Battersea Tavern is run by Winnie & Brian Berry, but these days it's more Winnie doing all the running around. Many of the author’s books are set in South London, in locations with which Kitty is intimately familiar. She writes a lot about dysfunctional families and tragedies. Bessie has taken on Nora Dobbs, a young woman and she asks Pearl to take over her care when dies. Pearl, thinking that Bessie will recover from her illness and live for many more years, agrees, but less than a week later, Bessie passes away. Heartbroken and threatened by scandal, Constance is forced to wed Albie and moves to Battersea, where she suffers unforgiving stares and cruel whispers from the neighbours. Trapped in a bitter and loveless marriage without a penny to her name, Constance has no choice but to stay and surrender. Will she ever find freedom – or happiness – again? Winnie is running The Battersea Tavern at the onset of the Second World War, and alongside her faithful barmaid, Rachel, they welcome their regulars in with pleasant conversation and the promise of a pint. Winnie’s lazy husband, Brian, spends most of his time in his armchair, whilst their son, David, doesn’t have an honest bone in his body.

This is overall, an enthralling story with characters that you'll take into your hearts, is full of secrets and you'll be rooting for them every step of the way. Writing came into the picture soon after, an activity that added further stability to Kitty Neale’s life. She started out slow. At the insistence of a friend, Kitty started attending a regular gathering of writers.

He's inherited his father's lazy streak and can't seem to hold down a job, but when war is declared Winnie is determined to keep her son safe. She's still haunted by the choice she made years ago as a desperate young woman, and she won't make the same mistake of letting her family be taken from her... But then she learned that she was adopted and she finally understood the true nature of her plight. Jenny would have loved nothing better than to find her real family and to finally understand where she came from. Rachel, Winnie's granddaughter takes a shine to Alberto King the colour of his skin doesn't bother her a single mum to her daughter Martha she was glad to have a bit of excitement in her life. Even though Kitty knew that she enjoyed telling stories, it wasn’t until she arrived at Tennyson Street Secondary school that the notion of pursuing a career in writing and publishing finally took root in her mind.

For all these mother's in this book I say " Bless em all" with the war on going what will the future bring? But it turned out that her mother died when she was born. As an adult, Jennifer has tried to fill the void in her heart. She married Marcos because she was convinced he would finally make her happy. Aw you guys, Winnie is a wee soul, wholesome, she has such a kind heart and always wants to do for others, her goodness is emphasized by the shady characters around her. We see the community in the build up to the war, the disbelief it will come to be and how it affects those in and around Winnie's life. A chance encounter sees Winnie have to face the past and the ripples it creates in her present day life, secrets have a habit of always coming out and it isn't just Winnie who has secrets! sadly the last in this three book series but I shall look forward to more adventures from Kitty Neale her book just keep coming in heaps and bounds with so many feel good emotions as you can't put them down. Abandoned on the cold stone steps of an orphanage, only a few hours old and clutching the object which was to give her name, Pearl Button had a hard start to life.She could do a little bit of everything but there wasn’t one skill she had truly mastered because no particular arena of employment ever satisfied her. And after a while, Kitty’s family came into the picture at which point they became the primary focus of her life. Over time, her work began to take on a life of its own. Kitty found that she could take the people she had met over her lifetime and the experiences she had encountered and turn them into compelling stories. Jennifer Lavender never felt like she belonged. She was always working so hard to earn her parent’s love and attention but nothing she did felt like it was ever enough. This is an interesting look at a number of people and how they coped with life’s joys and problems amid the war. It was obvious once I started it that this was the second book in the series and I had not read the first Battersea Tavern book. But the author filled in the story enough to get the gist of what had gone before. Winnie, is a warm hearted character who is not judgemental and who mostly tries to see the good in people. Sometimes that leads to trouble. She is fiercely protective of Rachel and Martha. We also meet The Hampton siblings Errol and Cheryl. Cheryl is close to her father but Errol and Harry have always had an uneasy relationship.

Now 16 years old, she's finally managed to escape the cruel confines of the orphanage, and enter the real world. Finding work at a nearby café, Pearl is thrilled to start earning her own money, even if she must contend with sharp-tongued Dolly Dolby. Kitty Neale blames one particular English teacher for the development. The man would always commend Kitty on her essays, taking note of the talent brimming in every bit of writing she submitted.The author married her first husband in 1966. Their son and daughter were born soon after. Then came the divorce, followed by a number of years during which Kitty struggled to survive as a single mother. Dear Rachel, another likeable character and with her own story to tell - as do many of the character's - and this is what made the story more interesting. Even though the Battersea Tavern is the heart of the story, it's what is going on with its inhabitants, the drama that kept the story flowing - there was never a dull moment! I think that the Battersea Tavern is London's equivalent to Manchester's Rovers Return. I enjoyed every moment of it. This is a story of lots of mother's secrets throughout the whole fantastic book. My emotions made me laugh cry and cheer, all the way through. It's the third of September 1939 in Battersea London, Winnie Berry her husband Brian and son David had the wireless on and it's not good news, they are at war with Germany and Winnie has a main worry of her beloved son been called up.

Seventeen-year-old Constance has had a privileged upbringing in Clapham, with staff to attend to her every need. But her parents have always been cold and distant, never showing her love. She might have never recovered if it wasn’t for a bereavement group she joined, one that constituted women who had lost children in tragic circumstances. The group allowed Kitty to heal. Craving affection, Constance falls into the arms of Albie Jones, the cook’s grandson. But one fateful encounter leaves her ashamed and pregnant, and she is soon shunned from the family home. Then she hears two pieces of terrifying news – Kevin Dolby is up for parole and that her dear friend Bessie is gravely ill. I also can't speak enough of Winnie, she is definitely one of my favourite characters, terrified of what the break out of War means for her family and pub, trying to look after her son. To do best even when it was hard. And then there are the other ladies of the book - Rachel, Jane and Hilda - whom you can just pull up a stool and have a chat with.This is my first ever Kitty Neale book, set just before world war two we meet Winnie, she runs the Battersea Tavern. Her aggressive and known to be violent husband stays behind the scenes letting Winnie do all the hard graft. She dotes on her only son, David, an attractive (and he knows it) spoilt man child who thinks nothing of using his looks and mothers good nature to skate by in life. Rachel is her dab hand barmaid who works hard, is respectable and has her own family nightmare, her sister Hilda, sober she is the sweetest and kindest, drunk she opens her mouth and embarrasses and hurts poor Rachel with her bile. We also meet sweet Jan as she starts up an innocent relationship with one of the regulars in the Tavern. As the story develops we get to meet the characters and more of their lives, belt up and prefer for an emotive ride.