Passage Across the Mersey

by Robert Bhatia

The remarkable story of Helen Forrester, author of Twopence to Cross the Mersey, and how she turned tragedy to triumph.


When Helen Forrester’s father went bankrupt in the 1930’s, she and her six siblings fell from a comfortable middle-class existence into wretched poverty. Later in life, Helen wrote a ground-breaking series of memoirs, starting with Twopence to Cross the Mersey, which told the harrowing account of her family’s struggles in Depression-era Liverpool. It was a story filled with tragedy and small triumphs but many readers wondered what happened to Helen when she grew up; what became of the fragile young girl who had so much responsibility heaped on her shoulders?


Now for the first time, her son Robert recounts the unexpected life that Helen went on to live; of the remarkable love story with a young man from a background a million miles away from everything a Lancashire Lass like Helen would have known and of the astonishing lengths she went to in order to achieve happiness. Full of new revelations and fascinating detail never before revealed, Passage Across the Mersey is a story of an extraordinary woman, and of the journey that took her thousands of miles from the place she called home…

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction

384 pages, Paperback

Published October 19, 2017

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting book written by the son about his mother's journey from middle class to poverty in 1930's Liverpool to her writing in canada and her marriage to the Indian Phd student she met in Liverpool.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ I enjoy authorized biographies, so had hoped to enjoy this one as well. It was written by the son of renowned late author with the pen name Helen Forrester. I hadn’t actually heard of her until two of my nieces shared their love of her writing with me. She definitely was a remarkable lady and her son did his mother proud, while writing this book posthumously. I did enjoy the first several chapters of the book but from chapters 8 to15 I found it eye-rollingly monotonous. Too much extraneous info. These chapters contained verbatim the text of letters exchanged between Helen and her Indian fiancé, who had gone ahead to India to start his job, arrange cancellation of his previous marriage and figure out living arrangements. The daily back and forth carried on for months, involved much waffling; it was repetitive and I felt it wasn’t necessary. I sped read through much of it. She eventually got to India, converted to Hinduism, and assimilated into the Indian culture happily only to have to move back to England for a time, and eventually to Edmonton. It was in Canada that she started writing novels, prolifically apparently. For someone with such a difficult and dysfunctional childhood, it it amazing that she became as accomplished, learned and loving as she did. It was an interesting read aside from those seven chapters.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

British/Canadian author Helen Forrester, author of Twopence To Cross The Mersey, Liverpool Miss, By The Waters Of Liverpool, and Limestreet at Two and several other novels was a pioneer of the type of gritty and unsentimental (though not without humour) memoir that became more fashionable in the 1980's and 1990's and still flourishes today. As an author, reader and book person she frequented her neighborhood bookstore, Volume II Books, where I worked for a few years. I got to know her slightly through sales, orders, launches and conversations about books and other subjects and I and the other employees there always appreciated her good humour and intelligent conversation. I was very pleased to see the arrival of this biography, written by her son, Robert Bhatia, so I could learn more about her and her life.

Although her early years were extremely difficult, plagued by poverty and abuse, she managed to not only survive but to become an educated, self-aware, inquisitive, caring, intelligent and talented person who became a businesswoman, author, and found true love in Avadh Bhatia, a professor and widely respected physicist.

Bhatia tells the story of her life from a personal perspective through her carefully kept papers and his own research and brings a tale not only of the triumph of hard work and perseverance over adversity but a touching and enduring love story vividly to life. As a fan, you might quibble with the books' editing, which gives more space to the personal parts of her life, over the literary but it covers all in enough detail that I'm certain Forrester herself would have been pleased. A worthy tribute to an extremely interesting life. - BH.

[Ellie White · Rating 1 out of 5]

Helen's life was very interesting and I would rather have read her personal biography- didn't quite work as cohesive piece of work written in extracts from her letters.

[Sharen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well written biography and homage to the author's parents, especially his mother who wrote under the pen name of Helen Forrester. Since I had just read the four autobiographies by Helen Forrester, I skimmed the first part of the book. Much of the rest of the book consisted of letters between his parents written in the months they were separated before their marriage.I wish Bahtia had written more about their life together. Although this book was skillfully written, it lacked the passion of his mother's books in which I felt as though I was experiencing her struggles along with her. However I am glad that I read it because she did find happiness and success which she certainly deserved.

