Daughters of Penny Lane

by Ruth Hamilton

In 1946, Alice Quigley returns to her childhood home on Penny Lane, having lost three sisters and her house in Bootle to the bombs that fell over Liverpool. Estranged from her husband Dan, who suffered from two strokes triggered during the Blitz, she finds comfort in living closer to her remaining sister, Nellie, and a cast of new neighbours. But they too have problems of their Vera Corcoran fears for her life at the hands of an abusive husband and Olga Konstantinov fled Russia to seek a new life in Britain.

But even though the bombs have stopped falling, tremors still rock the family when Alice's reviled mother is kicked out of Nellie's home and seeks vengeance. Despised by her daughters, Elsie Stewart was a cruel mother and forced their father to an early grave. Alice is desperate to start a family of her own and be a much better example to her own children. But will this be with the man she's married to? And when visions from the past resurface, she soon uncovers a dark secret that her mother has kept hidden for so long . . .

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 26, 2017

About the author

Ruth Hamilton was one of North West England's most popular writers. She was the bestselling author of twenty-five novels, including Spinning Jenny, The Bells of Scotland Road, Mulligan's Yard, Mersey View and That Liverpool Girl. She was born in Bolton, which is the setting for many of her novels, and spent most of her life in Lancashire.

(source: http://www.panmacmillan.com/author/ru...)

Reviews

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the end I thought that this was quite a good story. It did take me a while to get into it. I didn't like the ghost aspect of the book, or as it is referred to the main character's otherness. Alice is likeable as are her sisters and their families, they share an hatred of their mother, Muth or Elsie. The story with all the family complications would have made a good saga without the ghost stuff.

[Bernie Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unusual family saga with supernatural elements. Really enjoyed this book.

[Linda Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not really a fan of stories about the paranormal. I kept an open mind about this one because of some of the reviews I read. I’m glad I gave the book a chance. I loved the quirky nature of the characters. I sort of figured out who was who about mid-way through the book but that was ok as the ending still had a twist to me. I do recommend this book and can’t wait to discuss it with my friends after they read it too!

[Bev Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow to get started and I didn't like all the psychic stuff, but overall a very good read and I loved all the characters

[Lindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Found the text too small