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The Orphans from Liverpool Lane
All she want is to go home . . .
1944, Liverpool. Marcia is only twelve years old the first time she is sent to the orphanage with her older sister, Cynthia. With their father in a POW camp in Singapore, her mother is struggling to cope and hands them over to the nuns to be 'orphans of the living' - a harsh term for those children with living parents, whose families have abandoned them.
Things look up when their father finally returns and the girls are allowed home but it's clear the years in the camp have taken their toll on the sweet man Marcia barely remembers and the family disintegrates.
Cynthia finds an escape with an aunt and via her ambitions to be a dancer but Marcia is sent back to the orphanage. And while she finds friends among her fellow 'orphans', it's no substitute for the family she so desperately craves . . .
A warm and gritty saga set in Liverpool in the 1940s, from the acclaimed author of Angel of Liverpool.
1944, Liverpool. Marcia is only twelve years old the first time she is sent to the orphanage with her older sister, Cynthia. With their father in a POW camp in Singapore, her mother is struggling to cope and hands them over to the nuns to be 'orphans of the living' - a harsh term for those children with living parents, whose families have abandoned them.
Things look up when their father finally returns and the girls are allowed home but it's clear the years in the camp have taken their toll on the sweet man Marcia barely remembers and the family disintegrates.
Cynthia finds an escape with an aunt and via her ambitions to be a dancer but Marcia is sent back to the orphanage. And while she finds friends among her fellow 'orphans', it's no substitute for the family she so desperately craves . . .
A warm and gritty saga set in Liverpool in the 1940s, from the acclaimed author of Angel of Liverpool.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
Kindle Edition
Published October 10, 2023
9 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 18, 2023
Goodness me!
This book had me feeling every emotion possible!
As a Chester resident, close to Liverpool and Merseyside, I loved the references to local places! It really added the power of the story for me.
The book starts with a seemingly regular, loving family, but when the father leaves to join the war effort, the drama begins, and doesn't stop! Some scenes were extremely difficult to read, and as one of my family members was in the armed forces, this really hit home.
There are many elements to the story I could comment on, but I don't want to spoil the drama for my followers.
Fantastic read, and can't wait for more from this author!
This book had me feeling every emotion possible!
As a Chester resident, close to Liverpool and Merseyside, I loved the references to local places! It really added the power of the story for me.
The book starts with a seemingly regular, loving family, but when the father leaves to join the war effort, the drama begins, and doesn't stop! Some scenes were extremely difficult to read, and as one of my family members was in the armed forces, this really hit home.
There are many elements to the story I could comment on, but I don't want to spoil the drama for my followers.
Fantastic read, and can't wait for more from this author!
September 3, 2023
Eliza Morton’s The Orphans from Liverpool Lane is a first-class saga written straight from the heart.
At twelve years old, Marcia’s world falls apart. With her father in Singapore as a prisoner of war, her mother is finding it increasingly difficult to cope and when it becomes far too much for her, she hands Marcia and older sister Cynthia over to the nuns as ‘orphans of the living’ – a heart-breaking term given to abandoned children whose parents are very much alive. Everything Marcia had always known is ripped away from her, but when her father returns from Singapore, will she get her family back? Or is more heartbreak and disappointment in store for Marcia?
Marcia remembers a father who had been sweet, loving and caring, but the man who has returned from war has changed beyond all recognition. As her family disintegrates further, Marcia’s heart is broken all over again when she is sent back to the orphanage while her sister finds solace in her ambitions to become a dancer. Will Marcia ever get the family she had been desperate for? Or is she about to learn the harshest life lesson of all at such a tender age?
Eliza Morton’s The Orphans from Liverpool Lane is a heart-wrenching, heartwarming and engrossing wartime saga that will bring many a tear to your eye. Written with a strong sense of place and full of grit, warmth, intensity and emotion, this dramatic tale of courage, sacrifice, hope and love will delight saga fans everywhere and go down a treat with fans of Lyn Andrews and Mary Wood.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
At twelve years old, Marcia’s world falls apart. With her father in Singapore as a prisoner of war, her mother is finding it increasingly difficult to cope and when it becomes far too much for her, she hands Marcia and older sister Cynthia over to the nuns as ‘orphans of the living’ – a heart-breaking term given to abandoned children whose parents are very much alive. Everything Marcia had always known is ripped away from her, but when her father returns from Singapore, will she get her family back? Or is more heartbreak and disappointment in store for Marcia?
