Twopence to Cross the Mersey

1974, Helen Forrester's account of growing up in 1930s Liverpool

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition, first printing. Hardback in dustwrapper. 20.5 × 13cm, 224pp

The poignant account of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the 1930s, and the brilliant first volume of autobiography. When Helen Forrester’s father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced from comfortable middle-class life in southern England to utmost poverty in the Depression-ridden North. The running of the household, in slum surroundings and with little food, and the care of the younger children all fell on twelve-year-old Helen. She writes about her experiences without self-pity but rather with a rich sense of humour which makes her account of these grim days heartwarmingly funny as well as shockingly moving.

Condition

A good copy. The dustwrapper is a little marked with foxing (to the rear panel), and the book has occasional foxing throughout but is otherwise clean and has not been price-clipped.