Dramatic, emotional and romantic, if you love Lorna Cook, Tracy Rees and Jenny Ashcroft, you’ll love this gripping and heartrending novel from Cathy Mansell, author of A Place to Belong.’Glorious – a cross between Maeve Binchy and Catherine Cookson’ 5* early reader review’A superb saga’ PETERBOROUGH TELEGRAPH’A heart-warming story full of characters you’ll come to love’ ROSIE GOODWIN’Page-turning … GOODWIN’Page-turning and compelling… Most highly recommended’ MARGARET KAINE’Rarely have I read a book where every character springs from the pages so authentically’ JEAN CHAPMAN’A warm-hearted, engaging story’ MARGARET JAMES, WRITING MAGAZINEIn 1950s Dublin, life is hard and jobs are like gold dust.Nineteen-year-old Nell Flynn is training to be a nurse and planning to marry her boyfriend, Liam Connor, when her mother dies, leaving her younger sisters destitute. To save them from the workhouse, Nell returns to the family home – a mere two rooms at the top of a condemned tenement.Nell finds work at a biscuit factory and, at first, they scrape through each week. But then eight-year-old Róisín, delicate from birth, is admitted to hospital with rheumatic fever and fifteen-year-old Kate, rebellious, headstrong and resentful of Nell taking her mother’s place, runs away.When Liam finds work in London, Nell stays to struggle on alone – her unwavering devotion to her sisters stronger even than her love for him. She’s determined that one day the Dublin girls will be reunited and only then will she be free to follow her heart.Look for more gripping, heartwrenching page-turners from Cathy Mansell – don’t miss A Place to Belong, out now.
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In the aftermath of WWII, three sisters struggle to find their place in the world.
The backdrop is post-war Dublin (1950) during a massive economic recession, general poverty, and mass emigration.
Nell was nineteen and had her whole life planned. She would finish nursing school, marry her sweetheart Liam, and start a family. But things rarely go as planned.
After losing both her parents, Nell had to assume the role of sole provider for her sisters Kate (15yo) and Roisin (8yo). Nursing school became a long lost dream, and reality was a full day shift at the local biscuit factory.
The sisters were fascinating characters. They had very different personalities, goals, and views of life and what they wanted to achieve.
The most complex of the three was Kate. She was as rebellious as a fifteen-year-old could be. She was egocentric, rude, and always making the worse possible choices. I had to keep reminding myself she was only a child.
If this had not been a fictional story, I shudder to think what would have become of Kate.
Roisin was a sweetheart, but her health was very fragile.
It was very touching to see how Nell, almost a child herself, tried to keep everyone together facing all kinds of challenges (and there were plenty).
The two of them reminded me a little of Elinor and Marianne from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.
There is a little bit of romance, even an almost love triangle, but it does not take center stage. Liam is an honorable and sweet hero, a bit clueless, in my opinion, but very good at heart.
It always fascinates me to see the world in another place and time. To understand how those people lived and coped with their reality. These girls, so young, out there in a cruel and merciless world.
The book is well-written and captured the post-war atmosphere sensibly and engagingly. The story has a happy and satisfying end.
Lovely read!
Warning: Sexual assault, death, illness, and poverty.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
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Dublin Girls by Cathy Mansell is a great historical fiction novel that also included elements of romance, coming-of-age, and overcoming adversity.
This story places the reader into post-WWII Dublin and the stories, and adversities, that were faced by those that have survived the war, yet realized that struggles of living, family, and day-to-day happenings still occurred. The concept of picking up the pieces and trying to find a sense of normalcy at a time that was anything but normal, was not such an easy task. This situation is where we find our female protagonist, 19 y/o Nell Flynn. Torn between her desire to become a nurse, move away, and be with her beloved Liam Connor and her sense of duty in helping with taking care of her younger sisters after her mother dies is the ultimate struggle.
Here we see the fundamental struggles of: love, loss, courage, fear, loyalty, family, romance, coming of age, perseverance, and following your dreams.
I enjoyed the plot, character cast, location, and ending. I thought Nell was likeable, realistic, smart, loyal, and strong. I rooted for her from the very beginning.
5/5 stars
Thank you NetGalley and Headline for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.