, supportive presence as she faces pregnancy, work, and looming motherhood. Geoff's presence complicates Jo’s sense of family and belonging.

Jo discovers she is pregnant by Jimmy. Geoff offers to marry her, but Jo declines, though he stays to help her through the pregnancy. The arrangement binds Jo to a potential partner who understands her through a difficult time.

Jo has an outburst, declaring she does not want to be either a mother or a woman, prompting Geoff to track down Helen. Helen visits Jo and they quarrel; Peter, drunk, asserts Jo cannot move into his house. After more confrontation, Helen again chooses Peter and Geoff quietly begins to prepare to leave.

On Guy Fawkes Night, with Jo’s due date fast approaching, Helen reappears and plans to move in with Jo, pushing Geoff out. Geoff packs his things and leaves, insisting Jo will need someone who has gone through childbirth. A sparkler from a child lights the street as fireworks flare, and Jo watches it burn out, signaling an uncertain future for her and her Black baby.