First & second parts of Helen Forresters poignant autobiography. Twopence was the price of the ferry-boat between Liverpool & 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 & her six siblings were forced from their comfortable middle-class life into utmost destitution in Depression-ridden Liverpool. The running of the household & the care of her younger siblings all fell to twelve-year old Helen. In slum surroundings & with little food or support from her feckless parents Helen was forced on her own resources. Told with compassion humour & a remarkable lack of self-pity this is a fascinating picture of life in Britain before the Welfare State & the moving story one young girl's courage.