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Perfect Partners / Trust Me / Remember Me
1251 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
3 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
About the author
Lesley Pearse
71 books2,213 followersLesley Pearse is one of the UK's best-loved novelists with fans across the globe and sales of over 2 million copies of her books to date. A true storyteller and a master of gripping storylines that keep the reader hooked from beginning to end, Pearse introduces you to characters that it is impossible not to care about or forget. There is no formula to her books or easily defined genre. Whether crime as in 'Till We Meet Again', historical adventure like 'Never Look Back', or the passionately emotive 'Trust Me', based on the true-life scandal of British child migrants sent to Australia in the post war period, she engages the reader completely.
Truth is often stranger than fiction and Lesley's life has been as packed with drama as her books. She was three when her mother died under tragic circumstances. Her father was away at sea and it was only when a neighbour saw Lesley and her brother playing outside without coats on that suspicion was aroused - their mother had been dead for some time. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley and her older brother spent three years in grim orphanages before her father remarried - a veritable dragon of an ex army nurse - and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again, to be joined by two other children who were later adopted by her father and stepmother, and a continuing stream of foster children. The impact of constant change and uncertainty in Lesley's early years is reflected in one of the recurring themes in her books: what happens to those who are emotionally damaged as children. It was an extraordinary childhood and in all her books, Lesley has skilfully married the pain and unhappiness of her early experiences with a unique gift for storytelling.
Truth is often stranger than fiction and Lesley's life has been as packed with drama as her books. She was three when her mother died under tragic circumstances. Her father was away at sea and it was only when a neighbour saw Lesley and her brother playing outside without coats on that suspicion was aroused - their mother had been dead for some time. With her father in the Royal Marines, Lesley and her older brother spent three years in grim orphanages before her father remarried - a veritable dragon of an ex army nurse - and Lesley and her older brother were brought home again, to be joined by two other children who were later adopted by her father and stepmother, and a continuing stream of foster children. The impact of constant change and uncertainty in Lesley's early years is reflected in one of the recurring themes in her books: what happens to those who are emotionally damaged as children. It was an extraordinary childhood and in all her books, Lesley has skilfully married the pain and unhappiness of her early experiences with a unique gift for storytelling.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 10, 2018
Two very good books in one. Lesley Pearse is a very good author and knowledgeable on her subjects. The removal of children to colonise Australia is a very current subject with a lot of victim stories coming to light. The abuse by the nuns and the brothers while in the homes is a very moving account of how adults abused the children in their care and when placing them in work stations they neglected to check them out first to see if they are suitable for the child going there.
Also the transportation of prisoners is another of her stories in these books dealing with the treatment of prisoners who were sent to Australia to start up settlements. The criminal treatment that was involved with the transportation on the ships was barbaric leaving many prisoners dead or not far from it, with captains paid per head regardless of them being alive or not. The constant shortages of food and corporal punishment meted out was criminal while having to work in very harsh conditions and expected to maintain schedule of works.
Brilliant insight to our history.
Also the transportation of prisoners is another of her stories in these books dealing with the treatment of prisoners who were sent to Australia to start up settlements. The criminal treatment that was involved with the transportation on the ships was barbaric leaving many prisoners dead or not far from it, with captains paid per head regardless of them being alive or not. The constant shortages of food and corporal punishment meted out was criminal while having to work in very harsh conditions and expected to maintain schedule of works.
Brilliant insight to our history.
January 28, 2021
I don't want to say too much about this/these book(s) for fear of spoiling it for others, just to say that these stories are a 'must read'. Leslie Pearse has done a brilliant job of telling the stories of each of the characters. But, what makes these stories more poignant is they are based on fact. Which brings me to 'Trust Me'. Be prepared to be shocked when reading this story. That is all I will say on that matter. There is more I wanted to say, but I feel this is not the appropriate platform to express my views.
August 1, 2016
I finished Trust Me on July 12th... but am waiting a bit before tackling the second in this omnibus. I had read Empty Cradles decades ago, and remember being quite blown away by this dark fold of history I was unaware of. Recently I stumbled over the film "Philomena" and am glad to see that this scandal continues to be more widely known. Here is another example of this theme. As always, Pearse writes so that you feel you really know her characters, and as in real life, they're far from perfect. There are clearly certain atmospheres which Pearse seems to know well, as they recur in her books. For some reason I kept thinking of the BBC series, Call the Midwife with this one too... Although not particularly joyful, a very good read.
After a few weeks, on July 29, I picked this up again and read the second book. Amusingly I had just read a historical romance type pirate story, in which a ship of female convicts bound for Botany Bay is kidnapped. The tone of this was, of course, extremely different. I had read The Fatal Shore by Robert Hugues a few years ago, and I was impressed to note how close to that account this book navigated. It was also intriguing to discover at the end that the book was in fact based on a real person. I found it interesting that this was published with the more recent historical setting first, and mused a bit about why this choice was made. For me, who have read quite a bit about the theme, both in the more distant and the more recent past, it really didn't matter. I do wonder whether someone unfamiliar with this might have appreciated the historical background first, or whether this order made it seem more real initially, and then the reader would be happy to fill in blanks.
However it is, I found both books to be real page-turners and remain a Pearse fan.
After a few weeks, on July 29, I picked this up again and read the second book. Amusingly I had just read a historical romance type pirate story, in which a ship of female convicts bound for Botany Bay is kidnapped. The tone of this was, of course, extremely different. I had read The Fatal Shore by Robert Hugues a few years ago, and I was impressed to note how close to that account this book navigated. It was also intriguing to discover at the end that the book was in fact based on a real person. I found it interesting that this was published with the more recent historical setting first, and mused a bit about why this choice was made. For me, who have read quite a bit about the theme, both in the more distant and the more recent past, it really didn't matter. I do wonder whether someone unfamiliar with this might have appreciated the historical background first, or whether this order made it seem more real initially, and then the reader would be happy to fill in blanks.
However it is, I found both books to be real page-turners and remain a Pearse fan.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews