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A Woman of Courage
Survival means fighting back .
It's 1890, and Josie Gray is an innocent and beautiful fifteen-year old when Adam McGuigan, the youngest son of a dangerous and influential crime family spots her singing in a Sunderland public house. Adam is handsome and charismatic, sweeping Josie off her feet with his beguiling lies and promises. He charms her into marrying him on her sixteenth birthday, but on her wedding night the fairy tale ends.
Josie finds herself trapped in a living nightmare and there's no one to help her. Events spiral out of control, and when her life is put in danger she escapes with her baby son. Fleeing to a different country, Josie fights to make a good life for her child and then love beckons again.
But the McGuigan family's power is far reaching. When the day of reckoning comes, can Josie survive it?
It's 1890, and Josie Gray is an innocent and beautiful fifteen-year old when Adam McGuigan, the youngest son of a dangerous and influential crime family spots her singing in a Sunderland public house. Adam is handsome and charismatic, sweeping Josie off her feet with his beguiling lies and promises. He charms her into marrying him on her sixteenth birthday, but on her wedding night the fairy tale ends.
Josie finds herself trapped in a living nightmare and there's no one to help her. Events spiral out of control, and when her life is put in danger she escapes with her baby son. Fleeing to a different country, Josie fights to make a good life for her child and then love beckons again.
But the McGuigan family's power is far reaching. When the day of reckoning comes, can Josie survive it?
- GenresHistorical Fiction
483 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 14, 2023
50 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Rita Bradshaw
48 books113 followersRita Bradshaw was born on 1949 in Northampton, England, where she was educated as a good Christian. She met Clive, her husband, at the age of 16 andnow the magic is still there. They have three lovely children, Cara, Faye, and Benjamin, and have always had a menagerie of animals in the house, whichat the present is confined to two endearing and very comical dogs who wouldmake a great double act on TV! The children, friends, and pets all keep thehouse buzzing and the food cupboards empty but Helen wouldn't have it anyother way. She still lives today in Northampton with her family. Althoughhaving enjoyed some wonderful holidays abroad she has never been tempted tolive anywhere else, although she rather likes the idea of a holiday homeclose to the sea one day.
Being a committed Christian and fervent animal lover she finds spare time is always at a premium, but long walks in the countryside with her husband and dogs, meals out followed by the cinema or theatre, reading, swimming,and having friends over for dinner are all fitted in somehow. She also enjoys sitting in her wonderfully therapeutic, rambling old garden in thesun with a glass of red wine, (under the guise of resting while thinking ofcourse!)
For years, she was a secretary. She began writing in 1990 as sheapproached that milestone of a birthday 40! She realized her two teenage ambitions (writing a novel and learning to drive) had been lost amid babiesand hectic family life, so set about resurrecting them.
Her first novel was for Mills and Boon and was accepted after one rewrite in 1992 as Helen Brooks, and she passed her driving test (the former was a joy and the latteran unmitigated nightmare!) She has written 50 novels as well as several sagas as Rita Bradshaw.
Since becoming a full-time writer she has found her occupation one of purejoy and often surprised when her characters develop a mind of their own bu tshe loves exploring what makes people tick and finds the old adage "truth isstranger than fiction" to be absolutely true. She would love to hear from any readers care of Mills & Boon.
Being a committed Christian and fervent animal lover she finds spare time is always at a premium, but long walks in the countryside with her husband and dogs, meals out followed by the cinema or theatre, reading, swimming,and having friends over for dinner are all fitted in somehow. She also enjoys sitting in her wonderfully therapeutic, rambling old garden in thesun with a glass of red wine, (under the guise of resting while thinking ofcourse!)
For years, she was a secretary. She began writing in 1990 as sheapproached that milestone of a birthday 40! She realized her two teenage ambitions (writing a novel and learning to drive) had been lost amid babiesand hectic family life, so set about resurrecting them.
Her first novel was for Mills and Boon and was accepted after one rewrite in 1992 as Helen Brooks, and she passed her driving test (the former was a joy and the latteran unmitigated nightmare!) She has written 50 novels as well as several sagas as Rita Bradshaw.
Since becoming a full-time writer she has found her occupation one of purejoy and often surprised when her characters develop a mind of their own bu tshe loves exploring what makes people tick and finds the old adage "truth isstranger than fiction" to be absolutely true. She would love to hear from any readers care of Mills & Boon.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
September 17, 2023
Every time this author brings readers a new book, she captures and takes you into another world. A truly inspiration in the writing world.
When bravery comes at a cost, survival means fighting back.
