Hidden Lives: A Family Memoir by Margaret Forster

What a fascinating read about the changes in society over the last century.

It is an incredible and personal insight into family life.

I was intrigued by the hint of a little mystery, the woman dressed in black, that visits the Grandmother but disappointed that the story never was really addressed.

Down To The Sea In Ships: Of Ageless Oceans and Modern Men by Horatio Clare

t is a fascinating book to read as Clare gets to the heart of the shipping industry and the people that run these ships.

 

It covers almost everything the layman could want to know about container ships and how they operate in two sections: To the East and West and North. 

The two sections cover different size ships and the lives of the crews at sea while also throwing in the different pay rates for Filipinos and other nations, women at sea, how the author and the seamen feel about their ships and the work they do, hazards of the work and the two World Wars. 

All this in 348 pages making for a very interesting read.