A snapshot of life in the 1950s

A lifelong Pontefract resident is celebrating the publication of her second book, at the age of 86.

Mavis Foster first got the writing bug a few years ago after being invited to speak to a group of school children about World War Two.

The result was My War (published in 2015) – largely an information book with a little biography mixed in - which she was helped to write by her granddaughter Kate Popplewell from Thornhill.

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Mavis said: “Children weren’t so much interested in all the newsworthy things that happened in the war as they were in what ordinary life was like during that time.

They wanted to know what school was like, what we children did for fun and how people survived without the internet!”

Mavis’ latest work, A New Decade, refers to the 1950s but is written in an altogether different style.

Kate said: “My War was written to give school children general information about what everyday life was like for a child living in Britain during the 1940s.

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“A New Decade is a narrative based on real people, real events and real places.

“The idea was to put my grandmother’s story into words in the style of a novel, with characters and conversations.

“The reader can glean information about the 1950s from reading it, but the time in history in which it is set is incidental as the themes within it transcend time and place.

“It is a story about love, loss and the pursuit of joy. ”

Mavis hopes that the book will appeal to both those who remember the decade and those who simply have an interest in social or local history, as the book is set predominantly in West Yorkshire.

A New Decade is available on Amazon priced at £5.99.