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Button Street Orphans #2
An Orphan’s Sorrow
Two orphans must battle heartache and despair in the latest novel from the bestselling author of An Orphan’s Courage and The Orphans of Halfpenny Street.
When Jonny's mother dies, he is taken in by his neighbor, Martha. Small for his age, he is picked on by a local gang so joins the boxing club run by the local Bobby and learns to defend himself.
Jonny’s older brother, Archie, arrives back on the scene and things seem to look up, but when a violent altercation ends in tragedy, Jonny runs away again and meets a homeless girl called Cassie. She shows him the decaying slum that’s she has been calling home and Jonny vows to look after her, even if that means remaining on the streets himself.
Jonny and Cassie desperately need love and a safe place to live. There are kind hearts who want to help, but sometimes kindness isn’t enough and both Jonny and Cassie’s search for belonging will be filled with heartbreak. Will there be a light at the end of the tunnel for them?
377 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2020
29 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Cathy Sharp
29 books43 followersCathy 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.'
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.'
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 7, 2021
A very enjoyable story set in 1930's London. Although this book is part of a series, and I haven't read the first, I didn't have any difficulty getting to know the characters. The star of the story is defiantly Jamie, a boy who at the start of the book, finds his mother dead on the kitchen floor, his father gone after committing the deed.
The setting of the 'Rosie' hospital is a pleasure to read about.
The setting of the 'Rosie' hospital is a pleasure to read about.
December 9, 2025
A Good Story Lost in Over-Cluttered Execution
[Introduction: Overall Impression]
An Orphan's Sorrow had so much promise, but sadly, it is my least favourite from this author so far. While it is still a very good story and I enjoyed it, it felt poorly executed and could have been significantly better with some refinement. This book desperately needed some editing.
[Critique: Character and Focus Overload]
The core issue was the lack of focus and the sheer volume of material. The cover and synopsis make the book sound like one thing, but the book goes off on a tangent with far too many characters and plots.
I liked all of the characters and the storylines were individually good, but there were far too many of them all at once. I constantly lost track of who was who and whose storyline belonged to whom. A simple character list would have been immensely helpful.
The focus was all over the place, taking away from the main premise. I was intrigued by Cassie and Jamie and would have preferred the book to have just focused more on them and less on other things.
[Praise: Setting and Characters]
Despite the clutter, the author succeeded in creating an engaging setting. I really liked following all the staff in the Lady Rosalie hospital, and the individual characters were very likable.
[Execution and Conclusion]
The lack of editing unfortunately extended beyond the plot. The simple mistake of having a main character named Jamie in the book yet being called Jonny on the synopsis was an unnecessary point of confusion. The final disappointment was that the ending was so abrupt that I actually had to check my Kindle to see if I had missed something off!
Ultimately, this was a good read, but poorly executed. With fewer characters and a tighter focus, it could have been excellent.
[Introduction: Overall Impression]
An Orphan's Sorrow had so much promise, but sadly, it is my least favourite from this author so far. While it is still a very good story and I enjoyed it, it felt poorly executed and could have been significantly better with some refinement. This book desperately needed some editing.
[Critique: Character and Focus Overload]
The core issue was the lack of focus and the sheer volume of material. The cover and synopsis make the book sound like one thing, but the book goes off on a tangent with far too many characters and plots.
I liked all of the characters and the storylines were individually good, but there were far too many of them all at once. I constantly lost track of who was who and whose storyline belonged to whom. A simple character list would have been immensely helpful.
The focus was all over the place, taking away from the main premise. I was intrigued by Cassie and Jamie and would have preferred the book to have just focused more on them and less on other things.
[Praise: Setting and Characters]
Despite the clutter, the author succeeded in creating an engaging setting. I really liked following all the staff in the Lady Rosalie hospital, and the individual characters were very likable.
