Class of '37

A newly rediscovered gem from the Mass Observation archive.

LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE

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'A moving microhistory of working-class girlhood' BBC History Magazine

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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.

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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