#BlogTour: Becoming Alfie by Neil Patterson #BecomingAlfie #NeilPatterson #AlfieNorrington @rararesources

Book Synopsis:

Becoming Alfie is the first of a quartet of books about a character called Alfie Norrington. Alfie was born just minutes into the twentieth century to an impoverished east end family that was squashed into a 2 roomed tenement in Mile End. His father Bernie was a violent alcoholic, his mother worked fourteen hours each day to cobble together enough to feed her brood. His siblings are Jack who is eight, Fred six and twin girls Rosie and Lily two, when Alfie was born.
From an early age Alfie fought to survive in London’s East End. He became a proficient thief and an excellent pick pocket with most of his earnings supplementing the family’s meagre finances. Alfie attended school and was considered a bright student and a formidable boxer.
WW1 began with Alfie volunteering to fight for King and Country by faking his age at sixteen. He left for the trenches of Ypres directly after his training. Alfie was severely injured by a trench bomb soon after his arrival and shipped back to hospital in England where he fought for his life. Whilst in hospital Alfie met an Australian soldier called Trevor, and a pretty nurse, Louisa. A short time later Trevor lost his fight to stay alive and on his deathbed, Alfie promised his friend that he would sail to Australia. There he would deliver to Trevor’s mother, both a letter and a biscuit tin of mementos from her dead son.
Alfie fell deeply in love with Nurse Louisa, a love that was cut short by the prejudices of the British class system, his heart was shattered.
Alfie was discharged in April 1917 and leads a life full of exciting adventures, both legal and illegal, overcoming the odds and growing into a decent person, with a strong moral compass to drive him.

Finding Alfie is available in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the link below.

My Review:

Becoming Alfie is a thoroughly absorbing, poignant story which I really enjoyed.

Firstly I absolutely fell in love with the main characters Alfie and enjoyed following him through the years. He definitely doesn’t have an easy life and I felt very sorry for him when things didn’t go his way. His ability to pick himself up again was lovely to read about and helped ensure he found a permanent place in my heart. He’s an incredibly charismatic person and I loved his humour as well as his determination.

The author has clearly done his research and his vivid descriptions helps to bring each period to life so I always felt like I was right there alongside Alfie. I loved all the small details the author included which made it easy to visualise what was happening. The book seemed quite realistic too with all the events happening in a natural way so it never felt like the author was just including them for the sake of it. I’ve always been fascinated by the East End so I especially enjoyed learning more about what life was like there and all the little dramas that happened.

Overall I thought this was a well written, gripping read as there was always something happening to ensure it was very hard to put down. I now can’t wait to read more from in this series.

Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book.

About The Author:

Born in South Essex close to the River Thames and directly East of London, my childhood was peppered with memories of the mighty river itself.

We would swim, fish and discover hidden treasure in the tidal mudflats with the fragments of clay pipes we found taking us back to another era. It was here that my inspiration for writing was born. I began to keep a diary of my observations from life and documented my feelings and thoughts.

My wife was twenty two and I was twenty four when we migrated to Australia with a glorious expectation. The sun was shining, the people were friendly and Sydney Harbour simply magnificent. Together we were committed to making the most of this opportunity beginning the next step in our lives. Everything was new which gave me endless writing opportunities that I recorded in my diary which had spilled over into a number of books. We travelled around this incredible country meeting people from all walks of life and from many nationalities. We lived and worked in a variety of capital cities enjoying each and every experience. All this was tremendous fodder for my writing.

I began to write short stories and poetry, none of which I sought to publish. By my fifty second birthday I was able to finish working and focus full time on my writing, the results so far are The Alfie Norrington Series with Becoming Alfie the first in the series of four. I hope that you enjoy reading Becoming Alfie as much as I did writing it.