By the Waters of Liverpool

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Description

The third volume in the classic story of Helen Forresters childhood and adolescence in poverty-stricken Liverpool during the 1930s.
Helen Forrester continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken life with an account of her teenage years and the devastating effect of the Second World War on her hometown of Liverpool.

At seventeen, Helen Forrester's parents are still as irresponsible as ever, wasting money while their children still lack adequate food and clothing. But for Helen, having won a small measure of independence, things are looking up. Having educated herself at night school and now making friends in her first proper job, she meets a handsome seaman and falls in love for the first time. But the storm clouds of war are gathering and Helen will experience at first hand the horror of the blitz and the terrible toll that the war exacted on ordinary people. As ever, Helen faces the future with courage and determination.

Reviews

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

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

What makes this writers self-told tale so memorable An absolute recall, a genius for the unforgettable detail, the rare chance of subject The Good Book Guide

Author Bio

Helen Forrester was born in Hoylake, Cheshire in 1919 and was the eldest of seven children. She was the author of four phenomenally successful volumes of autobiography and many equally popular novels. Helens memoirs recount the years of hardship that she and her family suffered in Depression-era Liverpool, the city that features prominently throughout her work. In 1950, Helen married her husband, Avadh, and moved to India, far away from her Merseyside home. They eventually settled in Alberta, Canada where she lived for almost sixty years. Helen was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Liverpool in 1988 and by the University of Alberta in 1993. There have been a number of successful stage interpretations of Twopence to Cross the Mersey, most recently in 2016 at Liverpools Royal Court Theatre. Helen died in 2011 aged ninety-two and her writing continues to inspire readers around the world.