I’m delighted to be part of the book tour today for this wonderful book. Thanks to Bookoutoure for the copy of the book and invitation to be part of the book tour.
AMZ: https://geni.us/B07PMT39QMSocial
Can she follow her dreams – against all the odds?
Liverpool, 1955. With her abusive husband drinking all her wages, Alice faces a daily struggle to provide for her family. Her eldest daughter Cathy has always longed to be a nurse, but when the family’s poverty means she’s forced to leave school and get a job – without the qualifications she needs – it looks like her dreams are over.
But Cathy isn’t willing to give up without a fight, and with the support of old friend – and new love – Gianni, she manages to secure a place as a cadet nurse, learning as she works.
Cathy knows that without her around, her mam must stand up to her violent husband alone – and that with less money coming in, Alice will be in danger of losing everything. What’s more, since nursing students must be unmarried, and Gianni is desperate to settle down, it’s not just her mam who hopes that Cathy will come home…
Can Cathy find a way to have it all, or will becoming a nurse mean leaving her family – and love – behind her?
The Nurses of Lark Lane is a heart-breaking saga about a family’s battle to survive. If you love Nadine Dorries, Diney Costeloe and Donna Douglas, you won’t want to miss Pam Howes!
An earlier version of this book was previously published as Cathy’s Clown. This edition contains significant editorial revisions.
MY REVIEW:
This is a fantastic family saga. Set in the fifties, when things are beginning to improve after the war, this story is all about real life; love, loss, heartbreak and joy.
The characters are superb, I was so drawn in and felt as if I knew them all. I particularly liked Cathy. She’s a strong woman, wanting her career, which wasn’t easy for women then.
Cathy’s journey to her nursing career isn’t straightforward, but it makes for fascinating reading. In an era where things were changing for women, but where it was still expected that they would settle down and have families rather than careers, it was challenging.
I read this as a standalone, but I wish I had read the previous novels in the series, not because it’s necessary, but because I enjoyed this one so much. I think I might go back and read the others, and I really hope that there’ll be further instalments.
It’s got all the elements of a really enjoyable and relatable novel. Highly recommended.
MY RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Pam Howes was born in Cheshire. She is an ex Interior Designer who began writing seriously in the mid nineties. The idea for her first novel, set in the sixties, was inspired by her time as a teenager, working in a local record store and hanging around with musicians who frequented the business. That first novel evolved into a series set in the fictional town of Pickford, based on her home town of Stockport. Three Steps to Heaven; ‘Til I Kissed You; Always On My Mind; Not Fade Away, and That’ll Be The Day, follow the lives and loves through the decades of fictional Rock’n’Roll band The Raiders. Pam is a big fan of sixties music and it’s this love that compelled her to write the series. A stand-alone true-life romance, Fast Movin’ Train, set in the nineties, was published in early 2012. Pam is mum to three adult daughters, grandma to seven assorted grandchildren, and roadie to one musician partner.
Pam recently signed a second contract with the award winning publisher Bookouture and the first novel in her new Lark Lane series, The Factory Girls of Lark Lane, will be published in July 2018.
Her first series for Bookouture – The Mersey Trilogy – is available in E book, paperback and as audio books.
The Lost Daughter of Liverpool
The Forgotten Family of Liverpool
The Liverpool Girls
Follow her on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pam-Howes-Books/260328010709267
And Twitter @PamHowes1
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