Across the Mersey

Campion Family #1

by Annie Groves

From the author of 'The Grafton Girls' comes the story of one Liverpool family preparing for the onslaught of World War Two, while trying not to fight among themselves. Jean and Vi are twins but couldn't be more different. Jean's proud of her honest, hardworking husband and their children, but there's never a penny to spare. Vi's equally proud of her husband's new role as a local councillor and their elegant new house, and has raised her children to expect the best. As war breaks out, agonising decisions must be faced. Should the oldest children enlist? Should the youngest be evacuated? All the traditional certainties are overturned. Then the twins' own younger sister, singer Francine, returns home unexpectedly and stirs up the past, even in the midst of present danger. This is a tremendous saga of fighting spirit and family closeness, and the belief that even though today is full of destruction and pain, there is hope for a better tomorrow.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical, Fiction, Family Saga, British Literature, World War II, Romance

512 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Penelope Jones Halsall aka: Caroline Courtney, Penny Jordan, Lydia Hitchcock, Melinda Wright

Penelope "Penny" Jones was born on November 24, 1946 in a Preston, Lancashire, England.
She had been a keen reader from the childhood. She was a storyteller long before she began to write romantic fiction.

She has earned a living as a writer since the 1970s when, as a shorthand typist, she entered a competition run by the Romantic Novelists' Association. Although she didn't win, she found an agent. She published four regency novels as Caroline Courtney, before changing her name to Melinda Wright and then she wrote two thrillers as Lydia Hitchcock. Soon after that, Mills and Boon accepted her first novel for them, Falcon's Prey as Penny Jordan. However, for her present historical romance novels, she has adopted her mother's maiden-name to become Annie Groves. Almost 70m of her 167 Mills and Boon novels have been sold worldwide.
Now Penny Halsall lived in a house in Nantwich, Cheshire. She worked from home.

Penny died on 31 December 2011.

Reviews

[Shirley Revill]

I read this book some time ago and I really enjoyed the story.
Very well written with a good storyline. Recommended.

[Teresa]

A series I read and loved years ago and I wanted to revisit and see if it stood up to the test of time. On the whole it did.
Set at the beginning of WWII it introduces the Campion family. It will follow them throughout the war in the rest of the books. There are some great characters in the story, including some downright nasty ones. The nursing element of the time is a big part of it but it also covers the evacuation of children, call ups and the job of the salvage corp which is new to me.
Jean is my favourite person in the book. She's the mother and the glue that holds them all together. She's a saint to put up with her awful twin sister.
It dropped a star for me because Grace, the daughter, is a bit too good to be true at times and slightly irritating and she's one of the main characters.
Also as a warning, there is domestic violence in it.
I'm going straight on to book two.

[Debbie]

This is one of my favourite genres, family saga. It took me a while to get into the story line and characters, marred by the presentation as a Kindle book. The location and characters change from paragraph to paragraph with no clear line spacing or other delineator to show that the scene has changed. In some cases scenes and characters changed mid paragraph, I had to go back and reread in several cases to make sure I had the right people in the right place! On at least one occasion the wrong character name was used ..... it's a shame because the lack of editing made what should have been a good read quite difficult to follow.

I will look for the next book in the series as I now feel I know the main characters well .... hopefully the publisher will have achieved better editing!

[Blodeuedd Finland]

I liked this family saga, I read it fast, but f that bitch in the book destroyed it all and hell this gets a 1. Hated that effing ending.

I can't even talk about the book cos all I wanted was that woman to buuuuuuuuuuuuuuurn

Ok so there is this horrid spoiled conniving bitch who is horrible to everyone. She tells lies so that a woman breaks up with the man she loves. She makes a plan with her brother to trap a man in marriage. And yes that man shows to be an ahole, but if I had to marry her, god, I'd never come home to see her stupid face. And then at the end, she finds I guess true love. AND will be happy. The morale of the story being that you can be a stupid bitch and not even apologize to anyone and still ge everything you want. Of course she will never be happy, she will complain about all the things she wants until that guy tires. And it just spoiled the whole book for me. I did not want her to get a happy ending, why!? did she have to get a happy ending? She did not even learn any lessons. She is still a bitch. OH OH I forgot, that new guy, well she used his sister as slave labour . Fuck this book

[Susan]

There's just something wonderful about English authors, and I can't help myself, I loved it! It's not a fluffy romance, but more of a real portrayal of life as it was very likely lived in Liverpool during the beginning of WWII. This is a first in a series of 5, and yes, I'm going to have to read them all. I am so very sad that Annie Groves (the author) has died.

