New Neighbours for Coronation Close (Coronation Close #1) by Lizzie Lane
Genre: Historical fiction, Pre-WW2, Sagas
Read: 1st January 2023
Published: 4th January 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Bristol 1936
Jenny Crawford has resigned herself to a loveless marriage living hand to mouth with their two children. Like many others, husband Roy struggles to find work at the docks but a chance encounter turns his outlook and the family's fortunes around.
Not only does he get regular work but they are also allocated a council house on Coronation Close on the outskirts of the city. Jenny and the children are overjoyed, this is the fresh start she could only ever dream of.
But trouble feels never too far away. With Roy spending more time away with Sir Oswald Molesey bullying black shirts, Jenny is left to her own devices and eager to fit in begins to make new friends.
Thankful of peace, Jenny has her head turned firstly by an old love and then by her knight in shining armour.
Does she allow herself to fall in love with either of these?
Whatever happens the consequences could be dire if Roy ever finds out.
MY THOUGHTS:
My first read and review for 2023!
As a fan of Lizzie Lane's The Tobacco Girls series, I was excited by the prospect of this new series featuring the residents of Coronation Close. Set in Bristol once again, there is a slight nod to the aforementioned series with the name of the tobacco company mentioned in passing.
NEW NEIGHBOURS FOR CORONATION CLOSE is set prior to the war beginning in January 1936 with the death of the King and the excitement taking over for that of the new King Edward VIII. I love how the book began, firstly with the then King's death, and King Edward VII's accession and ended with his abdication. It seemed the perfect close of one chapter before beginning the next.
The story begins in the poverty stricken tenements of The Pithay where Jenny Crawford lives with her husband Roy and two daughters Tilly and Gloria. The tenements are ancient, having stood for hundreds of years and are crumbling down around them. There are no indoor luxuries such as running water, electricity or gas. No bathroom or indoor privy. Even the kitchen is shared between tenants in the block. The place is appalling with only vermin thriving within its walls.
Jenny could have done better when she married Roy but naive and full of girlish dreams, she was swayed by his charm at the tender age of sixteen, marrying him two years later. But as they adage goes...marry in haste, repent at leisure. And Jenny has plenty of repenting to do now. Roy had quickly changed as soon as the ring was on her finger. He is a violent bully who is a little too free with his fists, and keeps a tight reign on Jenny should she step out of line. In his opinion, she needs no friends as she has him and her place is in the home keeping house for him and making sure his meal is on the table as soon as he walks in from work down at the docks. And there'd be hell to pay if she didn't.
As Roy takes on more work at the docks, boasting that he has won favour with his superiors, he starts to become a little more secretive and furtive in his behaviour that Jenny wonders if he is seeing another woman. But no, his interest is drawn to politics in the form of Sir Oswald Mosley and his Blackshirts, and is soon donning the uniform of the British Union of Fascists party group. And it is through his ties with Mosley's group that he is able to swing a new council house in the suburbs on the newly named Coronation Close.
Upon moving to Coronation Close, Jenny misses her old neighbours in Isaac and Ruth but it isn't long before she starts to build new friendships in the Close. Thelma, who is a force to be reckoned with, is first to introduce herself along with Cath and Maude. But it's her immediate neighbours, Dorothy and Harriet, that resonate with her...though for other reasons to ther rest of the residents. As their new home is further from the city, Roy must travel longer to work and then there are his Blackshirt meetings which he takes very seriously, as they lend him an air respectability (or so he thinks). This means Roy is away from home more and more until work takes him away for months at a time. Jenny is appalled at his association with the fascist group whilst at the same time relieved that the more time he spends with them, then the less he is at home. Can she live her new life free of the restraints Roy keeps her in when he's at home? Or must she continue looking over her shoulder in fear of his return?
Throughout her journey from the Pithay tenements to the new council estate in the suburbs, Jenny is reacquainted with an old flame in Robin Hubert as well as meeting her knight in shining armour Charlie Talbot. Both men believe she deserves better than the life she has but she reminds both of them that she is married and that is the end of it. Or is it? Which of them holds her heart? Could she be happy with one or the other of them should Roy never come back? Then just as she is beginning to slip into the comfort of her new way of life, a shock return puts her life as she knows it into a completely different perspective. What does it mean for her now?
One thing is for sure...everyone on Coronation Close has secrets.
NEW NEIGHBOURS FOR CORONATION CLOSE is the beginning of a promising new series set around the residents of Coronation Close. And while it was slow to start with the character building in Jenny and Roy and the lives in the tenements, it soon picked up once they'd moved to suburbia. There was one confusing aspect in Thelma being referred to as Dawson and Dawkins - both on more than one occasion - that I was unable to ascertain which was her actual surname.
As with any series, the story ended with a few unanswered questions which are bound to be followed up in future additions to the series. One of which being Jenny's neighbours which we the readers are privy to but not the other residents. There wasn't a lot of focus on either Cath or Maude but I'm sure that will also change with future stories. Of course Jenny was the main focus with Thelma running a close second.
As the era in which this is set, it was a time of prejudice and appearances were everything. People had to be seen to be doing what was expected. Respectability and status mattered. But what went on behind closed doors was no one's business but theirs. Men hitting their wives, wives submitting to obey their husbands in everything, deserters of war, homosexuality even those thought to be living immorally. And even the royal family were not immune for the accession of King Edward VIII saw him having to choose between duty and love. Because as someone who represents the people of the British empire and that of respectability, he could not marry a thrice divorced woman AND be king.
With a few loose threads still dangling in the breeze of Coronation Close, I can't wait to return to find out how they will be tied up or if their threads will unravel unexpectedly.
I would like to thank #LizzieLane, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #NewNeighboursForCoronationClose in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Working jobs she's hated purely to keep a roof over her family’s head and a meal on the table, she then discovered writing. Encouraged by an American writer friend and when a time came there were no jobs and no other option, she took the plunge. She is now the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. As a Bristolian, many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories, inspiring her new saga series The Tobacco Girls.
Up until six years ago her home (and that of her late husband) was a 46ft sailing yacht named Sarabande Serene, sailing into the Mediterranean. So besides being a successful author Lizzie can read navigation charts and react swiftly in a storm.
Lizzie is now landlocked in a town close to the city of Bath.
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