Marcia remembers a father who had been sweet, loving and caring, but the man who has returned from war has changed beyond all recognition. As her family disintegrates further, Marcia’s heart is broken all over again when she is sent back to the orphanage while her sister finds solace in her ambitions to become a dancer. Will Marcia ever get the family she had been desperate for? Or is she about to learn the harshest life lesson of all at such a tender age?
Eliza Morton’s The Orphans from Liverpool Lane is a heart-wrenching, heartwarming and engrossing wartime saga that will bring many a tear to your eye. Written with a strong sense of place and full of grit, warmth, intensity and emotion, this dramatic tale of courage, sacrifice, hope and love will delight saga fans everywhere and go down a treat with fans of Lyn Andrews and Mary Wood.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 11, 2023
This is my first book by Eliza Morton, but I will be looking to read more. Cynthia and Marcia loved days out with their parents. The loved the last time they all out together, it was a trip to the seaside, watching a one-legged man and sitting on the beach. Everything soon changed with war. Cynthia and Marcia are now 'orphans of the living', (I did look this up as I've never heard it before.) Cynthia was more grown up compared to Marcia, she found it harder to understand things. Things would never be the same again. Cynthia could never leave Marcia again not with everything they have been through. Marcia and Cynthia had so much to plan with the wedding coming up, even if Marica wouldn't let Cynthia decide on the dress or food. This is a story that shows just how hard times must of been for families, especially when parents had to make their children orphans of living. Even with everything the family had went through they still had here other. This is both heart warming and heart breaking. The author writing style made you feel the emotions the family had to go through.
July 18, 2023
It's 1944, and sisters Marcia and Cynthia find themselves handed over to the care of the nuns at the orphanage - their father has been taken as a prisoner of war and their mother is struggling to cope. I did not know before reading this book that there were orphans of the living - which is exactly what the sisters became.
The book is set in Liverpool, and as I live local to this area (in fact more local to the beach where the family spent their last great day together before the war) I was hugely drawn to the book for the setting, and my love of historical fiction.
This book is well written, I actually found myself enjoying it the more I read, and the more my mind moved to the time and imagining the life the girls had found themselves living. The book itself is filled with heartbreak, humour and hope - and ultimately it is one to read when you are looking for something a little more emotional and gritty in that sense.
The book is set in Liverpool, and as I live local to this area (in fact more local to the beach where the family spent their last great day together before the war) I was hugely drawn to the book for the setting, and my love of historical fiction.
This book is well written, I actually found myself enjoying it the more I read, and the more my mind moved to the time and imagining the life the girls had found themselves living. The book itself is filled with heartbreak, humour and hope - and ultimately it is one to read when you are looking for something a little more emotional and gritty in that sense.
July 20, 2023
This is a hauntingly beautiful book. It touches on such grim and dark times, but does so with and air of hope and light. We are met with the wee girl, as she becomes an orphan of the living, finding herself left, even with her mum about. She and her sibling have been left after their mum is overcome and they are turned over to nuns to be raised. The trials they face, both with the nuns and elsewhere in life are definitely lessons to learn and live by. They can share just how grim
Things could be back then, but also share with us that there is always room for hope and the possibility of life to become more than it is.
I loved ever single page of this read.
It tore my heart in two and then sewed it back together again, many times over. The beauty in the author’s words and their ability to provide a vivid scene for us is just beyond measure. If there is one book you must read this summer- this is it. Period.
Things could be back then, but also share with us that there is always room for hope and the possibility of life to become more than it is.
I loved ever single page of this read.
It tore my heart in two and then sewed it back together again, many times over. The beauty in the author’s words and their ability to provide a vivid scene for us is just beyond measure. If there is one book you must read this summer- this is it. Period.
July 20, 2023
The Orphans from Liverpool Lane: The heartwarming and emotional wartime saga (Liverpool Orphans Trilogy)
Thanks to Random Things Book Tours and Pan Macmillan for the copy.
This book immerse you into the historical fiction of wartime. Whilst following the sisters in their journey.
Marica and Cynthia.
Marica has a very hard time and I felt for her through this book.
Cynthia is trying her hardest but at these times it's perlicuios to Thier housing needed.
We are shown how wartime takes a toal on the whole family.
John the dad is a changed man after his time away
The tale of a father returning to a women's home after being away for years during World War 2. Excellently brilliant. I'm excited for the trilogy's final two installments.
This is an very emotional read. It's quite dark though at the end of the tunnel thier some shine.