[Ayny]

It was a quick read with both likeable and cringe worthy characters. Interesting history regarding the Liverpool area during the start of WWII. I am will read more of this series should I find it at our bookstore or library.

[Brenda Anderson]

Good book,thought this book could of had a longer ending.

[Kim]

Another lovely book by Annie Groves set in the war years. This is the first in a series that I haven't read yet- so have a few more treats in store.

It follows twin sisters and their families - one lives 'across the river' in the posher side of Liverpool and is a social climber. The more down to earth family are the main characters and follow the eldest son signing up despite having a reserved occupation and the eldest daughter training to become a nurse.

It was a really nice easy read- something to lose yourself in for a while.

[Pauline]

Nice easy read.Based in Liverpool at the start of WW11 it tells of family
life and how the war can affect it.

[Jenny Boyd]

Lovely book, the characters are written in a way that makes you feel close to them and warm to them & the whole story is relatable and quite charming

[Carol B Davis]

Good

I love novels set in the war and t his author is great at developing characters and making you feel at home with them.

[Dorina]

I found this book a firm and fairly good start of this series. A good and comfortable read. Nicely woven storyline (which was on some parts predictable but overall it held enough surprising elements to overcome that) and characters that are simply adorable and you can love them easily and there are really dislikable ones as well.

In regards of a certain character that you can easily judge as "the bad one" and put it into the "hate" category. All the events of this book forshadows a big character development on her part and I have a suspicion that she will be transformed to her better. Personally her character development interests me the most so far and cannot wait to see that.

[michelle & ken]

Across the mersey

Absolutely loved this book. Got this free quite a while ago and didn't realise there were more. Will definitely read the rest later as have got so many books to read.

[Anne Maher]

Very good seeing as I grew up on Merseyside.

[Layla]

Loved this series. would re read this series over and over.

[Karen]

Historical romance, family saga set in the early days of WW2. This was a good story, with very realistic characters and storyline. I enjoyed this book.

[Tricia Toney]

This is the first in the series about the Campion family and their experience of WW2. A great start to a promising series.

[Caroline]

Lovely read stepping back in time love the fact it's not predictable.

[Gail]

Enjoyable historic romance.

[Pat Anderson]

A lot going on

Emotional, true to life feelings , only skipped a few pages

A lot of minor plots but a good read

[Amy Musick]

This book contrasts two related families in World War II era England well and is a quick read.

[Jennifer Upson]

Lovely book

Easy reading looking forward to reading the series… Annie Groves is a talented Author.. Shall enjoy dry much reading her books

[Tracy Cox]

Excellent

Loved reading this really lost myself in the story. I felt I knew all of the characters in person x

[Maxine]

Another enjoyable easy read - predictable but still liked it

[Bluejay44]

3.5 stars. I enjoyed the story but because of the kindle formatting, had to backtrack often to be sure which character was speaking / going somewhere / doing something etc. Several times I would be confused and lose the thread, especially if I had paused to answer phone/door.
I have read other books by this author and will read more.

[Katie]

I enjoyed this book but it took me a long time to get into it and I found the second half a bit more exciting than the first. To start with I found it a little dull and the way the author jumped around a lot with her paragraphs and change of subject was a bit hard to follow. However it did get better and the pace sped up a bit and I would consider reading another in the series

[Trish Feeney]

I love this family series and stayed up way to late many nights following one book by the next and on to the next. I'm so glad I discovered Annie Groves and have been able to share these stories with my friends.

[Linda]

easy quick read.

[Victoria Shepherd]

Same setting, character types and increasingly repetitive storylines, but the author has a great ability to make history real.

[Carol Bilboe]

Good book about the life of a liverpool family enjoyed it