A Wife's Courage: The BRAND NEW Battersea saga for 2023

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But then she learned that she was adopted and she finally understood the true nature of her plight. Jenny would have loved nothing better than to find her real family and to finally understand where she came from.

So guys these types of books often carry some trauma and sexual assault is featured, not in graphic detail but it is mentioned and more than once so heads up. Classism, relationships, friendships, alcohol abuse, poverty and manipulation so there is never really a dull moment. Heartbroken and threatened by scandal, Constance is forced to wed Albie and moves to Battersea, where she suffers unforgiving stares and cruel whispers from the neighbours. Trapped in a bitter and loveless marriage without a penny to her name, Constance has no choice but to stay and surrender. Will she ever find freedom – or happiness – again? When Celia's husband leaves her and Thomas announces he is to marry Amy, she is more determined than ever to split them up.Celia needs an ally, so she writes to her elder son, Jeremy, asking him to come home. Kitty Neale comes from a working-class family. She grew up in South London. Her parents worked in the local factories. Kitty spent a lot of time on the streets around Battersea. She is forced to marry this man who never wanted anything to do with her after their first affair. The offer of money from her father is the only reason the man agrees to marrying her and this results in a torturous marriage.I liked Ethel, the Burton Blake's long-standing cook, who has her own secret and regrets; I loved how she cared for Constance and I was hoping that the past could be laid to rest. Can people forgive and bridges re-built? It wasn’t until she met Jim, her second and final husband, that Kitty Neale achieved a sense of stability in her life. By the time they got married, Kitty’s children had grown up and started lives of their own, so Kitty was free to indulge in her passions. Kitty Kneale is onto a winner with this wonderful book, it is well constructed and was an absolute joy to read. Yes, there are some upsetting scenes, this is the 1960's and racial discrimination was rife, women were still expected to be seen and not heard. It shows how far we've come in society, the equality between men and women and the author has written with sensitivity; not just with these issues but with others that are highlighted within the story.

This is an interesting look at a number of people and how they coped with life’s joys and problems amid the war. It was obvious once I started it that this was the second book in the series and I had not read the first Battersea Tavern book. But the author filled in the story enough to get the gist of what had gone before. Winnie, is a warm hearted character who is not judgemental and who mostly tries to see the good in people. Sometimes that leads to trouble. She is fiercely protective of Rachel and Martha. We also meet The Hampton siblings Errol and Cheryl. Cheryl is close to her father but Errol and Harry have always had an uneasy relationship. A gritty tale of family and a love that holds no bounds, from the best-selling author of Nobody’s Girl and A Father’s Revenge Even as a child, Kitty had an incredible imagination. She was always telling her friends and family stories some of which were quite horrific; though, to her family, they were more of a source of amusement than a cause for concern. She might have never recovered if it wasn’t for a bereavement group she joined, one that constituted women who had lost children in tragic circumstances. The group allowed Kitty to heal. When their marriage is upended, Jennifer must go on a journey with a young woman she just met to discover a truth that might be too much for either of them to bear.

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Over time, her work began to take on a life of its own. Kitty found that she could take the people she had met over her lifetime and the experiences she had encountered and turn them into compelling stories. I felt so sorry for Constance, my heart really went out to her, and she went from one bad place, into another. Jeremy’s arrival unleashes a tide of jealously and hate. He wants everything that belongs to Thomas – especially Amy. As Jeremy’s dangerous obsession for his brother’s wife grows, Amy must fight for her marriage, and her baby. The author married her first husband in 1966. Their son and daughter were born soon after. Then came the divorce, followed by a number of years during which Kitty struggled to survive as a single mother.

Then she hears two pieces of terrifying news – Kevin Dolby is up for parole and that her dear friend Bessie is gravely ill. A rich young girl – Constance – is devoid of love from both her parents. Her self-esteem is extremely low and her ability to judge people correctly is distorted due to never receiving any true affection. This causes her to be attracted to a seemingly sensible lad and soon she is outcast when the unthinkable occurs! Kitty Neale blames one particular English teacher for the development. The man would always commend Kitty on her essays, taking note of the talent brimming in every bit of writing she submitted.Seventeen-year-old Constance has had a privileged upbringing in Clapham but her parents have always been cold and distant, never showing her love. Craving affection, Constance falls into the arms of Albie Jones, the cook’s grandson. But one fateful encounter leaves her ashamed and pregnant, and she is soon shunned from the family home. Heartbroken and threatened by scandal, Constance is forced to wed Albie and moves to Battersea, where she suffers unforgiving stares and cruel whispers from the neighbours. Trapped in a bitter and loveless marriage without a penny to her name, Constance has no choice but to stay and surrender. Will she ever find freedom – or happiness – again? But it turned out that her mother died when she was born. As an adult, Jennifer has tried to fill the void in her heart. She married Marcos because she was convinced he would finally make her happy. From there she began to master the craft, fixing her punctuation and gaining a basic understanding of the publishing industry. Writing was just a distraction at that time, a means of burying her grief by getting immersed in imaginary worlds. Abandoned on the cold stone steps of an orphanage, only a few hours old and clutching the object which was to give her name, Pearl Button had a hard start to life. Many of the author’s books are set in South London, in locations with which Kitty is intimately familiar. She writes a lot about dysfunctional families and tragedies.