1890 Sunderland East End, fifteen years old Josie Grey has the voice of an angel, singing in the Fiddlers Elbow pub.
Handsome Adam McGuingan eyes after her with fairy tales of love and Wooed her, marrying at sixteen, that turns into a living nightmare, he's a drinker, a womaniser, and a fatal accident leads her to flee the family home with her baby son Luke, she has to protect her bairn from the McGuingan family.
With the help of Hans she board a ship sailing to America.
A new life begins for her and her son.
And so as the story is told you are whisked away into another world, all your worries are forgotten, I so admire and love this authors books, everyone captures so much history that you grow to learn from. And they just get better and better that I can't choose a favourite.
A woman of Courage will blow your emotions far and wild around you as you read.
it's one so unputdownable book.
When bravery comes at a cost, survival means fighting back.
1890 Sunderland East End, fifteen years old Josie Grey has the voice of an angel, singing in the Fiddlers Elbow pub.
Handsome Adam McGuingan eyes after her with fairy tales of love and Wooed her, marrying at sixteen, that turns into a living nightmare, he's a drinker, a womaniser, and a fatal accident leads her to flee the family home with her baby son Luke, she has to protect her bairn from the McGuingan family.
With the help of Hans she board a ship sailing to America.
A new life begins for her and her son.
And so as the story is told you are whisked away into another world, all your worries are forgotten, I so admire and love this authors books, everyone captures so much history that you grow to learn from. And they just get better and better that I can't choose a favourite.
A woman of Courage will blow your emotions far and wild around you as you read.
it's one so unputdownable book.
January 5, 2024
Loved this book! Perfect escapism highlighting the strength of the main characters passion and love for her family, her rights, her child and so much more. Absolutely loved Josie and all she stands for and believes in - I absolutely adored the story and was amazing to get lost in it - five stars from me! I cant wait to read more of this authors books ♥️
October 22, 2023
A wonderful book, Woman Of Courage, is certainly the right name. It's such a great story, sad at times, but so worth reading.
October 26, 2023
Enjoyed it a lot
November 25, 2023
Historical fiction set in SUNDERLAND (and New York)
Fifteen year old Josie Gray is a stunner, with her green eyes and her glorious auburn locks. She sings six nights a week in the Fiddler’s Elbow, a rough pub where she earns a few bob to take home to her family.
One evening she espies a new customer, an extremely handsome young man – who stands out from the majority of men who have “faces like battered plucks” (an expression used in Sunderland, the exact meaning is unclear) – who turns out to be Adam McGuigan, the youngest son of a notorious local wealthy family, with fingers in all kinds of nefarious pies. Her brother, who escorts her home from her gig to their lodgings in run down Long Bank every evening, through the rough streets of the city, shares his alarm at Adam’s interest in her. But Adam, given his family’s clout in the city, is not one to be deterred and asks for her hand in marriage on her sixteenth birthday. She is charmed by this handsome man, although she does have some sense of the family dynamics. On their wedding night, the scales start to fall from her eyes and soon she is expecting their child.
He finds her pregnancy repellant and is soon spending the evenings out on the town. She is mortified and angry that it has come to this and then, an argument between the two of them, changes their future. All she can do is escape and a kindly ship’s captain offers her a passage to New York. With some of her jewellery and money, she embarks on a new life and she may just find out what true love means. Back in Sunderland, the quest to find her is on and the McGuigans are a determined to find her…..
This is a very readable novel, that transports the reader back to the industrial days of Sunderland, the shipping hustle and bustle and the sharp division between rich and poor. Life was so hard for so many back then in the 1890s…
This is one for fans of Glenda Young who sets her novels in a slightly later period in Ryhope (Sunderland).
Fifteen year old Josie Gray is a stunner, with her green eyes and her glorious auburn locks. She sings six nights a week in the Fiddler’s Elbow, a rough pub where she earns a few bob to take home to her family.
One evening she espies a new customer, an extremely handsome young man – who stands out from the majority of men who have “faces like battered plucks” (an expression used in Sunderland, the exact meaning is unclear) – who turns out to be Adam McGuigan, the youngest son of a notorious local wealthy family, with fingers in all kinds of nefarious pies. Her brother, who escorts her home from her gig to their lodgings in run down Long Bank every evening, through the rough streets of the city, shares his alarm at Adam’s interest in her. But Adam, given his family’s clout in the city, is not one to be deterred and asks for her hand in marriage on her sixteenth birthday. She is charmed by this handsome man, although she does have some sense of the family dynamics. On their wedding night, the scales start to fall from her eyes and soon she is expecting their child.
