Heartache and hardship in London’s East End, from the bestselling author of The Orphans of Halfpenny Street
Amy Robinson and her fiance Matthew are struggling to resist the temptations faced by a soon-to-be-wed couple. To avoid these, Matthew throws himself into a new job and she goes to work in an exclusive new dress shop, where she meets Mary Maitland. As her relationship with Matthew deteriorates, Amy becomes increasingly attracted to Mary's cousin, Paul, and a bitter rivalry ensues…
Cathy Sharp is happily married and lives with her husband in a small Cambridgeshire village. They like visiting Spain together and enjoy the benefits of sunshine and pleasant walks, while at home they love their garden and visiting the Norfolk seaside.
Cathy loves writing because it gives pleasure to others, she finds writing an extension of herself and it gives her great satisfaction. Cathy says, 'There is nothing like seeing your book in print, because so much loving care has been given to bringing that book into being.'
A very enjoyable story by Cathy Sharp. I didn't realise it's the third book of a series, but it didn't matter, it read very well as a stand alone. The story is quite gentle in parts but in others it becomes gritty and involves complicated issues. The main character is Amy and the story is told as if by her, she is set to marry Matthew, but then circumstances change, she starts to work for her aunt, and also moves into her flat above the shop. The shop sells dresses and has a very well off client base, Amy designs dresses and is in her element. She comes into contact with people from a very different social class and makes friends with Mary, a girl with influence and a father who is best avoided. A very good read.
Cathy Sharp has done it again and given us not one but three amazing stories. Each character in these books became real and you either willed them to do well or drop dead. If you enjoy a good read buy these.
I really enjoyed this series from this author. All the books are full of so much - romance, crime, passion and women finding themselves as things change. In this one Amy is battling with wanting a career and getting married to Matthew. She is having to find her place in society between the rich and the normal working people as well as being a career woman. I didn't like Matthew until the last few chapters when he realised that Amy loved him but also loved her career and he made it clear he wouldn't stop her and that she wasn't there to wait on him and everything would be done together so from where the book started to where it ended both Amy and Matthew had changed as characters in their own ways and it's great to see.
There were a few things I didn't like about this book:- I found the chapters so long despite the book not being all that long itself. My preference is short snappy chapters and because the book is a little slow going to start the long chapters made it hard going initially for me. The other thing is sometimes the author was inconsistent at times like for example in a chapter about Amy and her mum they are talking and her mum sometimes refers to Amy's father as "your father" and sometimes as "Joe" and found this odd in the same paragraph that there was that inconsistency.
Overall though loved this series and definitely will be reading more from this author.
I think out of all the Sharp series I've read, this is by far my favourite. I love that this series took a generational approach, and you got to see all of the next generations from the initial characters from the 1st book in the series stories. 5🌟
like my review from book 2 this one was the same. Everyone keeping secrets even though they knew that someone could be in danger. Over all it was a good book but glad to end the series.