Thanks to Random Things Book Tours and Pan Macmillan for the copy.
This book immerse you into the historical fiction of wartime. Whilst following the sisters in their journey.
Marica and Cynthia.
Marica has a very hard time and I felt for her through this book.
Cynthia is trying her hardest but at these times it's perlicuios to Thier housing needed.
We are shown how wartime takes a toal on the whole family.
John the dad is a changed man after his time away
The tale of a father returning to a women's home after being away for years during World War 2. Excellently brilliant. I'm excited for the trilogy's final two installments.
This is an very emotional read. It's quite dark though at the end of the tunnel thier some shine.
July 17, 2023
A book of sadness and hope. Cynthia and Marcia are orphans of the living a term that I had never heard of but I found it heartbreaking. To have parents still living but unable to look after you is unimaginable. The sisters are very different in personality but there love for each other shines through. War is a terrible time for everyone though sometimes it brings out the best of humanity. The author of this book allows you to feel the families emotions along with them. I cried alot and felt alot of sadness but I also smiled and felt hope for happiness. A beautifully written historical fiction saga.
October 21, 2023
My favourite so far and excited to know there’s another two books in this trilogy to come.
Felt this had more depth to it, than Elizabeth’s previous sagas. Relatable characters, taking you on an emotive journey of the life of many in the 40’s. Written with compassion and understanding but also wit. A read that I wanted to keep reading….
Felt this had more depth to it, than Elizabeth’s previous sagas. Relatable characters, taking you on an emotive journey of the life of many in the 40’s. Written with compassion and understanding but also wit. A read that I wanted to keep reading….
May 14, 2023
Brilliant book!! Couldn’t put it down. Can’t stop thinking about it! So much drama. Funny and sad but happy in the end. Love this writer.
July 7, 2023
Wartime fiction has always been a firm favourite with me thanks to my Mother and her passing down books to me. This time though it will be me passing this wonderful book down to her, in the hope she enjoys it as much as I did.
Cynthia and Marcia are 'Orphans of the living', a term I'd never heard of before. The girls were the total opposite of each other, Cynthia was more the 'grown-up', whereas Marcia held a lot of resentment towards her parents, especially her father as although he'd returned from war, he wasn't the same person she remembered.
The book does have some lighter moments, but overall the story is tinged with sadness, although the final few pages left me with a smile on my face. There's always hope.
The Orphans from Liverpool Lane is the first book I've read by Morton and certainly won't be my last.
Highly enjoyable.
Cynthia and Marcia are 'Orphans of the living', a term I'd never heard of before. The girls were the total opposite of each other, Cynthia was more the 'grown-up', whereas Marcia held a lot of resentment towards her parents, especially her father as although he'd returned from war, he wasn't the same person she remembered.
The book does have some lighter moments, but overall the story is tinged with sadness, although the final few pages left me with a smile on my face. There's always hope.
The Orphans from Liverpool Lane is the first book I've read by Morton and certainly won't be my last.
Highly enjoyable.
July 23, 2024
Loved this book, can't wait to read more by this Author.
February 5, 2025
Loved it, very engaging
November 11, 2023
My Thoughts: this was my first go with Eliza’s work and I wasn’t sure what to expect, I’m not normally a fan of historical fiction, but something about this one had me convinced I had to give it a go.
This one had a slow start, but the build up was needed for you to really appreciate the changes when the dad came back.
This one had me feeling all kinds of emotions, following the lives of Cynthia and Marcia in the years during and after the war really pulled at the heartstrings although being honest, it seemed that poor Marcia definitely drew the short straw so to speak, she as home having to deal with this new version of her dad whilst holding resentment for her sister who has managed to find an escape with her Aunt.
The book wasn’t all sad and miserable, there were plenty of happy uplifting moments peppered through which stopped the sadness becoming overwhelming.
I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the Liverpool Orphans Trilogy
🐧🩷
This one had a slow start, but the build up was needed for you to really appreciate the changes when the dad came back.
This one had me feeling all kinds of emotions, following the lives of Cynthia and Marcia in the years during and after the war really pulled at the heartstrings although being honest, it seemed that poor Marcia definitely drew the short straw so to speak, she as home having to deal with this new version of her dad whilst holding resentment for her sister who has managed to find an escape with her Aunt.
The book wasn’t all sad and miserable, there were plenty of happy uplifting moments peppered through which stopped the sadness becoming overwhelming.
I will definitely be looking out for the next book in the Liverpool Orphans Trilogy
🐧🩷
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews