Helen Forrester was born in Hoylake, Cheshire, the eldest of seven children. For many years, until she married, her home was Liverpool, a city that features prominently in her work. For many decades, she made her home with her husband and son in Alberta, Canada. Helen died in 2011 aged 92.

'Records of hardship during the Thirties or earlier are not rare; but this has features that make it stand apart' Observer 'Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty' Sunday Telegraph '...should be long and widely read as an extraordinary human story and social document' Observer

Helen Forrester was born in Hoylake, Cheshire, the eldest of seven children. For many years, until she married, her home was Liverpool, a city that features prominently in her work. For many decades, she made her home with her husband and son in Alberta, Canada. Helen died in 2011 aged 92.

'Records of hardship during the Thirties or earlier are not rare; but this has features that make it stand apart' Observer 'Remarkable that from so bleak and unloving a background came a writer of such affectionate understanding and unsettling honesty' Sunday Telegraph '...should be long and widely read as an extraordinary human story and social document' Observer