Liverpool Angels

by Lyn Andrews

Born at the turn of the twentieth century, Mae Strickland is only a few days old when her mother suddenly dies. Her aunt Maggie brings Mae up together with her own children, Eddie and Alice, and the girls become like sisters. In spite of Mae's unhappy start, life feels full of promise.

Then, as the First World War looms, everything changes. While the local men - including young Eddie - leave to fight, Mae and Alice train as field nurses. As they travel to the front line in the wake of family tragedy, nothing can prepare them for the hardship that lies ahead.

Yet there is solace to be found amid the wreckage of the war, and for both, romance is on the horizon. But it will take great courage for Mae and Alice to follow their hearts. Can love win out in the end?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance

394 pages, Paperback

First published December 4, 2013

About the author

Lyn Andrews is one of the the UK's top one hundred paper-back bestsellers. Born and brought up in Liverpool, she is the daughter of a policeman who also married a policeman. After becoming the mother of triplets, she took some time off from her writing whilst she raised her children. Shortlisted for the romantic Novelists' Association Award in 1993, she has now written twenty-one hugely successful novels. Lyn Andrews divides her time between Merseyside and Ireland.

Reviews

[Kylie]

This was the first book of Lyn Andrews' I have read, and it won't be my last. (In fact, I have another of hers to start from my library next!)

It gave a highly engaging story of how WW1 would have affected so many in Great Britain, and appreciate the amount of research needed to give an accurate portrayal - while still being a fictional story. I also really liked how she set so much of the story in France where so much of the active fighting took place. I found that I could picture myself being there at the front of the battle.

One thing I would have liked to see was an epilogue set some months, or even years down the track to see how each of the characters had progressed, and how they were faring post WW1. Nevertheless, an epic saga and one I will be highly likely to consider adding to my Audible collection to re-read in the future.

[Shirley Revill]

A very enjoyable read that I really enjoyed. Recommended.

[Carol Anne]

A good read. Very sad mostly, no happy endings throughout this book but thankfully good, finally triumphs against evil. Yay!
I read these types of books for the happy endings. They help to banish the Black Dog who’s forever on my shoulder through circumstances beyond my control.
Sometimes I wish I’d stuck with my Animals instead of bringing Children into my World.

[Amanda]

Liverpool angles by lyn andrews
The blurb
Born at the turn of the twentieth century, Mae Strickland is only a few days old when her mother suddenly dies. Her aunt Maggie brings Mae up together with her own children, Eddie and Alice, and the girls become like sisters. In spite of Mae's unhappy start, life feels full of promise.
Then, as the First World War looms, everything changes. While the local men - including young Eddie - leave to fight, Mae and Alice train as field nurses. As they travel to the front line in the wake of family tragedy, nothing can prepare them for the hardship that lies ahead.
Yet there is solace to be found amid the wreckage of the war, and for both, romance is on the horizon. But it will take great courage for Mae and Alice to follow their hearts. Can love win out in the end?
WHAT I SAY
I have read a lot of lyn andrews books and have enjoyed most of them i did this one too this book is very well written it got lots of shocks and upset i going to say it a story of love , families, friends and hope they all will all way be there for each other in good and bad times the friends grown up together i loved the whole story set before and after the war i liked that alice and mae volunteer to be nurse but they were way to young at the start when mae was born her dad was away at sea her mum beth died giving birth to her she got a bad fever maggie could not save her it was so sad she told her she would take care of mae which she did she was her mum she loved her just like her own but billy her husband was not happy he a very mixed up man he likes to drink alway in the pub he not happy maggie took on mae as she pregnant her self one day he just pack his things and leaves not telling any one
Maggie i loved her she a fab lady she would help any one if she could she loves all her kids so much their her world she works very hard she was asked to be a money lender which she did to try to help her family by running this little business it seem to be going so well just now she making her own money from it i loved that we hear how tough thing were for maggie but she gets by some how but one day her boys say they gone to sign up to go to war she not happy they are her boys then one day she gets another shock about john and the girls now want to help out in this war she feel she losing her family
I liked to hear about the girls doing the nursing we get to hear about how they were treat the soldiers before they go back to war or home after being in the hospital it very tough
Mae a great young lady she loved her dad and maggie she worked so hard to get to wear she is today we hear all about what going on on the wards it most be hard to deal with the family and friends they will all way help and support each other
Alice was young she looks up to mae she want to be the same she a bit more up front she will say what she thinks i loved now she deals with her friends being hurt
Eddie was so lucky to be alive he worked so hard i like that him and his friends were so near each other
Billy was not a nice man we do get to hear his story too which was good
Jon was a good man he had worked on the boat to try to support mae and maggie i did like him it most have been so tough to come home and your wife and baby to find your wife had die he cope so well my heart when out to him
Pip a american he works on the hospital trains i loved all the research in the book pip and mae become very close it very nice to here about it
i enjoy all their story's the book tells you a great story of the war but in the eyes of them all we hear
the pain.joy and love the scenes are traumatic and very well written i loved they all pulled together in such hard times it a lovely story of the war such bravery from them all
4 stars read enjoy pass on a great book to read

