The Lost Daughter of Liverpool

Today is my turn on the Book Blog Tour for the wonderful “Lost Daughter of Liverpool” by Pam Howes.  Before I start with my review, I just want to give my thanks to Netgalley and the publishers, Bookouture, for this advance copy in return for an honest review.  Also thanks to Kim Nash, the Publicity & Social Media Manager for giving me the opportunity to be part of the Blog Tour.

I received this book from Netgalley, but it has sat in my To Be Read pile for a while.  An email from Bookouture asking if I had read it yet, and would I be interested in being part of the Blog Tour prompted me to move it up to the top of the list, and I’m so glad I did!  This is the first book in the series of The Mersey Trilogy.  It’s set in Liverpool in 1946.  The war is over, but times are still hard.  Dora Evans is all set to marry her sweetheart, Joe Rodgers.  She is a seamstress in a clothing factory, and together with her best friend Joanie, they have dreams of setting up their own business.  Things look like they are on the way up – she marries Joe, they get their own home, thanks to her making her own wedding and bridesmaid dresses orders come in, and then she falls pregnant with twins.  Could life be any better?  Tragedy then strikes, not just Dora and Joe, but their whole family when one of the twins dies, and a fire at the clothing factory causes devastation.  Can Dora cope with all the grief?

I loved this book!  It’s set just after the war, so whilst we don’t get the devastation that the war caused in big cities such as Liverpool, you still get to see how difficult it was for people of this time.  Buildings were still in ruins, the economy was poor and rationing was still in place.  But, you also get to see how people manage to overcome all these things and live and enjoy their lives.  Dora lives with her mum, dad and her brother Frank.  She and Joe are planning their wedding, and despite there still being shortages, they manage to all work together to give her a wedding to be proud of.  Things are looking good, but as we all know, in books like this things never stay good.  Dora and her family suffer some devastating times when one of Dora and Joe’s twin girls dies the day after she was born.  From then on, the sad times continue.  

The characters in this book are wonderful.  You can’t fail to love something about all of them.  The story is so real and you can’t help but get caught up in the story and not let up until the very last page.  I loved sharing the characters experiences – the struggling, the happiness and of course, the overwhelming sadness.  I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.  I do warn you to have a supply of tissues ready, as I certainly needed them!  I’ve also loved the setting.  I’ve been to Liverpool a few times, and I can picture some of the places that were mentioned in the book, and can imagine what life must have been like at this time.  It was a beautifully written book that keep me reading until the early hours.  I just didn’t want it to end, and it ends on such a cliff-hanger that you just can’t wait until the second book in the series is released!

If you like your family sagas, or your wartime romances, then this is definitely the book for you.  My first by this author, and definitely won’t be the last.  I shall be keeping my eye open for Book 2!!

Well I wasn't expecting that.
I love this book so much, I really can't wait for the next one to carry on from this one.
It didn't finish as a cliff hanger as such, but, almost certainly kept you gasping for more.

You get some people that seem to sail through life. Then you get others that get all the knock downs life throws at them. How many times can Dora get up from being knocked down.

I found this an emotional read on two levels.

My first level was when Dora and her husband went through a tragedy of event concerning their babies.

The depression and psychosis that Dora goes through is tragic. But she mends.
Only for other things to happen.

I so felt for Dora. I could understand her mental state, her anguish and her way of thinking and her unhealthy mind turning and twisting things.
Very scary for her husband and a lonely road for him to go down. I've been there. Bringing up kids with the aide of his mother-in-law.

It's real people within these pages. They are tangible. I can feel them.

So many tears were shed whilst reading this I got a blocked nose! Red eyes.

Just where is Dora and her hubby going to end up?

What about Frank her brother. Oh my dayz I'm so into this family unit I feel a part of it.

My thanks to the author for such a fantastic read. I'm waiting on the next instalment. I won't forget what this is about ever.
Thank you to Bookoutour for my early copy.

I loved the first part of The Mersey Trilogy and the chance to find a new favourite saga writer to add to my list. This is one of my favourite eras for sagas- post war, and we are treated to rationing and making wedding dresses and dances as part of the setting in Liverpool.

Dora is marrying the love of her life and looking forward to her happy ever after- but life has some nasty twists in store for the young couple. Life will never be as carefree for them again.

I loved the romance throughout the book, the friendships and the snippets of family life and hardship. The characters are wonderful- you feel as though you know them well by the end of the book . I can't wait to catch up with them in the next book in the series.

With many thanks to Net Galley and Bookoutre for a review copy.

This was an excellent novel.  With brilliant main characters and a wonderful plot, this book is a real page turner.  I would highly recommend this book.

This is a delightful start to a new trilogy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's my era as I was born in 1946 in Lancashire and by the end of the book in 1950 I had just started school. That makes it more compelling for me as I am only a year older than Carol. I thought it was refreshing how much empathy Joe showed towards Dora through her difficult times. A lot of husbands in that era would have told her "to pull herself together." I did however become disappointed by Joe in the end. Dora certainly had an enviable support network. I expect this is how people coped during the war whereas people now seem more isolated (geographically and emotionally) these days. It was interesting to see how well the NHS worked in its early years. I look forward to the 2nd book but will post this view on Amazon etc after publication. I note there is a Rock N Roll series on Amazon that I shall try next. Thank you for allowing me to read this book and find a new author.

The Lost Daughter of Liverpool is book one in a trilogy and was just fantastic. 

Being a big fan of family saga’s, this book didn’t disappoint, it had it all. Love, heartbreak, obsession, loss and hope.

Fantastic real characters that made me feel for each one of them.

I can highly recommend this page turning saga and I just hope book two is not too long  a wait.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased and voluntary.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Lost Daughter of Liverpool, The storyline was brilliant and had me hooked from the first chapter, really looking forward to reading the follow up.

It’s 1946 and the war is over. In Liverpool, the blackout blinds may be coming down, but one family is about to face devastating misfortune…

Dora Evans is finally marrying the love of her life, Joe Rodgers, and her dreams of opening a dressmaking business look as if they might come true. With twin daughters on the way, Dora has everything she’s ever wanted. 

But then tragedy strikes: one of Dora’s babies dies in infancy, and a catastrophic fire changes their lives forever. Dora is consumed with grief, struggling to get through each day and Joe is suddenly distant, finding solace in his colleague, Ivy. 

With Ivy watching and scheming, and Dora battling against her own demons, can she keep her family together?

If you like family sagas and want a quick and easy read then this is for you - not enough substance for me though.

It is not often I read this genre but it has been a refreshing change. A story of post war Liverpool and one families trials,tribulations, hopes, dreams, disappointments and tragedies . I look forward to more from this author, a great debut novel