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Single to Brighton Lilian Forshaw

Single to Brighton By Lilian Forshaw

Single to Brighton by Lilian Forshaw


$21.99
Condition - Very Good
Only 3 left

Summary

Based on real family stories told to the author by her grandmother, 'Single to Brighton' is by turns heart-warming and tragic, yet retains throughout its pages the stamp of authenticity.

Single to Brighton Summary

Single to Brighton: True Edwardian Tales: Volume 1: First book of a trilogy by Lilian Forshaw

The 1870s were carefree childhood days for Clara and Frank, playing along the waterways on Pevensey Levels. She, one of the Inn Keepers' grandchildren and his father, the local landowner. Love grew between the pair in nature's way. Years on when, Frank returned from University finding Clara working in his parent's kitchen their young adult emotions rekindled in a natural way. Becoming aware of the situation Frank's parents moved swiftly to send their son far away to South Africa. Just in time Clara presses a token of love to his heart; a small piece of Willow pattern China she named Mizpah. In her bereavement she resolves to leave home to avoid bringing shame on her grandparents. Brighton was full of surprises; like the sight of a roof piled high with onions and upturned cones and even a second hand food shop that came to her rescue. With the support of her sisters Clara's life progressed through the cobbled lanes that glittered with fish scales. Her first job, with her baby strapped to her back, papoose style, was baking cakes in a ladies speakeasy tea room by the Clock Tower. Becoming cook in Hove's Adelaide Crescent to a musical family she met young Mister V.Williams and his friend Mister G. Holst who enjoyed her biscuits. Through the years Frank's letters found Clara wherever she was. At first forlorn that she would never join him, but soon his letters were full of the wide open spaces and the animals that roamed the veld. Marriage brought her to a little muse cottage in the town centre alongside a piano tuner and huge draught horses. Clara was clear on what she felt about the Suffragettes and how the 1914-18 war affected Brighton's poor community, until fate again meant a break away for Clara and her family.

Single to Brighton Reviews

REVIEW BY. The Eminent Historian Professor Lisa Jardine 2013 - I was hooked on Lilian Forshaw's Single to Brighton from the minute her Grandmother Clara, aged nineteen, slips a tiny porcelain keepsake into her sweetheart's hand as they are separated by force by Clara's employers. Lilian's family collection of Willow pattern porcelain guides and punctuates the story, so that we can be sure that that small token Clara proffers to watch over her lover while they are apart, will eventually return to her. Clara's story has all the narrative of an Edwardian sentimental novel. it is full of the sights and sounds of the period, and shot through with emotions from a bygone age. I particularly enjoyed the smells - Clara makes her way in the world with her cooking skills, and recipes and the seductive smells of her baking permeates the whole book. Clara's richly illuminated story makes me wish I could chart my own grandmother's life with such depth and clarity. I could not put Single to Brighton down. Nor can I wait to hear, in the second volume what happens next to the intrepid Clara.

About Lilian Forshaw

Lilian Forshaw was born in Brighton Sussex and studied at Brighton Art College where she specialised in painting and industrial pottery. Before training to be a teacher she took time out to paint and work in Venice. She has continued to explore new techniques, recently having success painting portrait miniatures. She now lives near Battle in East Sussex. Having told the family so many tales of her grandmother Clara, born in 1868, Lilian's daughter said, 'If you don't write granma's story down it will be lost forever.' But where should she start? Then it all fell into place when a chance remark turned her attention to her collection of Willow pattern China. 'I bet those old pieces of China could tell some tales.' Of course, there on her kitchen dresser was the small Willow dish Clara had given to her on her 10th birthday in 1952. And what a fascinating story it had. Setting pen to paper in 2006 Lilian surprised herself by writing enough for four books. Lilian's first three books make a trilogy telling the story of her grandmother's life; with a prequel, a short tale Clara told the family after Christmas tea in 1951, saying, 'This is something you should all know; a tale that turned out to be quite a surprise.

Additional information

GOR005688449
9781846247903
184624790X
Single to Brighton: True Edwardian Tales: Volume 1: First book of a trilogy by Lilian Forshaw
Used - Very Good
Hardback
Book Guild Publishing Ltd
20121018
320
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - Single to Brighton