Cover Image: The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon

The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon

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Member Reviews

I have never read one of Glenda books but after being given and advance copy on NetGalley I decided to give it a go. I adore Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin books buy this book is something else! I will most definitely be buying more books by this author. Thankyou so much for this copy and more importantly finding me a new author!

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I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An intriguing mystery with heartwarming characters alongside a great story.

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Historical drama with lots of interesting,likeable characters,and some not so likeable. An unmarried mother leaves her child on the doorstep of her married lover believing she is giving her a better chance at life, she could not imagine what happens next. An enjoyable read.

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The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon was a book I read recently that I just loved and I read it very quickly. I found the writing really draw me in and I loved the main character Jess.
Jess was left on the doorstep of a grand house as a newborn. A scarlet ribbon was left tied to the basket and I loved how the scarlet ribbon tied the whole story together as the story moved along. Ada who works as the housekeeper finds Jess and brings her up as her own, although she cannot tell anyone Jess's true identity. When Ada sadly dies, even though I knew this was coming from the blurb I still got really emotional, Jess is left to defend for herself and she only has the scarlet ribbon that connects her to her past.
The story telling is exceptional and I was completely drawn into the 1900s. The historical elements to the story are very well told and you can tell that Glenda has a personal connection to the area the story is set.
I adore Glenda's historical reads and looking forward to more.

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Glenda Young continues to cement her standing as one of the most gifted writers of historical sagas writing today with the publication of her latest novel, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon. Emotional, atmospheric and immensely readable, fans of Dilly Court and Anna Jacobs need to add her books to the very top of their auto-buy list.

As housekeeper to the wealthy McNally family at their home the Uplands, Ada Davidson is used to keeping her employers’ secrets and always practises caution and discretion. When she comes across an abandoned baby girl with only a scarlet ribbon tied to her basket, Ada vows to take care of her and to give the child all the love and affection she can provide her. Sworn to secrecy about her parentage, Ada has never told Jess anything about her identity or about how she came to be in her care and as Jess grew and matured into an intelligent and beautiful woman, she has never had cause to question what she had been told through the years about where she truly comes from. However, even though Ada has always tried her utmost to keep the secrets of the past well hidden, running from the truth soon becomes impossible and as shocking revelations come to light, Jess finds herself wondering who she really is and what the scarlet ribbon that had been found tied to her basket all those years ago really represents.

When Ada dies, sixteen year old Jess is wracked with grief and sorrow, but there are more nasty shocks and cruel surprises to come for the broken-hearted girl. Banished from Uplands and with nowhere to belong and nobody to turn to, Jess is all alone in the world. With no friends, no money and no connections, Jess has to start making her own way in the world, but how can she move forward when her own past is shrouded in mystery? With only the scarlet ribbon as a connection to the past, Jess needs to find out the truth about her identity – and about her connection to the McNally family. As she unearths long-buried secrets, Jess realises that her destiny might be closely intertwined with that of the wealthy family.

Will Jess manage to get to the bottom of this confounding mystery? Will she ever find out who she really is? And will she ever manage to lay old ghosts to rest and find the happiness and fulfilment that has long been denied to her?

When readers pick up a saga by Glenda Young, they know that they are in the hands of an outstanding storyteller and in The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon, she has penned a dramatic, emotional, gritty and wonderfully evocative read tale that will hold readers spellbound from start to finish. A tale of courage, fortitude and resilience, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon is rich in pathos, period detail and emotional intensity and will have readers eagerly turning the pages as they find themselves completely swept away by Jess’s story.

In Jess, Glenda Young has created a wonderful heroine. She’s strong, spirited and irrepressible and somebody who, despite all of the obstacles standing in her way, remains constant and true to herself.

A top-notch saga from this fast rising star, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon is another compulsively readable novel by the immensely talented Glenda Young.

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I've only recently discovered local Sunderland author Glenda Young and what a fabulous discovery she is. Living in the North East, it's almost obligatory to have family sagas in your library and I read a fair few in my youth. I thought my saga reading days were over until Glenda Young hooked me with her proggy mat hook in Pearl of Pit Lane so I was very eager to read her new book, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon; so eager in fact that I read it in just two sittings over the course of 24 hours.

One of my favourite things to discover in a book is a map and I love the map of Ryhope, Sunderland from 1919 that Glenda Young has included in the front of the book. They certainly had a lot of pubs in such a small area back then, but with Ryhope being a mining community the men working underground all day certainly deserved a pint or two after their shift.

The main character of Jess is such an outstanding character; I felt very protective of her possibly due to the reader being there at her birth in 1903. Left on the steps of the McNally house in a basket with a scarlet ribbon attached to the handle, Jess is taken in by housekeeper, Ada. Jess has such a happy life with Ada, despite James McNally's attempts to erase her existence, until Ada dies and Jess suddenly finds herself homeless and alone at 16 years old. I really felt for Jess but she shows that she's made of stronger stuff and that horrible James McNally better watch out for the whiplash of karma.

Although very character driven, and what wonderful characters they are, the writing is so vivid that I felt as if I was walking through Ryhope village myself. I certainly felt like I was on the beach in one particular scene with Glenda Young's evocative writing giving me goosebumps. I love the little elements of Sunderland history that Glenda includes in her impeccably well researched novel, namely Sunderland's famous Vaux beer and the heartbreaking Victoria Hall disaster.