[Book Addict Shaun]

Despite not being the intended audience, I am a huge fan of family sagas set in Liverpool and London. Growing up I was fascinated with the war and evacuation, I loved Goodnight Mister Tom and whenever my teacher would ask us to write a piece of fiction I would nearly always write about the war. So discovering this genre of books was just perfect for me and I am a reader that doesn't need to justify why I read what I read, but one who wants to show that a book can be enjoyed by anybody despite its genre.

Lyn Andrews despite writing some 30+ books is a Liverpool author I've not read a lot of, so I didn't hesitate to request this book on bookbridgr. Most of the sagas I've read have been set during or after World War 2 whereas this one focuses on the time period before and during the Great War. Immediately after reading the first chapter I was at home in the book. Being from Liverpool myself I love being able to recognise place names, especially of places that are vastly different to how they were at the time this book is set. It's an era you can't imagine living in but still isn't all that long ago. We also read about the city celebrating its 700th anniversary which was a joy to read with the city having celebrated its 800th a few years ago.

Maggie promises to raise her brother's child when his wife dies in childbirth. Maggie's husband Billy isn't happy to say the least, he feels his marriage is under enough strain as it is and he is unhappy that Liverpool isn't the city of dreams he hoped it would be when he left Belfast. I didn't particularly like Billy at first. He wanted to go off drinking all day and return home to a hot meal, and wasn't happy when Maggie got pregnant again despite clearly being happy enough to have sex with her. I think it's typical of the era though and having said that my opinion did change over the course of the book despite some shocking behaviour from him.

We follow the story of the characters up until and during the war when Maggie's son Eddie goes off to fight and her daughter Alice and Mae go off to be field nurses. Often with sagas some of them are set primarily in the UK with brief mentions of the battle side of things but here we have scenes from the front line and scenes where Alice and Mae treat the soldiers before sending them home. Despite the obviously traumatic scenes, there is the underlying message of hope, camaraderie, friendships and relationships that are the kingpin of books like these. I love reading about communities and people pulling together in the face of war, and often wonder whether the people of today would cope or come together as well as the people did all those years ago.

Beautifully researched with a wonderful story we often read these books for the bittersweet endings, but that's not to say there isn't plenty of shocks and upsets along the way because there is. Overall though a story of hope and families and friends pulling together in a time we all hope we never have to experience.

[Emma]

As soon as I saw this book available to review I jumped at the chance, for lots of reasons, I have been wanting to read a Lyn Andrews book for a long time, lots of people have recommended her writing but I never knew which book to start with,, she is a Liverpool author and I am from Liverpool and I love war stories. I haven't read many war books before, but it has always been a subject that I am very interested in, whether it is book's, TV shows or just hearing stories about it.

What I really liked about this book was the way Lyn had set it just before and during World War 1, which is something you don't find in many books, this straight away got me excited and made me want to read more. I loved that every place mentioned in the story I knew of, I usually like having heard of place names even though I have not been, but actually knowing and being able to picture the places gives you a whole new insight into the novel. What was interesting was how differently they were in the book to how they are now, obviously I have grown up seeing Liverpool how it is now so this book taught me things about my city that I didn't know.

What makes this story stand out from others of this War genre is that most are based on the front line and the men at war and what they go through. Whereas although this does have scenes from the battlefield we learn a lot of what it is like behind the scenes with Alice and Mae being field nurses, treating the injured soldiers before sending them home.

I loved how Lyn wrote the characters exactly how people would of behaved and lived at that time. This was shown in the way that Billy behaved towards Maggie, he expected her to say at home doing the housework, with his dinner on the table when he returned home (from a day of drinking).

