Ethel and Ernest
Raymond Briggs
 The story is simply a progression through the lives of the titular couple, from their courtship in the late 1920s to their deaths in the early 70s. Ethel is a lady's maid with middle-class aspirations and firm notions of respectable English behaviour; she becomes a housewife when she marries. Ernest, five years younger, is an easygoing milkman with socialist ideals and an enthusiastic interest in modern progress and technology. They live with their only child, Raymond, in a London suburb through the Great Depression, World War II, the advent of television and other events. The book richly illustrates London working class life and concerns during some of the most momentous social and political developments of the 20th century.