Twopence to Cross the Mersey

First published in 1974, Helen Forrester’s poignant account of her poverty-stricken childhood in London during the Depression of the 1930s is a bestselling modern classic.

Twopence was the prince f the ferry-boat between Liverpool and Birkenhead. A tiny sum but 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 like into destitution. The running of the household and the care of her younger siblings all fell to twelve-year-old Helen. In slim surroundings and with little 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 of one young girl’s courage.