Shameful Secrets on Coronation Close (Coronation Close #2) by Lizzie Lane
Genre: Historical fiction, Pre-WW2, Sagas
Read: 17th April 2023
Published: 20th April 2023
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
There are no secrets that time does not reveal…
Bristol 1937
The year is 1937 and the country is still reeling from the abdication of King Edward the Eighth the year before.
His brother, the Duke of York has become King George the Sixth and will be crowned in May.
The country is on a high. Union Jacks are being dusted off and bunting is being made. Thelma, Jenny and residents of Coronation Close are all a buzz with planning the street parties and celebrations for the great day.
But behind every door shameful secrets and sins linger on Coronation Close, just bubbling to expose themselves…
MY THOUGHTS:
Bristol 1937
Life in Coronation Close was rocked when King Edward VIII abdicated from duty in favour of love and none more so than Thelma Dawson whose royal collection was her pride and joy...after her children, of course. So shocked was she by his betrayal to the crown that she smashed and destroyed any commemorative edition featuring him as King, albeit short-lived.
But now the country has a new King. Albert has stepped up to become King George VI, with his coronation set for 12th May. And preparations are in full swing for a street party in the close with the hope that everything will run smoothly on the day. Thelma has appointed herself as organiser but finds herself overwhelmed when a shocking tragedy befalls her on the evening that her first born, her son George is coming home on leave from the Merchant Navy. She was so focused on getting out the door of Bertram's at six on the dot, so focused on getting home in time to see her son again that she didn't see anything untoward...not even when the bus' gearbox died in a howling blizzard. Not even when the kindly man hook her arm through his to guide her way. Not even then. But she finally made it home and threw her arms around her only son and wept tears of joy at his return...even if just for a few months. But her joy was slightly overshadowed though only Jenny could see it.
Jenny Crawford and her girls had been in Coronation Close for nearly a year and had formed friendships with just about everyone who lived therein. With the exception of "her next door", the curmudgeonly Dorothy Partridge who saw it as her duty to complain to the council at every turn about the goings on within the Close and her abject distaste of it all. Nobody liked Dorothy but accepted her as part of the furniture (so to speak) and they all felt a little sorry for her poor sister Harriet, also widowed. But Harriet has a secret which only Dorothy knows and has kept for over two decades. But what will happen if their secret is suddenly made known?
Jenny's husband Roy was in Palestine in the army and the further away he is, the better. Roy's secret is known only by Jenny but it is one that made him abusive with her on the receiving end of his fists. He has found contentment in the army along with adventure, and Jenny receives his army pension to help support her and the girls in his absence. But lately she has felt restless. It is no secret that Robin Hubert (or is it Godwin? Because the name keeps changing throughout the story) wants to be more than friends but he's still married to Doreen even if she lives a separate life with the children and her rich men friends. And then there is Charlie Talbolt who has taken her out from time to time but there is something just a little bit off about him.
Cath is still just as possessively jealous of Thelma's friendship with Jenny and still gets about in her metal curlers, like Winnie from "Mrs Browns Boys".
Then Thelma gets a shock which proves to be somewhat problematic at both her age and for her life going forward. Particularly in her relationship with Bert, the council rent man. She still hasn't met his mother so it comes as something of a surprise when he rolls into the Close in his car with his mother at the Coronation street party! But just what will his mother think of her, her son's lady friend?
So many secrets and two new families move into the Close in this second installment of Coronation Close and still so many to unravel. While it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, there is one thing that the story was leading up to that didn't eventuate this time round so I'm guessing we'll have to wait and see what happens in the next book. I'm not sure about the new neighbours just yet as we haven't really gotten to know them yet. I'm sure their stories and secrets will come out in the wash soon enough.
In the meantime, I'm hoping for a happy ending for Jenny as well as for Thelma. I thoroughly enjoy this series as the threat of war looms ever closer but not yet touching lives just yet. And I can't wait for the next one!!
I would like to thank #LizzieLane, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #ShamefulSecretsOnCoronationClose 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment