Ruth Hamilton (1940–2016)

It's 1950 and Magsy O'Gara's husband has been killed in the war. Magsy plods through her daily job at the hospital where she works in housekeeping as a cleaner. All of her precious, almost non-existent spare time is devoted to her brilliant daughter, Beth. Magsy is a beautiful woman and is constantly being asked out by various men, but she is determined to remain a widow, and nothing will divert her from her grueling work schedule. She has a goal, and it is simple: Her daughter, Beth would show more become a doctor. Beth, however, has different ideas...she just wants a normal life consisting of perhaps a brother, or a sister, maybe even a stepfather who might make her mother happy. Beth was beyond delighted when a man began to court Magsy. Across, the road, Nellie Hulme, lives... trapped in a world of silence. She has watched the other two "Saturday girls". Nellie has been deaf her entire life...and she has a huge secret. What would people think if they knew her true position in life, and why is it that she 'hears' in her dreams? The story did an excellent job of painting a picture of life in post war period Britain, and the religious tensions of the city streets. It showed the struggles of the working-class families at that time, and the life that many had to endure in the mines and the mills. show less

Too repetetive.

This is one of those books that had quite a lot going for it but would have benefitted from being 150 pages shorter.
The characters were well described and the action was just about believable but my main frustration was the constant repetition of events that I was quite capable of remembering. The worst offender was the number of times we were told that Alice Fishwick had been abandonded to marriage to her husband because her parents had lost interest in her as she became a show more frumpy teenager, and how they only had eyes for each other. This statement must have been reiterated in every one of the 20 chapters.

The action centres around the Fishwick family, Alice, her parents, her husband, Edward, and her two children, Gilbert and Connie. They are 'well-to-do' but not quite as moneyed as the Templetons who live furthur up the hill.
Edward runs the Fishwick mill in the absence of Alice's parents and employs Sadie Martindale who lives hand-to-mouth with her three children. The final main character is Vera, Edward's mistress.
Although it sounds like a cast of thousands, they are all well described and easy to keep track of.
The story unravells along the lines of a family saga although we only cover the time from the marriage of Alice's parents until their deaths.

I'd class this as chick-lit set in the 1940's, good to pass the time but sadly not a must-read. show less

The Reading Room is a bookstore/cafe in a little village near Bolton, which is in Lancashire. The book tells the stories of a group of villagers most of whom live and work in the centre of the village in little shops or, in one case, the parish Catholic priest as well.

Leanne has run from a life that nearly ended in her death and is living in the village and running a flower shop and going by the name Lily. Her best friend and her friend's daughter are there as well. Nobody knows their show more past.

There's Dave, who runs the bookshop and his dominating mother, Enid, who sits by the window in the flat over the shop and watches the comings and goings with an eagle eye. Philly, a plain but kind woman, helps him in the bookstore. There's Eve and her husband originally from Liverpool. They're quite lively. Father Mike is good looking and may be headed for his own life change. Paul and Maurice run the salon together with their lodger Sally but things aren't as they seem there, either.

It's light, easy reading, likeable characters, dislikeable ones, it's fairly predictable as well. The nasty that Lily/Leanne is running from comes back after her of course and there's a happy ending for all, also expected. I liked the book, it was nicely written, and i found the characters engaging. show less

As the novel opens, Laura visits a place from her childhood. Then there's a lengthy flashback, which continues for most of the novel. Good characters and atmosphere, excellent insight into caring for the terminally ill.