Lyn Andrews: A mother's love

Eve and Eddie Dobson have been running the George pub in Liverpool for over twenty years. Now the Depression is taking hold and, with money in short supply, life becomes more difficult for the family, but at least their three daughters have never been a worry. Lily dreams of going on the stage, Sarah seems content to slog away as a waitress and Maggie's gently directing her devoted boyfriend to the altar. But when Eddie's flirtation with the hired help takes an unexpected turn, everything changes, leaving none of Eve's family untouched and calling on all the strength of a mother's love.

This is an intriguing story about the roles and responsibilities of different family members showing how the action of just one family member can cause the entire family to change and be uprooted. The characters are well-developed, believable and mostly likeable. Most of all, however, it was great that the story does not end in a total happy-end, although Lily's dramatic situation seemed a bit too far-fetched at the time. I did, however, enjoy reading about the life in a period, where there were no mobile phones or computers, and not even any cars....