On New Year’s Day 1925 Ivy Rose Murphy awakes to find her world changed forever. Her irresponsible Da is dead. She is grief-stricken and alone – but for the first time in her life free to please herself. After her mother deserted the family, Ivy became the sole provider for her da and three brothers. Pushing a pram around the well-to-do areas of Dublin every day, she begged for the discards of … discards of the wealthy which she then turned into items she could sell around Dublin’s markets.
As she visits the morgue to pay her respects to her Da, a chance meeting introduces Ivy to a new world of money and privilege, her mother’s world. Ivy is suddenly a woman on a mission to improve herself and her lot in life.
Jem Ryan is the owner of a livery near Ivy’s tenement. When an accident occurs in one of his carriages, leaving a young girl homeless, it is Ivy he turns to. With Jem and the people she meets in her travels around Dublin, Ivy begins to break out of the poverty-ridden world that is all she has ever known.
Through Streets Broad and Narrow is a story of strength and determination in the unrelenting world that was Dublin tenement life.
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Loved the main character Ivy Rose.
Loved the whole series! Gemma Jackson has written a fascinating series. I did not want the series to end.
Enjoyed this book…great characters…..if you read this book have some hot tea on hand
It is a lesson in appreciation for what I have in America and in the 1980s to 2000s. We are so blessed to have running water in our homes, indoor bathrooms with tubs and/or showers. I am grateful for my refrigerator, my washer and dryer. I am just plain thankful!!! I do recommend this series because it gives a glimpse in the past that did not have the wonderful conveniences we have today. Heck, I am grateful for electricity ! !
Wonderful story representing the life of a struggling young woman, her friends and neighbors in a very poor section of Ireland. This determined, hard-working woman is able to improve her lot in life while pulling up those around her. Obstacles abound. Subversions appear out of nowhere. Help, justice, and a hand-up play a large role in her story. On the negative side, there were too many extraneous details, for example, explaining how someone pulled a chair up for another person to sit on, while major plot points went from the thought or intention to the fruition without any explanations in between. The characters are realistic and engaging and their stories are heart-felt. The reader wants to know what happens next.
Definitely enjoyed reading about what can happen to someone who is a woman in the past when all the males in the family have died. Heroine is very believable and resourceful.
would and have recommended
Loved the character development.
Really boring
I could imagine the living spaces, streets and markets with few words from the author. Some descriptions are so lengthy that it takes away from the story. This was perfect. I kept hoping the characters would persevere. Get this one, I think a reader of period stories will like it.
A story that shows that even the poorest citizens in Dublin in the 20s can find a way out of poverty if they work together and have the vision to imagine a better life
One of the first books that I’ve read that actually describes some of the smells of the times. The characters are engaging and show how you could, with hard work and some luck, come up in the world of the early 20th century.
Wonderful book! Was sorry to finish book so I bought sequel to continue story.
historical romance
Good
One of the best series I’ve ever read. I was sorry when they ended.
Great story, feels like you are right there, read 2nd follow up book, looking forward to going on to 3rd!
This book is a good read for a cold day, snuggled in a blanket by the fire with a cup of tea, or a lazy summer afternoon.
I loved the title character Ivy, a gutsy girl who prevailed through hard times. Can’t wait to read the sequel.
What will she think of next? Sometimes you can see the wheels in her head working, the rest of the time you in for a surprise. A great read.