Flickerbook

Introduced by Ruth Fainlight and with an afterword by Hilary Mantel, Flickerbook is the classic autobiography of the writer Leila Berg (1917–2012), who fought all  her life ‘fiercely and often provocatively for the right of children to be listened to, understood and accepted’ (TES). It recreates childhood pleasures and fears, relationships with family and lovers, and growing political engagement. It ends with an air-raid siren in September 1939: ‘Something new is beginning, and we fumble because we don’t know what it is.’