The research that Lyn has put into this book is wonderful, it has so much detail and depth as if she has experienced this first hand. You can really get deep into the story and feel as if you are experiencing it with Alice and Mae. There are a lot of shocking and upsetting scenes in this book, which you will obviously get from such a series plot but what the story is trying to tell you is that among all of that there is still hope, love and families sticking together. It makes you wonder if the same would happen now if a war were to break out again (fingers crossed we never find out)!

I enjoyed this book as a break from the genre’s I usually read and would recommend to anybody that likes wartime stories and stories about how women coped at this time.

[Hannah]

From about ages fourteen to sixteen, I was obsessed with Lyn Andrew's books. I used to read them all the time and I had a large collection of them. For a few years now, I haven't read any though, and so when I saw her newest novel was available on Bookbrigr for review, I thought I would request a copy and see if now, at twenty two, I still liked Lyn Andrews books as much as I used to.
I have to say, I did really enjoy this book. I really liked the characters and their journey the devastating years of the first world war. I've read quite a few books before which have been set during wartime, and it's a genre that I really like, and Lyn Andrews writes it well.
I like the way she didn't just tell Mae 's story or Mae's and Alices. There were stories weaved in from them, Alice's brother, and two of their neighbors, as well as the story of Mae's aunt Maggie. By having this open third person narration that wasn't just following one character, it allowed the story to be told from different angles. The girls as nurses in France, the boys as soldiers fighting on the front lines, and Maggie holding down the fort at home in Liverpool.
As in all of Lyn Andrews books that I've read, she has a great talent for weaving emotion into her writing. You feel connected to her characters, and get really invested in their lives and their struggles.
I really enjoyed this book, and I felt it was done really well. There were just two things which I didn't like about this book.
The first was the beginning. I felt like the main story of the book took a really long time to start, in fact, it took a little over ninety pages for it to actually reach 1914, and for a book about nurses during the first world war, it felt really slow that it took so long for the main story to start. For me, all of that buildup felt unnecessary and slow.

[The Life Of A Firefly]

This book is set in the early ninety hundreds and follows a family and friends who are living through a devastating war and face the trauma of losing their relatives as the war proceeds . It follows there every day lives and struggles. The main characters and two teenage nurses of the family who help and support those who are injured in the war.

I thought the plot was intruding well put together, character development was good and the emotion to the story was thorough, and heartfelt.

Overall, an enjoyable and emotional story which takes you through the life and struggles of the war. I would recommend to anyone who enjoy family sagas and those who love to read about living during the war and 1900's Liverpool.

[Sharon]

Wow a distressing in story from. Absolutely loved this book. It had all the drama and sadness and anticipation. All emotions at once. The first world war was terrible and Lynn really did her research well and amazing how she created a war time story as this. I could not put it down. Wanted to know how each of the characters were and felt for them. In her interview she mentions while researching she was often in tears as the loss of young lives during that first world war was staggering. The hardships and worry they had to endure was mind boggling. A very good read indeed. You will love it .

[Tracey]

I love reading books set during war years, there is always a sense of pulling together, and often a chance to learn more too. This story was okay, not bad but didn't fill me with enthusiasm either. It was very well researched and there were lots of details of various battles and casualties. I preferred the first half of the book when Mae and her cousins were growing up and had to deal with difficult circumstances. The second half didn't have much of a story, just that the war was dragging on and everyone was worried about their loved ones. This is the first Lyn Andrews book I have read and I will try others.

[Mel Jenney]

I really enjoyed this book! It's a very realistic war story that makes you smile, makes you cry and makes you laugh. A very lovely story. I really liked Mae and Alice, thought they were very fun characters to read about. I am very happy that Pip survived, I was honestly very worried that he wouldn't survive. The only thing, I wished I could have seen Eddie coming home to meet his father as they had a lot of resentment between them and it would have been nice to see them making up for the end of the novel. But overall, a fantastic WW1 story that is very very interesting to read.

[Amy]

I won this from a goodreads giveaway =).

Whilst I did enjoy parts of this novel, I found most of it to be a bit of a chore to read, especially the first and last few chapters. I feel like most of the early stuff could have been removed or condensed somehow and the last parts that took place in the war should have been padded out a lot more, as quite a lot seemed rushed.

I also wasn't a huge fan of how conveniently everyone seemed to pair off.

[Ren]

The book is quite simple in its storytelling, and uncomplicated, but covers a lot of ground and does so very well. The author clearly researched her stuff, but if you're someone who doesn't know a lot about that period of history, or about Liverpool, you're not penalised for it as everything is well explained.

[Natalie]

I adore this book. I could carry on reading about these characters forever...

