Book Description

When I was a child living in Liverpool, England, I often stayed with my grandparents, near the docks. On those long weekends, they would tell me amazing stories about the Second World War. My grandmother was a great storyteller, sharing her memories next to the fire, smoking cigarettes and constantly drinking tea (and the occasional whiskey). She had a way of telling a story that would pull you in, and with her silhouetted against the perpetual roaring coal fire and cigarette smoke, I would let my schoolchild fantasy soar. These stories were often about the children in Liverpool who had been evacuated (including her own children, my parents), or about soldiers from families she knew who had gone off to fight and had returned home with tales of their own. One of the stories she told was that one day she was down on the docks of Liverpool. She had gone down there because the Queen Mary Cruiser had arrived and she had never seen that famous ship When she arrived at the docks, she noticed a few children from wealthy families playing on the wharf. They were enjoying a moment on land before the ship sailed for the five-day journey to New York. These children were being evacuated - but not to farmers outside the city like my parents. Instead, they would be whisked away by sea or air to glamorous and extravagant America. As she got closer to the children, my grandmother realized they were from different nationalities, and was amazed how easily they jumped from one language to another. They were the children of diplomats and European Royalty, industrialists and the famous. Even though they were young children, they were used to a life that my old grandmother could only dream about. Those tales rubbed off on me. As a child I used to write short stories about these children, how they would have adventures, and as children how they could move almost unnoticed among the rich and influential of the time.