The Scarlet Sisters: My nanna's story of secrets and heartache on the banks of the River Thames

‘Oh my goodness – another girl Mrs Swain!’
Clara’s normal iron composure broke and she screamed, ‘No! That’s not the bloody deal!’
And that is how my nanna, Bertha Swain, entered the world.

When Helen Batten’s marriage breaks down, she starts on a journey of discovery into her family’s past and the mysteries surrounding her enigmatic nanna’s early life.

What she unearths is a tale of five feisty red heads struggling to climb out of poverty and find love through two world wars. It’s a story fu...