LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE ___ 'A moving microhistory of
working-class girlhood' BBC History Magazine ___ It is 1937 in a
northern mill-town and a class of twelve- and thirteen-year-old
girls are writing about their lives, their world, and the things
that matter to them. They tell of cobbled streets and crowded
homes; the Coronation festivities and holidays to Blackpool;
laughter and fun alongside poverty and hardship. They are destined
for the cotton mill but they dream of being film stars. Class of
'37 uses the writing of these young girls, as collected by the
research organisation Mass Observation, to rediscover this lost
world, transporting readers back in time to a smoky industrial town
in an era before the introduction of a Welfare State, where once
again the clouds of war were beginning to gather. Woven within this
rich, authentic history are the twists and turns of the girls'
lives from childhood to beyond, from their happiest times to the
most heart-breaking of their sorrows. A compelling social history,
this intimate reconstruction of working-class life in 1930s Britain
is a haunting and emotional account of a bygone age. ___ Praise for
Class of '37 'A treasure trove of childhood' - i paper 'A
fascinating account' - Bolton News 'We're used to Mass Observation
revealing adult treasures, but to have them from these
irrepressible children is doubly rewarding. An engrossing and
gently heart-breaking insight into this chatter of still lives
before everything changed, and a wonderful rear-view glimpse of
their vanishing world' - Simon Garfield 'Characters [...] shine
brightly from every page' - Daily Mail
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