A Wife's Courage: The BRAND NEW Battersea saga for 2023

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When Celia's husband leaves her and Thomas announces he is to marry Amy, she is more determined than ever to split them up.Celia needs an ally, so she writes to her elder son, Jeremy, asking him to come home. 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. 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? She is forced to marry this man who never wanted anything to do with her after their first affair. The offer of money from her father is the only reason the man agrees to marrying her and this results in a torturous marriage. Kitty Neale is a British author that writes thrilling dramatic novels that explore friendships, family life and the hardships that plague normal life. Kitty’s stories are inspired by her own personal experiences and the tragedies she has encountered in her life.

Kitty Kneale is onto a winner with this wonderful book, it is well constructed and was an absolute joy to read. Yes, there are some upsetting scenes, this is the 1960's and racial discrimination was rife, women were still expected to be seen and not heard. It shows how far we've come in society, the equality between men and women and the author has written with sensitivity; not just with these issues but with others that are highlighted within the story. 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. 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.The author does not know if she would have ever pursued her writing dreams if tragedy hadn’t come into her life. Kitty’s son was 27-years-old when he died. The occurrence nearly broke Kitty. I have only read one Kitty Neale book before this one and I want to say it was a blog tour that brought her to my attention, I forgot how much I enjoyed it and will be adding more of hers to my wishlist. Set in Battersea, South London, 1956 we head to a small community with different social standings. For example Amy Millar comes from a working class family, scrimping by, her dad in a low paid job with his post war injury, her mum working double jobs but they are loved and happy. Amy's boyfriend Thomas Frost comes from a different type of family, his dad owns his own business, his mother Celia is a keeping up with the Joneses and feels Amy is far too common for her precious son, her marriage is not an overly happy one. We have wee characters in between, old Winnie next door, Amy's mum looks out for, even missing out on stuff to ensure Winnie does not. Mabel, Amy's mums friend and town busybody who reveals in dramas and gets herself in hot water sometimes. It is quite the small community but the dramas are huge and a plenty. I think that the author has created a wonderful, varying mix of characters, some I liked but a few were unsavoury and I didn't like them at all. The Family Secret is a one can't put downable read, and boyo boy there's a lot along the way to surface as you read. 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.

A rich young girl – Constance – is devoid of love from both her parents. Her self-esteem is extremely low and her ability to judge people correctly is distorted due to never receiving any true affection. This causes her to be attracted to a seemingly sensible lad and soon she is outcast when the unthinkable occurs! 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. From the get go I couldn't put down this book, the beginning has a dark and forboding feel to it that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Kitty Neale's writing style is fast paced and keeps the reader interested.Plain, but with a beautiful, caring nature, Constance Burton Blake is the main focus of attention throughout the book; an only child, born to Henrietta, a cold-hearted woman and a heavy drinker, and her Father Charles, who is often absent and carries a full-on condescending attitude. I didn't much care for either of them. Even as a child, Kitty had an incredible imagination. She was always telling her friends and family stories some of which were quite horrific; though, to her family, they were more of a source of amusement than a cause for concern. Most modern authors would have used such affirmation as a reason to immediately make their mark in publishing. However, even though her writing talents were so clear to everyone who knew her, it would be years before Kitty Neale sat down to write fiction.

So guys these types of books often carry some trauma and sexual assault is featured, not in graphic detail but it is mentioned and more than once so heads up. Classism, relationships, friendships, alcohol abuse, poverty and manipulation so there is never really a dull moment. 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. Seventeen-year-old Constance has had a privileged upbringing in Clapham but her parents have always been cold and distant, never showing her love. 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. 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?In the meantime, his ex wife Pearl Button has divorced him and remarried, determined to protect her son from knowing who his real father is. Jeremy’s arrival unleashes a tide of jealously and hate. He wants everything that belongs to Thomas – especially Amy. As Jeremy’s dangerous obsession for his brother’s wife grows, Amy must fight for her marriage, and her baby.

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. From there she began to master the craft, fixing her punctuation and gaining a basic understanding of the publishing industry. Writing was just a distraction at that time, a means of burying her grief by getting immersed in imaginary worlds. A gritty tale of family and a love that holds no bounds, from the best-selling author of Nobody’s Girl and A Father’s RevengeBut 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. 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. 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. When their marriage is upended, Jennifer must go on a journey with a young woman she just met to discover a truth that might be too much for either of them to bear. 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.