Despite her family's poor circumstances, the author recalls a childhood filled with family pride and neighborliness; of making do with whatever came to hand; of being thankful for small mercies. This was an age where the deserving poor could write to the Daily Mail and receive a pair of serviceable boots free of charge; when as a small child Maureen would forage for coal and wood for fuel. The industrial working classes really were "poor, but proud and honest." The perfect book for readers of nostalgic historical non-fiction, about life in Britain as the country emerged from the grim years of World War II.