Margaret Kaine

The daughter mentioned in the title of ‘A Daughter’s Hope’ by Margaret Kaine is Megan Cresswell, strictly-raised, religious, sheltered, young, dowdy. Set in the post-WW2 Potteries district around Stoke-on-Trent still suffering from continued wartime poverty and hardship, Megan is free after the death of her mother to make her own way in life. But the harsh reality of being an adult and enduring a hand-to-mouth existence soon makes her realise she must she find a husband to survive. show more
Ever the realist, pragmatic Megan allows her friends to give her a makeover of hair, clothes and make up, before setting off to visit nearby churches on Sundays in search of a suitable husband. Along the way, Megan meets new friends and learns things about herself. As she explores the real world, she wonders why her strict father trapped her in such a narrow world and why her mother didn’t protest on her daughter’s behalf. And she begins to question whether finding a husband is her only option. As she explores beyond the geographical and social bubble in which she was raised, Megan begins to question her place in the world and to confront the puzzles of her childhood.
Romance is not my normal genre – and there is a handsome love interest who looks set to break Megan’s heart – but this book is so much more. Kaine’s portrayal of her native Potteries comes alive off the page. It is not often that a novel is set in an industrial setting; it reminded me of ‘The House at Silvermoor’ by Tracy Rees which is set in a South Yorkshire coal mining village. Kaine’s description of the hand painting at the potbank, and the production methods, is a fascinating insight into pottery manufacturing in the Fifties. Kaine is a skilled portrayer of character; I particularly enjoyed Megan’s fellow workers on the potbank and the household dynamics of Celia Bevington, who becomes something of a fairy godmother.
This is the first novel by Margaret Kaine that I have read and I will seek out more.
‘A Daughter’s Hope’ was previously published as ‘Song for a Butterfly’.
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This is not a romance, this is romantic fiction and cos of that there is a long way to Helen's HEA.

She is a nice young woman, and when a nice man courts her she does think he seems ok. But there is something about Oliver that gave me chills from the start. But they marry and we see their married life, the happy and unhappy parts.

There is also someone else in the shadows, a doctor called Nicholas. Oh she should have chosen him but how could she as they were not the same class and therefore show more never introduced. Those were the days. The whole social issue is shown throughout the book, we get the whole downstairs upstairs thing and comments about social issues at the time.

Now do not think it's an unhappy book. No there is romance at first and then a bit of dangerous things happening too. I liked it as it felt more real. She did not have time to think over things and therefore chose rather quickly. He was a respectable nice man. It was a step up for her.

A good book that even had a bit of suspense at the end. show less

Rebecca Lawson who is homeless and orphaned, goes to her aunt and uncle in London to live and work with them at the unicorn which is their pub. one day an eighteen-year-old Ian Beresford walks into the bar she works at and Rebecca falls in love with him. But Ian disappears and Rebecca found out she was pregnant. she goes searching for him and goes to his family. when she got there she found out Ian dies. she decides to keep the baby and not think about Ian anymore so it didn't effect the show more relation ship between her and her baby. show less