Book Synopsis:
In the final days of war, only love will pull her through . . .Queenie Brogan wasn’t always an East End matriarch. Many years ago, before she married Fergus, she was Philomena Dooley, a daughter of Irish Travellers, planning to wed her childhood sweetheart, Patrick Mahone. But when tragedy struck and Patrick’s narrow-minded sister, Nora, intervened, the lovers were torn apart.Fate can be cruel, and when Queenie arrives in London she finds that Patrick Mahon is her parish priest, and that the love she had tried to suppress flares again in her heart.But now in the final months of WW2, Queenie discovers Father Mahon is dying and must face losing him forever. Can she finally tell him the secret she has kept for over fifty years or will Nora once again come between them?And if Queenie does decide to finally tell Patrick, could the truth destroy the Brogan family?
My Review:
A Ration Book Victory is a heartwarming and absorbing read which is a great way to end one of my favourite series.
It was lovely to be back with the Brogan family though slightly bitter sweet as I knew this was my last visit to them. Over the years it has been great fun following the Brogan family and experiencing all the highs and lows of their lives with them. I really enjoyed catching up with them and discovering what had been going on in their lives, especially the older children who don’t live at the family home anymore. With the war coming to an end it was great to learn more about what they’d be doing in the future too.
The story is told in two timelines, one in 1945 and the other flashing back to Queenie’s childhood in Ireland and her first love Patrick. Throughout the series the reader hasn’t learned much about Queenie’s past so it was great to learn more about her. Her reconnection with Patrick was beautiful to read about and I found I had to keep reading so I could discover how things went for them.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and thought it was a great way to end the series. The book had a great pace to it and I was soon absorbed back into the lives of the Brogan family. There is a few sad moments in the book but it also manages to be really heartwarming in places. I now can’t wait to go back and read the series from the beginning again.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Corvus for my copy of this book via netgalley.
About The Author:
I was born within the sound of Bow Bells in Whitechapel and my family have lived in East London since the 1820s.Until Nov 2015 I was a qualified district nurse with a BSc in Community Nursing and a MSC in Teaching and Leadership. I am also a member of the Queen’s Nurses’ Institute and spent my entire nursing career in East London.In 2006, when I won the Harry Bowling prize I signed my first contract with Orion for my East London post-war nurses series. I moved to Atlantic in 2016, who re-published my East London Nolan Family Victorian sagas and my best-selling WW2 Ration Book series, featuring the boisterous East London Brogan family. I have a total of nineteen published novels and a non-fiction autobiography of growing up in the East End during the 50s, 60s and early 70s.I now live in Bedford with my very own Hero@Home who is a rector in the Church of England. I have three daughters and eight grandchildren plus an elderly, very affectionate cat. When I’m not tapping at my key board I enjoy travelling, walks in the country and socialising with friends and family.
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