[Liandrah Macklem · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the distinct honour of meeting Helen Forrester and having her critique some of my writing when she was the writer in residence for our Edmonton Public Library.
She was so gracious and engaging, positive and inspirational.
This book is a loving tribute to a brave woman who overcame the odds life threw at her with great aplomb.

[Janet Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this amazing lifestory, although I got a bit bored with all the numerious letters between her and her husband at towards the end! Incredible output for one lifetime!

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew a bit about Helen Forrester (Twopence to Cross the Mersey was one of her books)—that she was raised in impoverished circumstances in Britain, and that she moved to Edmonton, Alberta. But I didn’t know great hunks of her story: that she came through WWII, met and married a Hindu, converted to Hinduism and married him and was willing to live as his “2nd wife” in India. Or that he was a physics prof at University of Alberta and that theirs was very much a love story. Her son, Robert Bhatia, works with the Alberta government, and wrote this story, depending much on letters written by his mother. This means that the flow of the story is often interrupted, but it was an interesting life nonetheless.

[Susana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book a year or two ago. It was written by the son of Helen Forrester (memoirist/novelist) about his mom. It did fill in some of the gaps in the biography of Helen Forrester/ June Bhatia. For me, it spent too long on the tortuous engagement of his parents. His father was still married when he met Helen/June. Not a small impediment in India of the 1940s. It is a subject of interest, but I did not need every detail of an excruciating on again off again engagement. I wish he spent more time on his mother's path to being a writer and life as a writer.

I think this book would only be of interest to those who love the books of Helen Forrester.

[Voyage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book at random at my local library, and it's been an interesting book, different from what I usually read. It's the biography of Helen Bhatia, which focuses mostly on some specific periods of her life (as the others, she mostly covered in her other books, sometimes in a fictionalised way). "Passage across the Mersey" was written by her son Robert after Helen's death. It made me want to read her other books, as they certainly cover parts of relatively recent British history I'm not familiar with.

[Joan Morin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to know the story behind the author, Helen Forrester, and this book was written by her son. It was really interesting when it began and later on once she was married to her Indian husband (Bhatia). But -- the middle was so repetitious, citing letters that had gone back and forth. In the end, I had to skip over much of this part as it became boring. However, her life was definitely different, challenging and interesting so I'm glad that I read it.

[Angela Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful story of real life of Helen Forrester

Can be hard going at Times ...Tells the real life and struggles through her sons eyes. Brings to life of a very talented lady.

[Tanya Shand · Rating 3 out of 5]

ok book, interesting story. The middle was a but excessive & boring but it was easy to skim over.

[Eileen Hall · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful biography of one of my all time favourite authors.
Helen Forrester was the complete storyteller, weaving her life in some of the best novels around.
Her son, Robert, has her talent also.
Very highly recommended.
I was given a digital copy of this book by the publisher Harper Collins via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.

[Madeleine]

For a detailed summary of the book, as well as some quotes from an interview I did with the author, check out this article I wrote for the Edmonton Journal here

[Ronnie Turner]

This is the biography of Helen Forrester – author, mother, wife and truly remarkable woman.

In this inspiring, up-lifting biography, written by Robert Bhatia, Helen Forrester’s only son, we follow Helen’s journey through the depths of poverty in the 1930s, her heart-break over loosing two fiancés in the war and her quest for happiness.

At times in this book, I found myself immensely saddened by some of the things Helen lived through and endured and others hopeful, amazed by Helen’s enormous amount of strength and courage. She went from struggling, hungry young girl to clever, determined woman who, after much heartache, falls in love with Avadh Bhatia, a young man, visiting from India to finish his PhD.

In this book are numerous quotes from old letters sent between Helen and Avadh after their engagement. Things aren’t as easy as they could have been and it is, in fact, a troubled time before they see each other again. But despite their struggles, Helen remains steadfast in her goal: to live a happy life with Avadh in India. The letters give us a deep, beautiful and at times heart-wrenching insight into their lives as they wait for their piece of happiness and the time when they can finally be together.

I urge you to read this book.

Possessing immeasurable strength of character and spirit, Helen Forrester is such a remarkable woman. And if you love her books, this is a must-read.

Heart-warming. Touching. Inspiring.


I received my review copy via the publisher.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting life. It is good to find out more about the author of Twopence to Cross the Mersey. I feel some things were glossed over or just lacked detail but the yes/no of going to India was conversely very detailed. Loved the letters between Helen and her future husband.