The Mersey Girls (Reckoner's Row #2) by Sheila Riley
Genre: Sagas, Post-war, Historical fiction
Read: 4th March 2022
Published: 18th August 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The latest instalment in Sheila Riley's brilliant Reckoner's Row series
Liverpool 1950...
When Evie Kilgaren takes over the running of the back office at Skinner and Son's haulage yard, she has no idea she is walking into a hive of blackmail, secrets and lies.
Her fellow co-worker and childhood nemesis, Susie Blackthorn, is outraged at being demoted and is hell-bent on securing the affections of local heartthrob Danny Harris.
Grace Harris, a singer on the prestigious D’Angelo transatlantic ocean liners, is returning home engaged to be married. But Grace is harbouring her own shocking secrets and something valuable her fiancé very desperately wants back.
As we return to the lives and loves of those who live and work in the Mersey Docklands, not everything is as it seems and love and luck are rarely on the same side.
MY REVIEW:
After thoroughly enjoying the first in this series "The Mersey Orphan" - though I read before it underwent a title change from "The Orphan's Daughter" - I had been eagerly awaiting the next installment. But life has a way of getting in the way of all the books I want to read and some 18 months after publication I have finally revisited the lives and loves of Reckoner's Row and enjoyed every minute of it. Some I had even forgotten about so it was lovely to have my memory refreshed of all the loveable people and the nefarious characters in the Liverpool dockside community.
It's 1950, three years after the end of the previous book, and Grace Harris has taken her singing to new heights as the lead cabaret act on the prestigious D'Angelo shipping line, mixing with celebrities and royalty alike. But you can take the girl out of Liverpool...and she longs to return home to see her family after so long abroad. Her mother is excited about her daughter's upcoming wedding and is eager to meet the man who has stolen her Gracie's heart. But when Grace disembarks at the Liverpool docks, it is not her fiance on her arm but the liner's heir, Bruce D'Angelo. The couple make exchange numbers and make arrangements to meet again soon. But then fate steps in...will she ever see Bruce again? Or is he just like every other man?
At twenty one, Evie Kilgaren has had her fair share of troubles. After her mother disappeared, later to be found in the river after the big freeze had thawed and her father tried for her murder, Evie has single-handedly brought up her two younger siblings, Jack (17) and Lucy (13). In the three years since her life was turned upside down, Evie has studied her way to earn a decent living as a bookkeeper at D'Angelo Shipping Lines. Although she had been forced to grow up quickly, she wants Jack and Lucy to enjoy their childhood and to get the education that would earn them decent livings. However, working at the shipping office is a fair way from Reckoner's Row and when she is offered the position of office manager at Skinner's haulage yard, less than a few minutes walk from her front door, Evie is quick to accept it despite knowing her nemesis is also employed there.
Flightly and fickle, Susie Blackthorn has always been the proverbial thorn in Evie's side. Her spiteful vindictiveness and selfish personality makes it difficult for anyone to like or sympathise with her. She thrives on gossip and skulking around dark corners in an attempt to uncover some juicy tidbits, lording her knowledge from the lofty heights of self interest. The fact that she is employed at Skinner's does not mean she does any work, as Evie discovers when she enters the disgraceful confines of the office, but spends most of her time filing her talons rather than invoices and gazing out the window for a glimpse of Danny. For the past three years, Susie has done her utmost to be seen by Danny Harris and attempting to worm her way into his affections. But Danny has only eyes for one woman...and it is not Susie Blackthorn!
As Evie works her way through the accounts she is shocked to discover that, not only has Susie never followed up on overdue invoices, but the owner of the haulage yard, Henry and his wife Meggie - both well respected members of their community - are being blackmailed. It is not her business why but it is her business to get the accounts in order and hopefully find out who is blackmailing their kindhearted friends. But to do that, she needs help. And so she takes Danny into her confidence.
Meanwhile there is something nefarious going on when Grace finds herself being followed and all has something to do with something valuable that that scoundrel Clifford Bracks gave her upon their engagement whilst they were still at sea. But what does he want with her when he has scores of other dancing girls to warm his bed at night? But things go awry for Grace in ways she could not imagine, as she harbours her own shocking secrets and knowing her life will never be the same again.
There are many more characters that get to have their share of the limelight throughout THE MERSEY GIRLS and Ada Harris would have it no other way. But it's the Connie McRaes of the story that bring a heartwarming cheer to my soul, for it is them who are the lifeblood of the community. They are far more genuine than the fickle nosiness of gossip-mongers who love to be the centre of attention when they have news to impart on someone else's misfortune but when it is them who are the subject of gossip, they wish to fade into the background.
I did so love Ada's misnomers as she attempted to give the impression she was something resembling middle class. Rest and reciprocation; about one being a social piranha; poisoning of the appendages (appendix); taking her son to the doctor's insulting room...the list goes on. She made me laugh on many occasion. And while Susie was the thorn in not only Evie's side but the readers, she does add that necessary adversary to the tale. And of course, there is seeing if she is rightly put in her place by one and all.
Although this is predominantly Evie, Grace and Susie's stories...it is Evie the reader admires more. Possibly because we have seen where Evie has come from in the first book and all she was dealt with back then. Grace's story was an intriguing one that didn't have as much page-time as as Evie but was one I was invested in all the same. I would have liked to have had a little more insight behind what happened after the incident at the tavern (no spoilers) but it just seemed to take place behind the scenes and readers were suddenly presented with the outcome along with the family. Susie...well, she is one character who we all love to hate. She is lazy and entitled, expecting everything to be handed to her while she does nothing to earn anything, all the while gloating in her vindictiveness she does not hesitate to lavish on anyone who gets in her path. Particularly Evie.
The other remaining characters - Henry, Meggie, Connie, Angus, Jack, Lucy and even Bobby - are all endearing ones and while they don't play as prominently as they had previously, they are still integral to the story.
While I loved THE MERSEY GIRLS, the plot itself I found to be a little disjointed in places, sometimes erratic. In the middle of a chapter with one character, the author swiftly changes perspectives to another leaving the reader momentarily confused, even moreso when the perspective changes back again...all without a break between scenes. A few parts were repetitive even with the same word or expression is used for the same thing that is repeated a page or so later. It didn't detract my enjoyment of it but I did find it somewhat confusing in parts. However, that is my only complaint and I did thoroughly enjoy the book otherwise.
An enjoyable heartwarming saga that is an easy read, THE MERSEY GIRLS is filled with love, joy, sadness and a whole load of sassiness. I cannot wait to see where the third installment takes us when I read "The Mersey Mothers" next.
Perfect for fans of "Call the Midwife", historical sagas, wartime and post-war fiction.
I would like to thank #SheilaRiley, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheMerseyGirls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Married to her knight in rusty armour, Tony, she has three grown-up children, five adored grandchildren, a majestic German Shepherd called Max and an insatiably energetic Siberian Husky called Louis and an ancient cat called Missy.
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