A View Across the Mersey

by Anne Baker

A VIEW ACROSS THE MERSEY by Anne Baker is a dramatic Liverpool family saga sure to appeal to fans of Katie Flynn, Annie Groves and Lyn Andrews.

The youngest of five siblings, Lottie Mortimer has never felt like she belonged. Her mother died shortly after she was born, leaving her father and grandmother to raise the family and, despite their love and support, Lottie can't help wondering if there is something they are not telling her...

With the First World War over, the Mortimers' ship-owning business is struggling to survive and Lottie, who works with her father, worries what the future will hold. Meanwhile, her elder sister Eunice is trapped in an unhappy marriage that causes concern for them all. Then Lottie discovers the shocking truth about her birth that turns her world upside down and the dramatic events that unfold affect them all...

416 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2017

About the author

Anne Baker trained as a nurse in England, but after her marriage lived in Libya and Nigeria before returning to Birkenhead, where she worked as a health visitor. She now lives with her husband in Merseyside.

Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've just finished this book and I am relieved to have done so. It wasn't terrible but it did drag on. Not much of a story line, consisted of lots of family discussions and trying to help out family members. The main character is Lottie, who is the youngest in the Mortimer family. I have enjoyed books by Anne Baker before and I will try others but for me this wasn't one of her best.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page Turner. What a love about Anne Baker is her knack of drawing you into the story wanting more and more. Her characters come to life and I feel as though I have met them once I hAve finished the book. Keep them coming Anne Baker. History entwined with good story telling. Love it.

[Liz Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard to get into this but persevered till the end

[Trudie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any Anne Baker books for awhile and was pleasantly surprised. The characters are likeable from the start and the storyline swept along nicely. I'll definitely be giving her older books a try

[Cherrie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too Much Ship, Not Enough Heart? — A bit of a slog through the docks

[The Lead: Lottie’s Rise]

Whilst I struggled to connect with Lottie on a personal level, her "coming of age" journey was the highlight. Watching her transform from a young girl into a woman bold enough to take over her father’s business was satisfying. I appreciated seeing a female character break into a man’s world, even if the rest of her story felt a bit distant.

[Themes: Ahead of Its Time]

Anne Baker certainly doesn’t shy away from the "big" topics. The exploration of homosexuality, contraception, and women choosing a career gave the book a modern, feminist edge. It’s a shame that these compelling social issues were often buried under heavy descriptions of the shipping industry and dockside logistics!

[The Pacing: A Skimmer’s Delight]

With a massive cast of characters and endless family discussions, the story felt unnecessarily dragged out. When a saga moves from "atmospheric" to "boring," skimming becomes a survival tactic! The crime and drama elements were there, but they were often overshadowed by the "dull" technical details of the Mersey trade that just didn't spark my interest.

[The Verdict: For Completionists Only]

A busy family saga that tried to do a bit too much. If you love the history of Liverpool’s docks, this is for you—but for those of us here for the human drama, it felt like it missed the mark.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fourth Anne Baker book and I have to admit I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others but it was still a good read. It had a good story running in the background (featuring Martin, Jeremy and Roddy) but other than that it consisted mainly of the family having endless meetings to discuss different matters concerning all the relatives and what to do about various situations, everybody driving around to drop each other off and pick them up from train stations, ferry ports, relatives homes etc and by god, the family didn't half get through a lot of tea and cakes, every two minutes someone was making a pot of tea or stopping off at a cafe for a cuppa. As for Eunice, she spent the majority of the 405 pages weeping, wailing, getting distressed, anxious and depressed. Saying all that, the details of the family shipping company did actually make it quite an interesting read.

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed a lot of Ann Bakers books over the years, but felt this story line dragged on, a lot revolving around the family business of old shipping liners who transported goods to overseas and businesses abroad. The story was slow and got boring in places, would not re read this,as I have done with some of Anne,s books in the past.

[Gail Huntley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the character descriptions and the general plot; however, it seemed that there was more detail than I usually like in this genre. This did not detract from my interest and desire to read to the end.

[Mrs S E Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading

A good read, a few twists and turns. One definitely not anticipated but logical. Love reading Anne Baker book so intriguing

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice comfortable read

[Bhavya · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just, no.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an ok read. Too many characters to get used to at the start

[Sally Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

a delightful read

[Jennifer Roche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent read.

[Mrs S Wilkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating

A lovely family tale with twist and turns. Most enjoyable, and a perfect happy ever after. An incite into the early years of shipping from Liverpool.