Sunflowers and Silver Birch

Sunflowers and Silver Birch: A Memoir

Renowned Lancashire poet, author and journalist Phoebe Hesketh writes her life story in colourful detail. 

Born in 1909, she describes her early life against the backdrop of the First World War, revealing an innate love of nature and an introduction to social awareness from her well-known suffragette aunt Edith Rigby. Spartan boarding schools in her adolescent years culminate with attendance at Cheltenham Ladies' College, and she quotes with a wry smile: 'hard beds, hard chairs and scant rations were good for the soul.'

Once out of college, Phoebe remembers her life as she meets the responsibilities of adulthood. From the loss of her parents, to her own marriage and children, and all the enjoyment and sadness that lies therein, she always writes in a forthright manner, sharing everything with her readers. There is no doubt it is from these emotional and often life-changing experiences that she becomes able to write so inspirationally; leaving an amazing legacy of both poetry and prose.

Her writing career is interwoven alongside her personal experiences. Her first poetry anthology was published in 1939 and she also became the Women's Page Editor for a local newspaper. She wrote scripts for BBC radio and television, became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded the Greenwood Prize by the Poetry Society on two occasions. In 1990 she was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the University of Central Lancashire.

Phoebe lived to the age of 96, and her compelling life-story has been edited posthumously by her daughter Catherine Robinson, with the inclusion of photographs showing some of the characters that pass through the pages.

ISBN: 9781852001841 

Size: 217x140mm 

Binding: hardback 

Length: 220pp 

19 b&w & col. photos