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The Grave Side Of Helen Walsh

Her shocking novel lifts the lid on Liverpool but, asks Colin Waters, is the author of Brass to be taken seriously?

The path I’m being led down is lined on both sides by ancient tombstones. When I ask my guide, half-jokingly, whether we’re walking over dead people, she says “yes” but she’s smiling. Minutes later we arrive at our destination: the graveyard which inspired the open-air sex sessions in her first novel, Brass. To my surprise, it’s a wide open space with only a few gravestones arranged around the perimeter. I’m confused. What are people supposed to have sex behind?

The Inspiration for "Brass"

“Oh, they don’t hide,” answers Helen Walsh, Edinburgh publisher Canongate’s newest author. “When the hookers come here with their punters, they just get stuck in wherever there’s a spot. They don’t care who sees.” We’re in Liverpool on a cold, clear day. On the ground there’s a layer of frost, while above looms the gothic Liverpool Cathedral, the largest Anglican cathedral in Europe, which looks down on this unlikely alfresco knocking shop. “Brass” is Scouse slang for a prostitute. In her student days, Walsh would come into the cemetery alone at night, horny and high on drink and drugs, to watch the wildlife, an experience that makes its way into Brass’s opening pages. Walsh’s heroine, Millie, hires and screws a (female) teenage streetwalker in this very graveyard. The incident marks Millie’s descent into a destructive sex-and-drugs binge after her family disintegrates. Brass takes place against a backdrop of real places, real streets. So it made sense to ask Walsh for a tour of what she calls “Brasslands”.

Exploring the Streets of Liverpool

In her car, driving towards Toxteth, I ask what she thinks of the city she’s lived in intermittently for eight years. “Liverpool is a sexy city,” she says. “It’s big-hearted, more than Manchester or London. I don’t know any other city in the UK that puts so much emphasis on the weekend. Hedonism is seen as an unalienable right.” The city is changing, though, and not just since it became 2008’s European City Of Culture. Gentrification is erasing its “scenic, bohemian edge”, Walsh thinks.

Toxteth looks more resistant to change. The riots that broke out here more than 20 years ago made Toxteth a byword for inner-city deprivation. The place still looks desperate. According to Walsh, it has recently been the scene of racial tensions between white and black, and between Somali and Caribbean youths. Further on, we come to Hope Street, a neat terrace of Georgian-style houses. It reminds me of some of Edinburgh’s more august corners yet according to Walsh, it’s “the bleeding heart of the red light district”.

We stop at a café which, with its exotic coffees, bright interior, and polite music, is one of the products of the gentrification Walsh dislikes. She’s particular about where we sit, I realize because she doesn’t want to be overheard. As we’re about to discuss prostitution, drugs, and all manner of things your parents warned you about, it strikes me that the author of the outrageous Brass is a little shy. For the book’s launch party, she has asked for someone else to read from the book. When Walsh speaks, she strikes you as intelligent and confident. Yet is there a certain vulnerability around the eyes? Smart, beautiful, vulnerable – men must fall in love with her every other day.

The Journey of Helen Walsh

The daughter of a Malaysian mother and English father, Walsh was born in 1977 not in Liverpool but in nearby Warrington, hometown of Kerry McFadden and Chris Evans, which, she has written, “speaks volumes”. “I was dying to get out of Warrington,” she says of her childhood. It was “safe, boring”. Walsh was the only mixed-race child in a white, working-class neighborhood. Her mother was a nurse who fled an arranged marriage in her homeland, her father a forklift truck driver and musician who met his future wife when he was hospitalized. When Walsh’s parents married in 1971, the whole of Warrington and the surrounding villages came, she says, “to look at the spectacle”. Walsh’s mother was the only brown face in town then. “People, even my grandparents, thought they’d have deformed kids.”

“I’ve always had a male outlook on life,” she says. As a child, she was “a complete tomboy” who preferred Action Man to Barbie’s plastic charms. In her last year of primary school, her headmaster told her parents their daughter had no female friends. Worried, her parents banned her from playing with boys, a move that coincided with Walsh winning a scholarship to Culcheth Hall, the most prestigious girls’ school in the area. “I know it’s a cliché to say it, but all the girls at that age were so bitchy, which was something I didn’t know how to react to. My attitude was, if I can’t play with boys, I won’t play with anyone. That’s when I got seriously into books.”

A Troubled Period

And drugs. This is the point in Walsh’s biography where she begins to put DBC Pierre’s conman past in the shade. She had her first E before her first kiss and her first period. Her drug-taking centered on a Warrington nightclub, Legends, a “dingy, sweaty, magical place”. “Getting into Ecstasy culture at such an early age was me kicking out and finding a voice that was mine. I had friends at Legends and I didn’t have any at school.” Walsh’s life began to resemble a scene from "Thirteen," the Holly Hunter film in which a mother confronts her teenage daughter’s spiraling drug use. Walsh can vouch for its authenticity. Every weekend in 1990 you’d find her loved up in Legends. A straight-A student, Walsh’s schoolwork suffered as her involvement with Legends grew. It became the most important thing in her life, more important than her parents. “We hated each other,” she says of how she felt when they tried to control her. Her mother’s hair fell out with the stress. When her parents separated years later, Walsh felt partly responsible. After the rave scene waned, Walsh became involved with jailbird boyfriends, taking to crime herself. She shoplifted designer clothes to sell before diversifying into pickpocketing. “Pickpocketing is hard, though I never got caught. It’s easier in a bar. If men are drunk and you give them a hint that sex is on the agenda, they drop their guard.” A new drug, cocaine, bolstered her teenage feeling of invincibility. Something happened when she was 16, but she still won’t talk about it. Whatever it was, she believed her life was in danger, and fled Warrington for Barcelona. “I went there partly because I’d studied Spanish at school and got my GCSE effortlessly. It always seemed such a romantic place, but when I got there I ended up in a really rough council estate just outside Barcelona. I had my first panic attacks there.”

The Influence of Helen Walsh

Hotels

After exploring the life and inspiration of Helen Walsh, you may be inspired to visit Liverpool yourself. When planning your visit, it's important to consider your accommodation options. Liverpool offers a range of hotels to suit different preferences and budgets. Whether you're looking for a luxurious stay or a budget-friendly option, there is something for everyone.

If you want to experience the city's history and charm, consider staying in one of Liverpool's historic hotels. These establishments have been beautifully restored and offer a glimpse into the city's past. Alternatively, if you prefer modern amenities and contemporary design, opt for one of the city's sleek and stylish boutique hotels.

For those traveling on a budget, there are numerous budget-friendly hotels and hostels available. These accommodations provide comfortable rooms at affordable rates, allowing you to save money for exploring the city's attractions and enjoying its vibrant nightlife.

When choosing your hotel, consider its location. Liverpool's city center is a popular choice, offering easy access to major attractions, shopping districts, and restaurants. If you prefer a quieter experience, consider staying in one of the city's residential neighborhoods, where you can enjoy a more relaxed atmosphere.

Regardless of where you choose to stay, it's important to book your accommodation in advance, especially during peak travel seasons. This will ensure you secure the best rates and availability.

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