For full review visit www.50shadesifnatti.blogspot.com

Disclaimer: I received my copy for free through GoodReads first read giveaways !!

[Andrea]

wanted to win this book on first reads borrowed it from a friend love reading this book got me hooked from the start a great war story a family story and love, great read added this book to my favorites.

[Annemarie Farthing]

WW1
Quote I liked best
They entered the main reception area, which was half tiled in green; the remaining expanse of wall was painted in dark green and even the floor was green.
"It's for the bugs," Alice whispered. "It's a well-known fact that bugs don't like green."

[michelle reilly]

Brilliant book

Another great book by Lyn Andrews. Couldn't put it down from start to finish. Great storyline. Tragedy and happiness combined. I loved it.

[Leigh]

Last year I decided to pick up on authors I loved but hadn't read for a while and was mostly disappointed as I picked their worst works. So far this year is off to a better start. Leaving WWII behind this book revolves around the first world war and the futile slaughter that it was. Beginning in the late 1800s with the birth of one of our main characters Mae and going until the armistice is signed in 1918 there are several main characters. Maggie who takes on the role of mother to Mae when her mother dies soon after her birth, Agnes who is Maggie's closest friend, John Mae's father and Maggie's brother, who works for Cunard as a stoker and takes over the role of father to Maggie's children after their father takes off near the beginning of the book. Then there's the children. Besides Mae, there's Eddie and Alice Maggie's two, Alice born a few months after Mae and Harry and Jimmy Agnes' twin sons who are set up as sort of love interests for Mae and Alice. As soon as the book set a section in 1907 I knew immediately what John's fate would be. Anyone with any knowledge about WWI knows about the Lusitania. Unlike a lot of books I've read set in Liverpool so far I think Lyn Andrews is the only one who has characters working on or around the ships which I like since shipping is such a big part of that city.
War breaks out and all the boys join lying about their ages. Alice and Mae take first aid and long to join but it isn't until the Lusitania meets her fate that Mae somehow manages to get posted to the front despite being way younger than 21 and even saying she isn't 21. Alice eventually follows her. From there it's just an endless bloodbath which was the first world war. Senseless slaughter, hundreds of thousands killed in hours, a million in a day and for what? There's some romance thrown in for all our main characters and sadly a few more of the characters we've come to love are lost or badly injured. There's something about a vaccine for the Spanish flu which I don't think happened or at least it wasn't very affective, but the atmosphere was perfectly captured. Imagine surviving all that only to be wiped out by a deadly flu just when you think you're safe. Anyway I'm glad I finally got a good one. I was beginning to lose faith in my ability to choose good books. It did kind of drag in parts but not much and you do get attached and root for all the characters throughout the story.

[Sukayna Lag]

It took me a while to get into this book and I was very close to give up on it but since it was a gift I felt bad not finishing it, so after so many slow, probably boring, chapters it finally got interesting.

Overall it was a good read, well written and great story. (3,5 stars)

[Aili]

If You're considering reading this to get a climpse into wartime nursing then You'll be disappointed, it doesn't really go into detail. Focus of the story is on relationships of the main characters throughout their lives. Ok read though!

[Coral Devlin]

As usual ,, books set in one of the wars, and this one WWI, depicting horrendous events, battles, hardships , are riveting to me. This is a new author for me and I will now look for more of her books.

[Sande Waybill]

bit sappy

[Abbie Hull]

Great book! Really enjoyed it!

[Debbie Brace]

Lovely book, really enjoyed the history of WW1 and the horrendous conditions for both soldiers and nursing staff. Brilliant author

[Christina Rochester]

Oh my god this made me cry when it was the chapter about the Somme, I literally bawled like a baby.

[Mrs L A Williams]

Excellent

Loved this book. Brilliant story and horrific in parts whilst two cousins became VAD nurses and were sent to the front. Very descriptive and three lovely love stories.

[MISS ROCHELLE]

Page turner
About the war and about family relationships and friendships.

[Gail]

A great read,could not put it down! Mae Strickland mother dies when she is only a few days old . Her aunt brings her up,with her own two.
Then when they are in their young teens the first world war begins. Everything and everyone's life changes.

[Jane Payne]

Lyn Andrews is a good author and this book is a mix of human story with history of World War 1 which makes what I call an easy read which is what I like at times when my concentration isn’t so good Very enjoyable Liked Q and A at the back with author

[Christine Russell]

Amazing read

Could not put this book down
The details of war and the cost in lives brings a stark reminder of the price paid by our forefathers