With the First World War now a ten-year memory and with an economic depression looming, Jim Doherty wants a new life for his family. And where better than the Empire, and in particular New Zealand where his brother has already settled.
But his wife doesn’t share his dream. She wants to stay in England, and if not in their cramped and run down backstreet pub in Portsea, then somewhere else in the city.
Tired of being under her mother’s watchful eye, nineteen-year-old Ruby Doherty is on the lookout for a husband. And with the Royal Naval dockyard a street or two away and a town full of sailors, she’s spoilt for choice.
Lilith Doherty is preparing for examinations and the certificate that will prove her proficiency as a teacher. Unlike her younger sister, she has little interest in men or marriage. Her passion is her career. That, and the on-going battles for equality in her profession, and women's rights on the whole.
A family in conflict, yet bound together by love and loyalty, if you enjoyed Hilary Murray’s The Bordello Girl, you will love Ruby and Lilith!