Mother's Only Child

by Anne Bennett

A powerful saga from the author of DAUGHTER OF MINE and DANNY BOY, in which a young girl is forced to give up her true love and marry for security – except that it leads her to danger and heartbreak before she finds happiness.


Maria is a girl with a great talent for fabric design, and while the world becomes embroiled in war, all she can think of is her scholarship to the prestigious Grafton Academy. But then her father has a dreadful accident and her mother breaks down in guilt and grief. Maria, the only child, must care for them. Her hopes are dashed, not only of her career, but of marrying the one who's loved her for years.


Reluctantly, Maria is driven into the arms of the supposedly reliable Barney. But he's no such thing. The young couple have to leave their home in a hurry and settle in Birmingham, where Barney grows increasingly difficult and finally goes too far. A family crisis ensues but out of it comes the one thing Maria had given up hope of ever finding again.


This is a superb saga of love, loss and family closeness, set against the tumultuous years of the war and its aftermath. Established fans of this author will love it and it is set to win her many new dedicated readers.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published February 27, 2006

Reviews

[Libby Imlay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had no problems with the story line of this book. I enjoyed it

My criticism would be directed at the publishers. Was this book every proof read/edited ? I cannot remember EVER reading a book strewn with so many errors of context, grammar and spelling Many parts had to be re-read, more than once. I am about to read another book by the same author, and hope I do not encounter the same problem, as it spoils the reader's enjoyment of the read.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I sort of enjoyed this book.
But I kept on getting confused by the characters. I was mixed up.
I had to read the same page more than once to confirm it was the right character.
This book should have been checked.
This story was too confusing for me.
However I would recommend any book of Anne Bennett.
Sadly I would recommend this book.

[Terena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read set in Ireland and then Birmingham, a little harrowing in places but Maria was a good heroine.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maria Foley, a young Irish woman, loses her chance to go to a prestigious clothing design school when her father gets in an accident and her mother loses her mind. Through another awful circumstance, she loses Greg Hopkins, the man she loves, and ends up marrying the disreputable Barney MacPhearson.

Although this seems classifiable as a romance novel, I felt like the focus was on Maria's relationships with her family and the drama between her and her brutal husband. It started out slowly, but became a fairly complex and suspenseful story with a lot of well-drawn characters whose motivations made sense. The ending was a little bit unbelievably happy, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I really liked it that there were a lot of realistic and sad events in the story, but the tone of the book was hopeful rather than depressing. Since I'm interested in the WWII era during which the book is set, that also was a selling point for me.

The main things that bugged me about it were the slow start, and the author's tendency to accidentally use Maria's name instead of another female character's when Maria was having a conversation with them. This happened three or four times, and each time it made the scene pretty confusing.

[Janice Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an easy book to read with an interesting story set against the background of WWII and the post-war years with all its difficulties. It is the story of a young woman (who seems very mature for her years) and the problems she has to deal with in her marriage to a violent man. I enjoyed the book, but was a bit irritated by the grammatical and other errors, which could have been avoided with careful proofreading.

[Elaine Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable light read of the hardships of a young Irish girl whose life would twist and turn but not for the better. From her scholarship to a design school through to her marriage to a bully and the aftermath. The love she missed out on but found again in a most unexpected place. The only problem is the writer gets a bit confused between the two main female characters but it doesn't really spoil the story.

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brutal. The story goes from one tragedy to another; most of which would never happen today. Thank you for all the women who fought for the rights we now enjoy. Still a ways to go for full equality, but at least the fate for all isn't so bleak as it is for the characters in this book.

[Robyn Coyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read but ashame many mistakes like using the wrong character's name in some places and many grammar errors. I would of loved to have done the "editing" on this book.

[Louise Jennings · Rating 5 out of 5]

could not put it down was awesome

[Lynda Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so much I couldn't put it down.