Twopence to Cross the Mersey

By: Helen Forrester

Narrated by: Liane-Rose Bunce

This major best-selling memoir of a poverty-stricken childhood in Liverpool is one of the most harrowing but uplifting books you will ever hear. 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 12-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. Written with good humour and a lack of self-pity, Forrester's memoir of these grim days is as heart-warming as it is shocking.

©1974 Helen Forrester (P)2016 Audible Studios

Good story

Wonderful book👍
Good author, excellent reader of story and absorbing to the very end of book.

Odyssey through Poverty

Amazing true story- easy to follow this odyssey of extreme poverty and oldest daughter abuse

Resilient little girl!

What did you love best about Twopence to Cross the Mersey?

That baby Edward loved her so unconditionally when no one else could.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Twopence to Cross the Mersey?

When Helen came to the realization that there would be no more upper class living, and that her needs were to be met by herself, in the best way she knew how, as a child with no loving guidance, and with her siblings survival in her own hands-with minimal earnings in which to do it.

Any additional comments?

I shiver when I think of Helen being so cold, and I ache when I think of her hunger pangs. And my Mommy arms long to hold her and tell her that she matters, and that I know life was difficult but that the feeling of gratitude for all she accomplished and endured, comes to mind with the very thought of the misery of her childhood.Trying to figure out why there are 8 children on the cover. There were 7 siblings.