A marvellous life-enhancing book for all ages now a major animated film starring Jim Broadbent Brenda Blethyn & Luke Treadaway Utterly original deeply moving & very funny Ethel & Ernest tells the story of Raymond Briggs' parents' marriage lady's maid Ethel & milkman Ernest from their first chance encounter in 1928 through the birth of their son Raymond in 1934 to their deaths within months of each other in 1971 Told in Briggs unique strip-cartoon format Ethel & Ernest live through the defining moments of the twentieth century the darkness of the Great Depression the build up to World War II the trials of the war years the euphoria of VE Day & the emergence of a generation from post war austerity to the cultural enlightenment of the 1960s Ethel & Ernest is a heartfelt & affectionate tribute to an ordinary couple & an extraordinary generation