Dr. Ashworth chose to write nonfiction as a way to confront her past, a deliberate step to then move toward crafting fiction. She explains this approach as a means to "pin down" her memories, ensuring that "ghosts wouldn't go streaking across the novels." She is currently focused on her debut novel.
Set in 1970s Manchester, Once in a House on Fire tells the true story of three sisters and their mother, a close-knit and loving family forced to battle with poverty, abuse and the effects of depression. Beautifully written and deeply inspiring, with a new afterword by Andrea Ashworth, it is a book that will stay with its readers for ever.
Andrea Ashworth's father died when she was five leaving her, her three-year-old sister and mother to fend for themselves. A succession of stepfathers, some violent and an itinerant life of poverty were her lot but reading was her escape route out of misery.