Ruby Chadwick has only ever known life in London’s hardscrabble East End. She spends hours playing happily with her two brothers outside their father’s pub. But Ruby’s world is turned upside down when a moment of disobedience results in a tragic accident, and she must learn to come to terms with the consequences. When the Chadwick family’s circumstances unexpectedly change they relocate to salubrious surroundings in respectable Brixton. As Ruby comes of age, she dreams of a future that allows her independence and a chance to find love, though her stern father has other ideas. Her fortunes change when she accepts a job as companion to a cantankerous old lady and crosses paths with a charming Irishman named Michael . Yet before long Ruby must once more choose whether to defy her family and make her own choices – whatever the cost… An absorbing and atmospheric London saga, Ruby Chadwick is a must-read for fans of Jean Fullerton, Lindsey Hutchinson and Rosie Goodwin.
Anna King is the pseudonym of Josephine Carr, a writer formerly published by HarperCollins, NAL/Penguin, and Dial Books for Young Readers. She's delighted to embrace independent publishing with her new company, Three Kings Books (also publishing Joseph King with novels CRACK and EVIL DOES IT, currently available for Amazon's Kindle).
I'll give this book 3-1/2 stars. It didn't quite live up to four. There were too many lapses of time, and Ruby and Michael's relationship was rather fast and odd. There were no details of them meeting past their bumping into each other on the porch or talking or courting, and suddenly they were marrying. There were lapses of time throughout, and digging deeper would've done service to the story. It was a good story, and I did enjoy it, but it needed more depth. And how Ruby hung into that sloth of a husband is beyond me, especially when she had means to throw him out. There were quite a few typos and grammatical errors, which are a nuisance and distraction.
I enjoyed the book but it wasn't as good as the ones I previously read. I will continue to read this author as she developers her characters well. Sometimes the end is a little rushed and a lot happens near the end.