Such a hard life in early 1900's

[David Annis]

I have just read Grace Foakes book, "Four Meals for Fourpence".
If you want to find out just how hard it was for the poor in the early 1900's, then this book will open your eyes. Set in the East End of London, by the docks of the Thames, it sets out, in vivid detail the deprivation and poverty suffered by the poor in those days.
Although it is about life in the East End of London, I think you can say that this applies to the working class poor across the country in those days.
When a baby was born families were asked, "Is it going to stay with us", in other words will the baby live.
If it reached the first 6 months of it's life it was generally considered that it was going to survive.
Grace Foakes gives such a clear insight in to her family life and that of the people who lived around her.
I recommend this book just for the fact that it may show how your ancesters might have struggled and lived in those times. It's a jolly good read as well.

Cheers
Dave

[v.wells]

Thanks Dave I'll look out for it at the local bookshop here. If I can't find it I'll have to get in via internet. It sounds like a really good read. Thanks for sharing your review. How many pages are there, out of curiousity? I don't mind if it's a short read but I do like long ones.

[David Annis]

Your welcome Vanessa.
Keep you going for a few nights. You should be able to find a copy on the internet.
Cheers
Dave.

[deeree]

At the speed that bookshops are closing in Australia, internet shopping will soon be the only way to buy a book. Recently, Angus & Robertson announced that they're closing and Borders are also on their last legs. The bookshop in my own neck of the woods has reduced it's size from two shops to one. Readings still looks strong and fortunately there's one of those nearby. I think it's very sad not to be able to handle a book before you purchase it. Internet purchases are so very sterile. Don't get me wrong, I buy on the internet when I can't get a book in the shops, but I do like to be able to wander down to the shops on a Sunday arvo for an hour's browse and pick up a book.

[anamarja]

I managed to find a copy of this book online, and promptly bought it. It is a fascinating read. Many thanks for thinking to share this, David.

[lorre]

Looks an interesting book, just about to buy it for my wife's kindle..... thanks for bringing it to my attention.

[junedye64]

I have also just finished reading this book. I borrowed it from the library.

It describes in detail what they had to put up with in those days. Especially as most of my family grew up in the East End of London.

The other great book was The Journal of a Georgian Gentleman. Although he wasn't exactly poor, he did live on the East side of London, North & South of the river. The information the book contained was amazing.

June

[Tinker]

As others have said, definitely a good read! I went on to read another book called 'Twopence to Cross the Mersey' by Helen Forrester. It's her experiences of her life in Liverpool during the Depression in the 1930s. Her family was middle-class, based in the south of England, but when her father went bankrupt he decided to move them to Liverpool in hope of finding work. For some time, the family lived in squalor and poverty that makes Grace Foakes' life look pretty good! It's certainly an eye-opener, and highlights what life was like before the NHS and the Benefits system that we take for granted today.

[AudreyF]

I also recently read 'Twopence to Cross the Mersey'. It was a good book to just read but also gave me a tremendous insight into the struggles of the poor. I've related a lot of what I read there to the lives of my ancestors I am researching.

AudreyF