The Bad Penny

by Katie Flynn

One wild night midwife Patty Peel is called to attend a birth on the opposite side of Liverpool. She pedals off into the storm and delivers a baby girl in a filthy slum dwelling, just as the mother dies. The drunk and violent father tells Patty to get rid of it, so she takes the child away, meaning to deliver it to the nearest orphanage. But Patty had spent her entire childhood in an institution, except for the frequent occasions when she ran away, and cannot bear to hand the baby over. She has no idea how the baby will affect the attitude of those around her…nor how her life will change as a result…

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Historical

498 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.

Reviews

[Shirley Revill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book. Easy to read but very hard to put down. Recommended.

[poppie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from this book not having read any of Katie Flynn's before but the blurb I'd read beforehand made it quite a promising read. It started off quite well, dipped a bit in the middle and had a fairly predictable ending which seemed pretty obvious half way through the book, so I can't say it held my attention avidly but had to finish it! It was well written so won't put me off reading other KF novels and in fact have already purchased 2 more to read. Hopefully I shall be luckier with my other choices.

[LaSibila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un relato muy particular sobre una joven partera que adopta a una recién nacida cuyo padre, ineducado y lleno de otros hijos, rechaza tras la muerte de su esposa en complicaciones del parto.
No tiene el corazón para llevarla al orfanato, donde ella misma sufrió muchos abusos. Soltera y trabajadora, contrata a una de las hermanitas huérfanas para que la ayude con el cuidado de la bebé, ayudándola a terminar sus estudios y pagándole un sueldo para solventar la manutención de sus otros hermanitos.
En el camino de ser madre, su propio corazón va cambiando, aceptando la ayuda y amistad de otras mujeres de su edificio, quienes no la juzgan a pesar de que piensan que la bebé es el resultado de una aventura. Por lo tanto el título "The bad penny", se traduce como "la oveja negra" o "la manzana podrida".
Un crush de su pasado regresa, y le llevará un buen tiempo decidir entre vivir del recuerdo de la amistad pasada y pensar en casarse o ... dejar el pasado atrás y buscar otros horizontes.
GEnial!

[LaSibila · Rating 4 out of 5]

PATTY es una partera que adopta a una bebé cuya madre muere en el parto. Ella también es huérfana y no quiere que la bebé pase lo mismo que ella. Para cuidarla también contrata a una de sus hermanas y la apoya para que pueda ir a la escuela. Genia total!!!
Por otro lado, un viejo crush aparece en su vida mientras que otro viudo le ofrece su amistad y luego, su cariño.
Qué me gustó? La evolución del personaje, su deseo de hacer amigas y tener la familia que nunca tuvo, pero sin caer en los brazos de un hombre para empezar.

[Betty Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

This book was brilliant from begging to end and party deserved every bit of th happiness that came her way. Brilliant story from a brilliant author would highly recommend this book.

[Cheryll · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a lovely story! (Apart from the orphanage part.) Reminded me of the Call the Midwife TV series. Why are the women/girls in this story called 'queen'? I haven't come across that term before.

[Elaine Watson]

Not a review - updating my read list

[Linda Hobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A excellent read, loved it

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

read in paper back but will update to kindle.

another great book by katie. I will get all her books on kindle eventully, as easier for storage.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read from start to Finnish thoroughly recommend

[Hayley Flint · Rating 4 out of 5]

I felt as the book went on the ending would be quite obvious, which it was. I very much enjoyed the book nonetheless and flitting between the now and then

[Jo K Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good ideas and written before call the midwife but has some similarities.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Patty Peel is quite a believeable character at the beginning but I feel later on, for someone who didn't want to make friends, she has an abundance of them throughout the book but maybe thats just to show how she matures, who knows? Love interest between two guys, an old friend and her next door neighbour. I think the outcome is pretty much guessable. It was a pleasant read but I don't think it would be one that I would read again, a bit long really.

[Séverine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is really beautiful with a lot of flashback on it helping us to discover Patty Peel's childhood.

The characters are strong, the situation never easy to deal with and the accent was really difficult to understand at the beginning.

But as soon as I finished the first chapter I couldn't put it aside. You want to know what will happen to Patty, how she will handle her new life and deal with her decisions.

A book I quite enjoyed to read and will read again someday.

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sadly her worse book for me.

[Sally Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, enjoyed it enough to pass it on to a friend.