The Herring Girls

In a good, honest, unadorned voice reminiscent of that of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Dory Lythe, a nineteenth-century villager from the Yorkshire coast, recounts her experiences as a 13-year-old herring gutter. She's forced by family tragedy to work alongside the gangs of formidably tough Scottish girls who descend on Whitby every season. The story in itself in fascinating, but what makes the book indispensable (and wonderful value for money) are the reproductions of contemporary photographs of fishing village life taken by Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, the 'picture man' who also appears in the story. Very highly recommended for readers and browsers of all ages.