Lemon Sherbet and Dolly Blue

BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2012 SPEAR'S BEST FAMILY HISTORY AWARD 150 Station Road, Wheeldon Mill - a short stride across the Chesterfield Canal in the heart of Derbyshire - was home to the Nash family and their corner shop, serving a small mining community with everything from Brasso to Dolly Blue, from cheap dress rings to Lemon Sherbets. However, this was no ordinary home and no ordinary family. Three generations were adopted - Lynn Knight's great grandfather, a fairground boy given away when his parents left for America in 1865, her great aunt, rescued from an Industrial School in 1909, and her mother, adopted in London as a baby and brought north in 1930. Their story spans centuries and the changing society of twentieth century Britain. But more than that it is a story of community and of love. Full of colour, light and life, Lemon Sherbet & Dolly Blue is a story of what it really means to be family.

Lynn Knight was born in Derbyshire and lives in London. A writer, editor and lecturer, she is the editor of two collections of short stories, and author of the biography, Clarice Cliff.