Friday, May 17, 2019

The Shop Girls of Lark Lane by Pam Howes

3 Star

Liverpool, 1945. As the war draws to a close, Alice and Terry Lomax are building a new life with their young daughter Cathy. After years away fighting, Terry is a stranger to his daughter and must work hard to win her trust and love. 

Alice and old friend Sadie work in the haberdashery of Lewis’s department store, where bomb damage scars the walls and rationing is still in force. Yet Lewis’s remains open, a sign of strength in the midst of Liverpool’s post-war ruins. 

Though memories of those lost in the war are fresh, Alice and Sadie look forward to the future. But then a tragic accident leaves Alice a widow, and the father of Sadie’s child – a man she hoped never to see again – is back in Liverpool… 

With Alice struggling to start again alone, and Sadie desperate to protect her son, can these two shop girls overcome their troubles and keep their hopes alive – even with all the odds against them?



Kathryn - 3 Star

I am a fan of Pam Howes because she creates characters that seem perfectly placed, with depth and warmth but also weaves into the narrative some serious challenges. I really enjoyed the last series I read from her (The Liverpool Girls) so I was hoping for the same immersion into this novel.  

Howes gave Alice a really difficult start and an even more challenging middle.  Her husband returning from war to be killed so shortly afterwards was heartbreaking so I was immediately entrenched in the hardship that was about to follow for her. But her choice to allow herself to be pursued by another man, a friend of her husband,  seemed doomed from the start and I couldn't quite get my head or heart to see it the way Alice did.  Her life was difficult without remarrying but I was not a fan of the new man.  I was also frustrated because her life without a husband didn't seem to be insurmountable, she had support from her brother, friends and her mother in law.  It's perhaps a sign of the times that the need for a husband would have her still choose someone with red flags rather than be alone.   

But what I loved most about the story was Alice's love for her brother, her daughter and her friends.  This is really a novel of friendship and family relationships rather than romance.  The strength of all the women is apparent.  


Thank you to Bookouture for our review copy.  All opinions are our own.


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