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Charity Stratton's bleak childhood is changed for ever when both her parents are killed in a fire. Separated by the authorities from her younger brothers and sister, Charity is sent out to work as a skivvy in a boys' boarding school. Her loneliness and misery are eased when she falls deeply in love with the dashing but fickle sixth-former, Hugh Mainwaring, but when she discovers she is pregnant with Hugh's baby she soon realises just how alone she really is. Determined to be reunited with show more her siblings and to make something of herself, Charity runs away to London and begins to forge a new life. show less

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Member Reviews

1 review
When I am in the mood for a light, enjoyable read I often reach for a Lesley Pearse book. Not great literature by any means, but good story-telling, usually along the lines of a long suffering heroine who overcomes all adversity to reach her happy ending.

Charity was no exception, her story starts when she is a young girl, abused and mistreated by her parents but staying silent about her ordeal because of her protective feelings for her younger brothers and sister. We follow her life as she grows into a beautiful, accomplished woman. The time period was interesting to me as I grew up in the sixties and remember the fashions and music that is described in the book.

So although I would label this book a “Beach Read”, it was still a show more real page turner that kept my interest until the end, and I know there will be other Lesley Pearse books in my future. show less
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51 Works 3,825 Members
Lesley Pearse is one of the UK's best-loved novelists. she is a storyteller and a master of gripping storylines that keep the reader hooked from beginning to end, Pearse introduces you to characters that it is impossible not to care about or forget. There is no formula to her books or easily defined genre. Whether crime as in 'Till We Meet Again', show more historical adventure like 'Never Look Back', or the passionately emotive 'Trust Me', based on the true-life scandal of British child migrants sent to Australia in the post war period, she engages the reader completely. Her title Without a Trace made the New Zealand Best Seller List in 2015. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

Common Knowledge

Original publication date
1995

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Historical Fiction, Romance
DDC/MDS
823.914Literature & rhetoricEnglish & Old English literaturesEnglish fiction1900-1901-19991945-1999
BISAC

Statistics

Members
77
Popularity
410,585
Reviews
1
Rating
(3.93)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
8
ASINs
1