Book Synopsis:
The start of BRAND NEW SERIES from bestselling author of ‘The Tobacco Girls’ Lizzie Lane
Bristol 1936
Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns the family’s fortunes around.
Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city. Jenny and the children are overjoyed, this is the fresh start she could only ever dream of.
But trouble feels never too far away. With Roy spending more time with Sir Oswald Molsey bullying black shirts, Jenny is left to her own devices and eager to fit in begins to make new friends.
Thankful of peace, Jenny has her head turned firstly by an old love and then by her knight in shining armour.
Does she allow herself to glimpse a chance of happiness?
Whatever happens the consequences could be dire if Roy ever finds out.
My Review:
I am a huge fan of The Tobacco Girls series so I was excited to learn that the author had a new series coming out. Once again the author has written a fantastic, powerful and emotional story that I really enjoyed.
Firstly the author does a great job of setting the scene and I loved the fabulous descriptions of what Britain was like before the Second World War. I didn’t know much about the ‘slums’ so I enjoyed learning more about them and what it was like living in them. I found it really heartbreaking to see how some people used to live but it was lovely to see the closeness of this tight knit community and how they shared the little that they had.
The characters are all wonderful creations that I enjoyed getting to know throughout the book. There were some characters that I loved and some I loved to hate, especially the horrible Roy who’s wife I felt very sorry for. I liked that they all brought different things to the story and it was intriguing to discover the secrets they all were keeping hidden.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and can’t wait to read more from this series. There was always lots of things happening which kept me reading and the emotional moments helped drawn me into the story, making me feel closer to the characters. There are lots of interesting historical references which I loved and some very interesting historical information especially regarding the feared black shirts which I didn’t realise were active in Britain. If you’re a fan of historical fiction or historical sagas then I highly recommend this book.
Huge thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Boldwood for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Lizzie Lane has written over fifty books a number of which have appeared in the top thirty best selling paperbacks and the Heatseekers charts. Her pet interest is WW2, how little people carried on regardless against the biggest upheaval the world had ever known. She mentions at one stage about how it seemed Britain was sinking beneath the weight of weaponry and allied soldiers from all over the world.
Born and raised in Bristol, a number of her family were involved in the tobacco industry which at one time employed 13,000 people in the city. This is the inspiration behind her latest series, The Tobacco Girls which is set against those five years of war and follows their lives and loves, their hope for survival and better times to come.
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