Twopence to Cross the Mersey / Liverpool Miss by Helen Forrester

Twopence to Cross the Mersey / Liverpool Miss by Helen Forrester

First and second parts of Helen Forresters poignant autobiography. Twopence was the price of the ferry-boat between Liverpool and Birkenhead. A tiny sum but an impassable barrier for the poor of Liverpool - desperate to escape the city's grinding poverty. When Helen Forrester's father went bankrupt in 1930, she and her six siblings were forced from their comfortable middle-class life into utmost destitution in Depression-ridden Liverpool. The running of the household and the care of her younger siblings all fell to twelve-year old Helen. In slum surroundings and with little food or support from her feckless parents, Helen was forced on her own resources. Told with compassion, humour and a remarkable lack of self-pity, this is a fascinating picture of life in Britain before the Welfare State and the moving story one young girl's courage.

`It was the biography that I would have written if my parents had not been given benefits, if they’d had to rely on parish hand outs … [I] want to press this book into your hands and go, “You must read this”’ Caitlin Moran

`Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty’ Sunday Telegraph

`What makes this writer’s self-told tale so memorable?… An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject’
The Good Book Guide

'Should be long and widely read as an extraordinary human story and social document' Observer

Helen Forrester was born in Hoylake, Cheshire, the eldest of seven children. For many years, until she married, her home was Liverpool, a city that features prominently in her work. For many decades, she made her home with her husband and son in Alberta, Canada. Helen died in 2011 aged 92.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780007279784
ISBN 10	0007279787
Title	Twopence to Cross the Mersey / Liverpool Miss
Author	Helen Forrester
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	HarperCollins Publishers
Year published	2010-08-05
Number of pages	416
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.