{"title":"Books by Helen Forrester","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780006361688","title":"Twopence to Cross the Mersey","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe poignant account of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the 1930s, and the brilliant first volume of autobiography. A bestseller ever since it was published in February 1993. One of the most harrowing but uplifting books you will ever read.\u003c\/p\u003e          \u003cp\u003eAnyone who has enjoyed the Frank McCourt books is going to be equally moved by this magnificent testimony to a little girl’s courage.\u003c\/p\u003e          \u003cp\u003eWhen 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56219755905397,"sku":"9780006361688","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780006361688_f6189d1c-5028-4c0e-9d0d-94efd00f0a74.jpg?v=1785658555"},{"product_id":"9780008180935","title":"By the Waters of Liverpool","description":"The third volume in the classic story of Helen Forrester’s 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.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56220872507765,"sku":"9780008180935","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008180935_7a201d01-9eb3-44ad-856d-4e52bd1e2218.jpg?v=1785658659"},{"product_id":"9780008180959","title":"Liverpool Miss","description":"The second volume of Helen Forrester’s powerful, painful and ultimately uplifting four-volume autobiography of her poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool during the Depression.The Forrester family are slowly winning their fight for survival. But life remains extremely tough for fourteen-year-old Helen. Along with caring for her younger siblings and suffering terrible hardships she is also battling with her parents to persuade them to allow her to earn her own living. Helen is desperate to lead her own life after the years of neglect and inadequate schooling.Written with an unflinching eye, Helen’s account of her continuing struggles against severe malnutrition and dirt (she has her first bath in four years) and, above all, the selfish demands of her parents, is deeply shocking. But Helen’s fortitude and her ability to find humour in the most harrowing of situations make this make this a story of amazing courage and perseverance.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56221192880501,"sku":"9780008180959","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008180959_8ac0aac0-72ac-48ea-8677-f315ae9dbb94.jpg?v=1786011260"},{"product_id":"lime-street-at-two","title":"Lime Street at Two","description":"The fourth and final part of Helen Forrester’s bestselling autobiography continues the moving story of her early poverty-stricken life with an account of the war years in Blitz-torn LiverpoolIn 1940 Helen, now twenty, is working long hours at a welfare centre in Bootle, five miles from home. Her wages are pitifully low and her mother claims the whole of them for housekeeping but she is still thrilled to be working and gaining some independence. The Second World War is affecting every part of the country and Hitler’s Luftwaffe nightly seek to wreck havoc on her home city of Liverpool.Then, tragedy is brought shockingly close to home and Helen is left reeling when she receives some terrible news. But there is no let-up in the bombing and the Germans seem determined to bring the country to its knees. When a move brings more trouble for Helen, she is determined that she will face it, as ever, with courage and determination.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466676183413,"sku":"9780008180942","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008180942.jpg?v=1785654735"},{"product_id":"twopence-to-cross-mersey-pb","title":"Twopence to Cross the Mersey","description":"This major best-selling memoir of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool is one of the most harrowing but uplifting books you will ever read.When Helen Forrester’s father went bankrupt in 1930 she and her six siblings were forced into utmost poverty and slum surroundings in Depression-ridden Liverpool. The running of the household and the care of the younger children all fell on twelve-year-old Helen. With very little food or help from her feckless parents, Helen led a life of unrelenting drudgery and hardship.Writing about her experiences later in life, Helen Forrester shed light on an almost forgotten part of life in Britain. , Forrester’s memoir of these grim days is as heart-warming as it is shocking.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57466676871541,"sku":"9780008180966","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780008180966.jpg?v=1785654736"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-helen-forrester.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}