Brighton-born Author's Debut Novel of Granny's Life in the Seaside Town
Brighton-born author Lilian Forshaw (71) has written her first novel based on the real-life events of her grandmother's family and friends in the old seaside town.
The family stories told to the author by her grandmother are the basis for 'Single to Brighton' - a heart-warming and, at times, sad tale of family ups and downs with historical accuracy.
Lilian Forshaw, now living in Battle, attended Stanford Road School and Margaret Hardy Secondary Modern School in Brighton in the 1940s and 50s.
She and her husband Paul were both artists and teachers before they retired.
She has written a vivid recreation of the bustle of life in turn-of-the-century Brighton with an enjoyable tour through the lives of friends and neighbours in the streets and twittens of Brighton and Hove - from 1887 to 1919.
Single to Brighton is the first in a planned trilogy of novels based on Lilian's family tales and the book launch for Single to Brighton will take place in the Alter Ego Gallery in Abbey Court, Battle, on Saturday October 27 2012. 
THE STORY:
Clara, the focus of the tale, was born in 1868, growing up at her grandparent's home, the Lamb Inn at Hooe on Pevensey Levels.
She starts work in domestic service, soon finding her vocation as a clever and gifted cook but her career is almost derailed by an early relationship.
Escaping from the Inn so as not to bring disgrace to her family she takes a train to Brighton, and through her own resourcefulness and courage builds a life for herself as a pioneer single mother.
Her story goes on to encompass love, family, strife, loss and all the old fashioned values that thrive in a close-knit but poor community.
The story is threaded through with the reminiscences of life as overseen by pieces of the family's willow pattern china that can be seen on Lilian's dresser at Deerfold Cottage, Battle.
Realising she had items that had travelled through life with Clara she lets them tell their secretly spied tales of the family.
Available from all good bookshops and online retailers in hardback. Priced £17.99