The Workhouse Girl by Lynette Rees
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Victorian Era
Read: 3rd June 2024
Published: 31st May 2024
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Once a workhouse girl, always a workhouse girl...
Enid Hardcastle has always had a hard life, but when her family can’t make ends meet and are moved to the workhouse, it feels like things can’t get any worse.
But luckily for Enid, her friendship with local boy Jimmy gives her the strength she needs. Also from the cold, hard streets of Merthyr, Jimmy has made his name as an entrepreneur, repairing boots and hand-delivering them to the fine people of the town.
Enid has seen for herself that you can make a better life for yourself, so with Jimmy’s help, she sets about trying to save her family.
But there are even darker places than the workhouse, and as the rumour mill churns, it appears there’s an even more dangerous fate she will need to avoid…
An emotional and nostalgic historical saga that will have you turning pages, engrossed. Perfect for fans of Sheila Newberry and Lynn Johnson.
MY THOUGHTS:
This delightful saga takes place alongside the first in this series "The Winter Waif" and tells the story of Enid Hardcastle, Betsan's friend she encounters when first venturing into the part of town called "China".
Enid and her family are forced into the workhouse and are thus separated, but Enid's story is only just beginning as she is boarded out to work in service with the Clarksons. But alas, circumstances conspired against her and she was sent back to the workhouse and then onto Cardiff, where she confided in the house mistress there who encouraged her to write to her former employer explaining what had happened.
Henceforth, the letter lead to a meeting which then lead to greater things for Enid in the form of a respectable position in a far welcoming household. She made friends and something of herself as she was promoted to upper housemaid, to whom all the other maids answered and looked to.
But life was no easy by any measure. She was separated from her family and longed for her childhood sweetheart, Jimmy Corcoran. But the one who had ruined her life was to enter it once again but this time Enid was ready for him.
A delightfully easy read, it was lovely to meet up with Enid, Jimmy, Mags and even Betsan again. I knew little of Enid's story from Betsan's in "The Winter Waif" but it was good to see it expanded on so we got to know her better.
A wonderful read.
I would like to thank #LynetteRees, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheWorkhouseGirl in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lynette's historical fiction novel, 'The Workhouse Waif', hit the number one spot on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list in 'Victorian Historical Romance' during October of 2016, it remains one of her most popular books to date. Much to her delight, she was contacted by the commissioning editor of Quercus Books who had downloaded the book and loved the story so much, she offered her a traditional publishing deal for that book and three others in the series which were published during 2018 and 2019.
"The Winter Waif" is her first book published by Boldwood in early January 2024.
Lynette enjoys writing in a variety of genres including crime fiction and [contemporary romance where she writes under the name of 'Crystal Carter'.]
Lynette lives in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales.
Social Media links:
No comments:
Post a Comment