Ethel & Ernest

Description

Raymond Brigg`s most extraordinary and most appealing book yet - a tender, moving, warmly funny tribute to his parents- Ethel and Ernest - now a major animated film starring Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn and Luke Treadaway A marvellous, life-enhancing book for all ages, now a major animated film starring Jim Broadbent, Brenda Blethyn and Luke Treadaway Utterly original, deeply moving and very funny, Ethel & Ernest tells the story of Raymond Briggs' parents' marriage, lady's maid Ethel and milkman Ernest, from their first chance encounter in 1928, through the birth of their son Raymond in 1934, to their deaths, within months of each other, in 1971. Told in Brigg`s unique strip-cartoon format, Ethel and Ernest live through the defining moments of the twentieth century- the darkness of the Great Depression, the build up to World War II, the trials of the war years, the euphoria of VE Day and the emergence of a generation from post war austerity to the cultural enlightenment of the 1960s. Ethel & Ernest is a heartfelt and affectionate tribute to an ordinary couple and an extraordinary generation.

Raymond Briggs was born in London in 1934. He is the author of the hugely successful children's books Father Christmas and The Snowman. These books have been translated into many languages and adapted into films, plays and TV cartoons. His other books include Fungus the Bogeyman, Ug, When the Wind Blows, Ethel & Ernest, a biography of his parents, and his latest, Time for Lights Out, a contemplation on old age, told through words and pictures.

Briggs has always had the ability to move his readers, but never more powerfully than this. -- Stephen Pritchard * Guardian * As our memory of pre-Niketown Britain fades, we should be grateful that Raymond Briggs is so brilliantly equipped to remind us of what we used to be, and why. -- Nick Hornby * New York Times * Ethel & Ernest imparts, as the best novels do, the sense of lived lives. It's not too much to say you come to love these people... Briggs' book earns our tears. Ethel & Ernest is a just about perfect miniature: small in scale, not in spirit. -- Charles Taylor * Salon *