A Family Betrayal

by Kitty Neale

Meet the Drapers – they're as tough at they come …

The gritty new drama from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Nobody's Girl. Set on the mean streets of 1960s South London.

MENACING…

The Drapers rule the streets of South London. Everyone's afraid of them – and that's just how they like it.

But when tempers flare and a family feud spirals out of control, tragedy strikes, leaving eldest son Danny in charge.

MANIPULATED…

But he has shocking plans for the family business and Petula, the baby of the family, becomes the scapegoat for the Draper’s dirty dealings.

MISSING…

Years later, and the once united family has now split up. Petula returns to the place she once called home to face her family as well as her demons, unleashing a terrible secret that could destroy them once and for all…

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

515 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Shirley Revill]

I read this book some time ago and I really enjoyed the story. Easy to read but very hard to put down.

[Margaret Ann Jackson]

Enjoyed this one

[Paula P]

I really didn't think I would like this book, but was surprised when I was unable to put it down! Read it within 2 nights, really excellent, well written and keeps you guessing right up until the end

[Margaret]

First Kitty Neale book that i have read (I think) Very good.

[Carli]

A good read with a bit of a twist at the end.

[Scout's Honour]

Welcome to Draper’s Alley. As you will soon find out, only a few unlucky individuals have the opportunity to venture in, but a world of crime, mystery and deceit lie within the very foundations of this familial home.

Kitty Neale’s “Family Betrayal” is a great book for someone looking for an easy yet gripping read. Neale has touched on some very controversial yet crucial and pressing topics, ranging from the production of pornography to rape and murder, leaving the reader to play investigator in this underworld lacking any police presence. Neale has provided a great perspective into East London of the 1960s, including the importance family played in such communities, even when those families are struck by catastrophe and torn apart.

Personally, however, I believe the book only deserves 3 stars, as I found a few plot holes within the narrative – particularly a lack of reasoning behind some of the crimes committed, including the murder (yet it would indeed be easy to say that Neale aimed to portray heartless characters committing crime purely for financial gain). I also found the private life of one of the brothers – Chris – a little lacking. It almost seems as if Neale forgot to give Chris a private life until more than halfway through the book, and then his fate is sealed within a few lines, being given much less detail when compared to the other brothers.

Overall, as stated in many other Goodreads reviews, an incredibly gripping book providing a crucial focus on pressing themes. Yet I found something lacking when it came to creating believable characters and individual identities – there’s more to someone’s personality than crime and a family name.

[Tracy]

Such a great story
The Drapers ruled the streets of south London people afraid of them but when tragedy struck and the oldest boy was in charged life just got worse and worse for them due to the family business changing and their rivals from another district kidnapped and tortured their baby sister
Life really did change but not for the better

[Annemarie Farthing]

'A snail goes into a pub, but it's against policy to serve snails so the barman kicks him out. A year later the snail comes in again, looks up at the barman and says, "What did you do that for?" '
Made me chuckle!
After I finished the book I pondered as to what happened to the filming of Pet?

[mrs J. A. Credidio]

Brilliant from start to finish.

What a brilliant read, gutted when I turned the last page. I'd love there to be a follow up about Pets life. I've just downloaded another of Kitty Neales books,if it's half as good I'll be happy.

[LESLEY HEDISON]

Best read for ages

This was one of the best books I've read of Kitty Neals
It was very much a Martina Cole theme

[Jennifer Davey]

Couldnt out it down, it was like a murder mystery where I had to know what happened and it was easy to read!

[ROSEMARY ELIZABETH FAULKNER]

Wonderful

Captivating to the end as always what a lovely and gifted author
Cannot wait for her next book as always

[lynda braund]

Brilliant read. Couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended. One of my favourite authors.

[Beth]

Kitty Neale’s stories are always easy to follow, even when there are multiple characters being introduced, but I enjoyed this story less than some of her others.

[Steve]

A good read, lots of twists and turns

[Pat Hayward]

Loved it looking forward to next kitty Neale book

[Dan Hooks]

Excellent read from start to finish loved it

[Caroline Magor]

Wow, a real gripping book to read. Had me interested right from the first page. Brilliantly ended too. Recommend this great read...

[Lynn Reece]

Very good

[Penny Chester]

Really good book

You can’t beat a Kitty Neale book, I love all her books, I switch off and I’m back in Battersea my home town.

[Tracey Carnell]

good read

loved this book.a good family based storyline.believable characters.you get to feel you know these characters personally.will be looking for more books by kitty neale.

[Ellen]

Kitty Neale has me at the first page every time I read her books and I have read a lot of them. She is so crafted at drawing a picture of what she is writing about and you get drawn into it completely.

This is set in the 1960's when gangs were rife.There was a particularly nasty one called the Draper family tough, uncouth everyone fears them and they relish that fact. A terrible family feud has drastic repurcussions. This story takes you on a journey like no other. The daughter Petula is one of the main characters. She returns many years later, the family have split up what now? As usual Kitty weaves a web around you.

[Annette]

I have read a few Kitty Neale books over the years and so I was pleased to find this in my holiday apartment. I must say I wasn't dissapointed, although the book is around 530 pages long it kept my interest all the way through. Kitty tells a brilliant story of 1960's London and a family of small time crooks who get in out of their depth with alarming consequences.

[Ondine]

Amazing book, clung to every word, and often found myself skipping ahead to the next page, much to my annoyance! A heartbreaking story about a family torn apart. Would recommend to anyone looking for a great book!

[Jackie Stitt]

Gritty story

I enjoyed reading this book as it was interesting to get to know all the characters. I love reading Kitty's books as I like to get the characters and its almost like watching a film unfold.

[Susan]

I enjoyed this book, not a great deal of storyline but enjoyable none the less

[Dani]

surprisingly good

[Rachael]

this is like the plimsol version of a martina Cole doc Martin - it does the same thing but lacks the grip, suspense, hardness of our miss Cole!! in other words lame and boring!!

[Anna]

Slow to start but got better as it went on, Good twist at end

[Fiona]

Don't judge a book by its cover.
Although I read the back of the book, I thought this was going to be a sad story rather than a tale. A nice surprise.