He finds her pregnancy repellant and is soon spending the evenings out on the town. She is mortified and angry that it has come to this and then, an argument between the two of them, changes their future. All she can do is escape and a kindly ship’s captain offers her a passage to New York. With some of her jewellery and money, she embarks on a new life and she may just find out what true love means. Back in Sunderland, the quest to find her is on and the McGuigans are a determined to find her…..
This is a very readable novel, that transports the reader back to the industrial days of Sunderland, the shipping hustle and bustle and the sharp division between rich and poor. Life was so hard for so many back then in the 1890s…
This is one for fans of Glenda Young who sets her novels in a slightly later period in Ryhope (Sunderland).
November 25, 2023
This was a really exciting story! The plot was eventful, adventurous and engaging.
The character work was spectacular! Described to the tiniest of details, they were so tangible they led me to fall in love with them straight away and even feel sorry for the villains at times.
Josie was a lovely protagonist, innocent yet fierce and full of courage and the love interest was so enigmatic.
It's clear the author took a lot of time to research her story.
But the real winning elements were the immersive settings and the extreme highs and lows of the characters lives.
A really exhilarating read!
The character work was spectacular! Described to the tiniest of details, they were so tangible they led me to fall in love with them straight away and even feel sorry for the villains at times.
Josie was a lovely protagonist, innocent yet fierce and full of courage and the love interest was so enigmatic.
It's clear the author took a lot of time to research her story.
But the real winning elements were the immersive settings and the extreme highs and lows of the characters lives.
A really exhilarating read!
December 8, 2024
Josie met Adam who was in a family of criminals who murdered people, but thought he wasn't like that so married him but on the day of the wedding things changed for the worst, in the end she left him and ended up taking his son to America where she had a better life there and met someone else. Adam's family found out where she was and her son went there but wouldn't come back to America.
Will she get back to America and have a good life and find happiness
Will she get back to America and have a good life and find happiness
June 13, 2024
Set in the late 1800s early 1900s in Sunderland, a place I know well. Amid the squalor and poverty we meet our heroin. She falls for the gangster who seems different to the others but isn't!
Fast forward a few years and she thinks she's escaped, is making something of her life but it all comes crashing down.
Not normally my genre but enjoyable none the less!
Fast forward a few years and she thinks she's escaped, is making something of her life but it all comes crashing down.
Not normally my genre but enjoyable none the less!
December 4, 2023
Rita Bradshaw is a prolific author who I have not read before but having read this one I am determined to seek out others.
If you would like to read my full review please visit my blog at:
https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp...
If you would like to read my full review please visit my blog at:
https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp...
August 20, 2024
I enjoyed this book, the detail, the characters, the plot. But I need to know what became of Luke.
So I made up my own ending of such; April 1912, Luke now 20 boarded the Titanic bound for New York, wondering what his mother would make of his return…
& we all know how that ended.
So I made up my own ending of such; April 1912, Luke now 20 boarded the Titanic bound for New York, wondering what his mother would make of his return…
& we all know how that ended.
October 20, 2023
A story to surprise.
Although I enjoyed this story I was eager to reach the end because I couldn’t think how it was possible to end satisfactory.
Although I enjoyed this story I was eager to reach the end because I couldn’t think how it was possible to end satisfactory.
December 13, 2023
This book should be made into a movie. I enjoyed it and I highly recommend reading the book.
January 13, 2024
Super story....sad and happy. Definitely a woman of courage
February 17, 2024
I enjoyed this book it was sad at times but a good read
April 1, 2024
Loved it. Gripping. Heartbreaking Moving.
April 30, 2024
Excellent
Well written interesting book.sorry that is my review do not see why a certain no of words are really needed.
Well written interesting book.sorry that is my review do not see why a certain no of words are really needed.
July 27, 2024
This was an amazing read. Set over a long ish timeline this centres on main character Josie, who catches the eye of local gangster Adam. A brilliant story!
November 15, 2024
Book was fantastic. I was really enjoyed reading about Josie.
January 4, 2025
Very good
January 8, 2025
Brilliant storyline. Each time I put it down I was eager to pick it up again. A really strong family saga spanning the continents.
January 25, 2025
Very interesting story line. Bradshaw’s vivid writing and emotionally charged narrative make this a compelling and heartwarming read about the triumph of the human spirit.
March 4, 2025
If you like Catherine Cookson, you’ll like this. Very similar style of story set in the Northeast of England with protagonist as a tough beautiful young woman with some major challenges to face
August 5, 2025
First time reading this author i throughly enjoyed reading this book i read it in 2days couldn't put it down i loom forward to reading other books by thus author fantastic read.
October 3, 2023
This book has you gripped from the beginning to the end. Josie was certainly A Woman of Courage. This like all Rita Bradshaw books is a five star read.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews