Helen Forrester was the

pen name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of June Huband Bhatia (6 June 1919 – 24 November 2011), who was an Anglo-Canadian author known for her books about her youth in Liverpool, England, during the Great Depression and World II, as well as several works of fiction.

Life and work

June Huband was born in

Hoylake Hoylake is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historically part of Cheshire, the Domes ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county tow ...

Wirral Peninsula Wirral (; ), known locally as The Wirral, is a peninsula in North West England. The roughly rectangular peninsula is about long and wide and is bounded by the River Dee to the west (forming the boundary with Wales), the River Mersey to ...

, the eldest of seven children of inept, socialite, middle-class parents who lived on credit. When her father went bankrupt during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the family was thrown into poverty. Evicted from their comfortable home in an English market town and with nothing more than the clothes they stood up in, the large family took the train to Liverpool, where they hoped to rebuild their lives. While Forrester's father searched unsuccessfully for work, the family were forced to live together in a single room. As the eldest child, the 12-year-old Helen was kept away from school to look after her six younger brothers and sisters. For the next few years the family were forced to rely on meagre handouts from the parish, and the kindness of strangers. At the age of 14 Forrester rebelled against her life of drudgery and her parents agreed to allow her to attend evening classes to make up for her missed years of education. Throughout her teenage years, Forrester worked for a charitable organisation in Liverpool and

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. Historically part of Lancashire, Bootle's ...

, which provided background for her novels ''Liverpool Daisy'', ''A Cuppa Tea and an Aspirin'', and ''Three Women of Liverpool''. After surviving the

Liverpool Blitz The Liverpool Blitz was the heavy and sustained bombing of the English city of Liverpool and its surrounding area, during the Second World War by the German ''Luftwaffe''. Liverpool was the most heavily bombed area of the country, outside Lo ...

and losing two consecutive fiancés to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

she met and, in 1950, married physicist Dr. Avadh Bhatia (d.1984). They had one child, Robert. Forrester's life with Bhatia in India provided background for ''Thursday's Child'' and ''The Moneylenders of Shahpur''. The couple traveled widely, eventually settling in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anch ...

, Canada, in 1955, where Dr. Bhatia became the director of the Theoretical Physics Institute at the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

. He was a pioneer in electronic transport theory and the study of diffraction of light by ultrasonic waves. The Physics Building at the University of Alberta is named after him. The best-selling memoir of her childhood was ''Twopence to Cross the Mersey''. It was later turned into a successful musical by Rob Fennah, Helen Jones and Alan Fennah. By ''The Waters of Liverpool'' was also adapted for the stage by the same team and first performed in 2020. Living in Alberta provided background for Forrester's novels ''The Latchkey Kid'' and ''The Lemon Tree''. ''Yes Mama'', which takes place mostly in late 19th- and early 20th-century Liverpool, also includes a section about Alberta.

Death

She died on 24 November 2011 in

, aged 92.

Honours

Forrester was awarded honorary doctorates by the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

in 1988 and by the University of Alberta in 1993. A

Blue Plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

was unveiled in her honour at 5 Warren Road,

, Wirral (her maternal grandmother's home where she spent happy childhood holidays) in 2020 by actors

Mark Moraghan Mark Stephen Moraghan (born 27 January 1963) is an English actor and singer. He has appeared in many British drama series including ''Peak Practice'', '' London's Burning'' and '' Heartbeat''. He is most famous for being the narrator for the ...

and Sian Reeves who were performing in the stage version of ''By The Waters of Liverpool''. Her son Robert Bhatia attended the unveiling.

Bibliography

Autobiographical works

* ''Twopence to Cross The Mersey'' (1974) * ''Liverpool Miss'' (originally published as ''Minerva's Stepchild'') (1979) * ''By the Waters of Liverpool'' (1981) * ''Lime Street at Two'' (1985)

Fiction

* ''Liverpool Daisy'' (1979) * ''Three Women of Liverpool'' (1984) * ''The Latchkey Kid'' (1985) * ''Thursday's Child'' (1985) * ''The Moneylenders of Shahpur'' (1987) * ''Yes, Mama'' (1988) * ''The Lemon Tree'' (1990) * ''The Liverpool

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

'' (1993) * ''Mourning Doves'' (1996) * ''Madame Barbara'' (1999) * ''A Cuppa Tea and an Aspirin'' (2003)

References

External links

Helen Forrester at Fantastic Fiction

Helen Forrester discusses the musical adaptation of ''Twopence to Cross the Mersey''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, the childr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Forrester, Helen People from Hoylake Writers from Liverpool English women novelists 1919 births 2011 deaths English historical novelists English emigrants to Canada English memoirists English romantic fiction writers British women memoirists Women romantic fiction writers 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers Women historical novelists English women non-fiction writers Pseudonymous women writers 20th-century pseudonymous writers