Jacqueline Wilson-Tisdall

2025 | 241pp pb | ISBN: 978-1-914002-57-1

My aim in writing this book for my children, Julia and John, was because of my desire to give them an insight into the backdrop of my life and their early life. The narrative ends in September 1973 when Julia was aged six years old and John four years old.

Official documentation, photographs and research contained in several large portfolios could not be included in this book due to the sheer volume, but they expand greatly on what has been written.

Compared to recent ancestors, my early life was idyllic and happy. I was well cared for and loved by my parents, I never ever went hungry, always had a clean warm bed to sleep in and was well dressed.

While writing and listening to recent news programmes I have become very aware of how many instances in my life are still prevalent today… such as the paedophile who sat next to me in the darkness of the cinema when I was seven years old; or the behaviour of two policemen who felt they should take no action after I had been sexually attacked, aged 14, on the way home from school, because it could be ‘worse’ for me; or the long-term effects of the shock when starting senior school and feeling so out of my depth, due to my astounding naivety, despite my intelligence. But all of the above is of no real significance compared to the poverty of the lives of my mother, grandmothers and great-grandmother. What happened to me in my lifetime I truly overcame and became all the stronger when dealing with life’s inevitable setbacks.

You may ask what relevance the title of this book has to my life. ‘Northfield Path’ was the portal which led to the beginning of my life outside the home. It was and still is a very uninspiring little path, but it was my happy place. I can so easily transport myself back to the top of the path and feel those overwhelming and sublime happy emotions I felt at the age of five years old and beyond.