Twopence to Cross the Mersey / Liverpool Miss - Softcover

‘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

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.