Mersey to the Med
A Liverpool girl went to Spain in 1969 and stayed sixteen years.
She was in her twenties, and in 1969 she went. She married there, learned the language, and watched a country change around her. Franco died six years into her stay. She stayed ten years after that.
It is a book about ordinary daily life. A young woman learning a country from the inside, in a language she picked up as she went, and making a home there.
She has spent thirty years making up stories for children. These are the ones that happened to her.
- StatusSeeking representation
- CategoryMemoir, narrative non fiction
- Period1969 to 1985
- SettingBootle, Liverpool and Catalonia, Spain
- ManuscriptComplete
1969 to 1985
An Unforgettable Adventure
The author
Mary Gonzalez
Born in Bootle. Eighty four, and still writing.
She started self-publishing in her sixties. Since then she has written more than fifty books for children across two series: the Izzy Beaver stories, illustrated by Geoff Cogan, and the That Was books, a historical adventure series written with Joan Brickley that takes two seven year old twins back through history.
She reads her books aloud in schools and libraries across Merseyside and Wigan. She has been interviewed on BBC Radio Merseyside and Bay TV Liverpool, signed books at Liverpool Town Hall, and been written up in the local press. She writes the first draft of everything by hand, in a notebook, in the garden.
Appearances
In the spotlight
More than fifty finished children's books, self published across two series. A standing school and library circuit. BBC local radio, regional television and the local press. Mersey to the Med is a first memoir from someone who has already proved she finishes what she starts.
Writing has taken her to places she never expected, and put her in front of people she never thought she would meet. Ken Dodd among them.
Meeting Sir Ken Dodd · Freeman of the City of LiverpoolMary with her sister Joan, who helped proof-read series 1 and 2.
Other books by Mary
Izzy Beaver and Friends
Thirty one picture books about a rather lazy beaver in a party hat and the friends who keep rescuing him. Illustrated by Geoff Cogan. Read in schools across Wigan and Merseyside.
Other books by Mary
The That Was series
Seven year old twins Matthew and Jessica travel back through Merseyside history with Miranda, their time travelling doll. Written with Joan Brickley. Illustrated by Joan Brickley.
For literary agents
Enquire about the manuscript.
Tell Mary who you are and what you would like to see. Please write from your agency address.
Please note: unverifiable agencies will not receive a reply.