Glenda Young is an extraordinarily talented storyteller and The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon is a wonderful story from beginning to end; it's more heartwarming than a roaring coal fire. Superbly written, the storyline is compelling and surprising with characters that are so vivid they virtually leap out from the page. I absolutely loved it and wholeheartedly recommend it.

I chose to read an ARC and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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I have been a fan of Glenda’s work since I had the good fortune to pick up a copy of her first book called ‘Belle Of The Back Streets’. Since then I have eagerly awaited each new release in the series. As soon as I get hold of a copy, I squirrel myself away until I have finished reading it. ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ is Glenda’s most recent book and it is due for paperback release on 1st October 2020 although it has been available as an e-book since 14th May 2020. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ was another amazing read from Glenda Young and I enjoyed every single second of the story but more about that in a bit.
The main character is a young lass called Jess, who has been through the toughest of times and then some. As a baby she was abandoned on the steps of the local mansion, which belongs to the McInally family. I won’t go too far into details but it isn’t a coincidence that she is left where she is. The housekeeper, Ada, takes Jess under her wing and resolves to bring her up. Ada becomes both parents to the little girl and they forge a very strong bond. As the story progresses, Jess comes up against hurdle after hurdle but she doesn’t let the hurdles knock her down. She pulls up her big girl pants, dusts herself down and carries on making the best situation out of the bleakest of circumstances. Thankfully, Jess does have people, who care about her and she has some good friends. There were numerous times where I almost wanted to jump inside the pages of the book to just give Jess a hug or to sort out the people, who were upsetting her. Jess is lovely, she is kind, compassionate, caring, sensitive, determined, friendly and she can be rather stubborn when she wants to be. I kept everything crossed that things would work out for her in the end and that she would get the happy ever after ending that she so deserved. What happens? Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the book for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
Part of the attraction of this book is the fact that it is set in the village of Ryhope, near Sunderland in what was then old County Durham. (To me it will always be County Durham). I live in the North East of England myself and I absolutely love reading books set in this neck of the woods. What makes this book even more special is the fact that since researching my family tree, I have found that I have relatives who lived in Ryhope. Reading books such as ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ somehow makes me feel closer to my ancestors and it also gives me a greater appreciation of the conditions that they had to live under and the life experiences that they had. In fact, reading this book felt as though I was reading about my relatives.
I was drawn to ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ by two words- Glenda Young. That was enough for me. I knew that any book written by her would be a brilliant, emotional and unputdownable read. I wasn’t wrong either. I read this book in one long reading binge because I couldn’t bear to be parted from the book for any length of time, for fear of missing something. I had taken so well to Jess that I quickly kept turning those pages to see how her life panned out and whether or not a certain character got what was coming to him. I won’t name him as that might give too much away but it will soon become clear who I mean, once you pick this book up for yourself. I fell under this book’s spell from the moment I first picked it up and that spell lasted until the very last word on the very last page. I soon got to the end of ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ and I had to bid farewell to Jess. I hope that this isn’t the last we have heard about her.
‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ is superbly written but then I think that to be true of all of Glenda’s books that I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. She writes emotional stories that really do get under your skin and you begin to feel every emotion that the characters are going through. That’s how I feel at any rate. Glenda draws you into the story from the very start and then takes you on one heck of an emotional rollercoaster ride. She describes her characters so well that they seem to jump off the page and spring to life. In fact they seem just as real as you and I. I found ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ to be a gripping read, which had me on the edge of my seat throughout. I have read that people compare Glenda Young to Catherine Cookson but I think that Glenda’s books are actually better than Catherine Cookson’s books.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed every single second of ‘The Girl With The Scarlet Ribbon’ and I strongly recommend that you read this book. I will definitely be reading more of Glenda’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

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Glenda Young writes superbly atmospheric books that have you walking along side the characters,Mary Liddle a young housemaid who has a baby out of wedlock is determined in what she is doing she will not allow her mother to sell her daughter.So just days after giving birth she leaves her parents home never to be seen again.Ada Davidson the housekeeper takes the baby in and after dealing with the master Mr James MCNally she begins caring for the baby who is called Jess.All the way through this book i have championed jess and willed her on to a good life and i have not been let down.Fantastic book 5*

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Was lucky to be granted this book from Net Galley and read it in two days. The scarlet ribbon is a great title as this is threaded through the story of Jess who is abandoned at birth at The Uplands House owned by the McNallys, not knowing the true identity of her parents but cared for by the housekeeper Ada Davidson.

The story is so cleverly entwined each character playing their part and the history of Ryhope is beautifully mentioned without being boring, so much so I would love to visit in the future.

i would highly recommend this book and all the emotions it will bring from beginning to end.

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I absolutely loved this book! Unfortunately this book was so good it caused severe sleep deprivation as I couldn't put it down and stayed up quite late just to finish it all in 1 sitting. I loved Ada and Jess and wanted to just give them both a hug as they were such nice hardworking people who you felt really deserved a break. James made my blood boil so that I was itching for someone just to slap him but without giving too much away, I was glad to see some changes to his life towards the end of the book. I loved how this story was very realistic, and not a rose tinted view of the past and how life was. This story was both heartwarming and tearjerking and I will be looking out for further books by this author

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Such a lovely book to read. Well written and the characters were described so well it makes you want to see them. The area is somewhere I have never visited but the story has made me wondering about Ryhope so a visit may be planned.
Lovely story from a good author.

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