this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2025
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I've been constantly thinking about those autobiographies by Helen Forrest ( that were recommended here ๐).
They are so interestingly written. She presents many facts. She presents how she lived and what her mother told her and the family.
What her mother told her and the family does not match the facts.
I have come to believe that control of others and sadism was the point of the mother's abuse.
Another good thing about reading these books is that they can help put your own feelings and knowledge into plain words.
I'm glad you liked them. They do stir up a lot of emotions. If I can recommend any other books they would be The Nella Last diaries. Nella wrote for Mass Observation and later on someone compiled them into books.
She writes about everything from what they ate, her charity work, her adult children, domestic life during the war. Simply written and detailed. For me they are up there with Helen's books.
I cried a few times hearing Helen's story. Those poor children ( and I don't mean materially ).
Before these authors lived what they lived and the books they went on to write Aldous Huxley observed in the 1930s the personal and social effect that compulsory education was having on the English working class. Not only were they becoming empowered by the ability to understand the economic and legal world , they could read newspapers and contracts and such, but they could self educate on issues that helped their lives, like hygiene and nutrition. But most importantly education gave them the ability to structure and analyse what they observed and learnt about the world and the people around them.
I think these books and books like them are a product of that. ( Tho of course Helen came from a middle class family. )
It's sad that she had to fight for the most tiniest little things that we take for granted. Books were definitely her lifeline. Don't worry, I cried for every step forward and knock backs she took.