[Execution and Conclusion]
The lack of editing unfortunately extended beyond the plot. The simple mistake of having a main character named Jamie in the book yet being called Jonny on the synopsis was an unnecessary point of confusion. The final disappointment was that the ending was so abrupt that I actually had to check my Kindle to see if I had missed something off!
Ultimately, this was a good read, but poorly executed. With fewer characters and a tighter focus, it could have been excellent.
September 29, 2022
Where to start? The good: a sweet story about kids in tough circumstances. This is Ms Sharp's genre. I havent read her other books but I assume they all feature the same cast of orphans, villains, and helpers. There is nothing inherently wrong in that.
What drove me nuts was the writing. This seemed like a second draft that needed a good editor and at least three or four more drafts. There was a sentence on the first page that was at *least* ten lines long-- thoughts strung together that should never have been. First page!
Then again, the opening scene was the wrong place to start. Where was the editor? You meet the nurse. Not the main character, the nurse. Second, you met a boy, again, not the main character in the book description. Oh, wait. He was, it was just that the book jacket called him Jonny and he is Jamie in the pages. So confusing to readers. The girl on the cover? Hardly there, not super developed. Again, why isn't an editor catching all this? You buy a book assuming it's about the girl on the cover, and it's almost all about Jaime and his brother, who aren't technically orphans since their father is alive but runs away after murdering his wife. Sigh.
Along those same lines, there are way too many POV characters, I stopped counting after six.
Ms. Sharp can obviously create a sympathetic scene and portray heart-wrenching family dynamics; but this needed a thorough developmental edit and some better beta readers to call the author on trying to pass this off as a finished MS.
As Agatha Christie might say, "The Case of the Lazy Author" (more probably time-crunched, and exhausted by churning out endless orphan sagas for corporate contracts). Shame on the system that grinds writers into producing stuff like this.
What drove me nuts was the writing. This seemed like a second draft that needed a good editor and at least three or four more drafts. There was a sentence on the first page that was at *least* ten lines long-- thoughts strung together that should never have been. First page!
Then again, the opening scene was the wrong place to start. Where was the editor? You meet the nurse. Not the main character, the nurse. Second, you met a boy, again, not the main character in the book description. Oh, wait. He was, it was just that the book jacket called him Jonny and he is Jamie in the pages. So confusing to readers. The girl on the cover? Hardly there, not super developed. Again, why isn't an editor catching all this? You buy a book assuming it's about the girl on the cover, and it's almost all about Jaime and his brother, who aren't technically orphans since their father is alive but runs away after murdering his wife. Sigh.
Along those same lines, there are way too many POV characters, I stopped counting after six.
Ms. Sharp can obviously create a sympathetic scene and portray heart-wrenching family dynamics; but this needed a thorough developmental edit and some better beta readers to call the author on trying to pass this off as a finished MS.
As Agatha Christie might say, "The Case of the Lazy Author" (more probably time-crunched, and exhausted by churning out endless orphan sagas for corporate contracts). Shame on the system that grinds writers into producing stuff like this.
April 4, 2021
Far too many characters in the book. Too many ideas, not executed well. Too many storylines for one book and not enough detail but at times too much detail on things of little importance. The chapters jump from character to character and isn't an enjoyable or easy read as you are always trying to remember who is who and what's going on. There is no character or plot development and at times the author contradicts herself. Also a very disappointing ending to the book, it seems unfinished and leaves you in the dark.
September 1, 2021
An enjoyable read but I made the mistake of reading An Orphan's Dream first and it threw me with the characters. I simply love reading Cathy Sharp's books. I must say that the blurbs for this book are wrong where as Jamie is called Jonny
January 7, 2021
I liked a lot of this book. My reason for a three is that I wish it focussed more on one or two stories instead of several and then it just ends.
Read
August 12, 2021Great read, found it hard to put down. Was slightly disappointed by the end as I felt more could have been added but nevertheless a thoroughly good read.
November 7, 2021
A very good read
November 24, 2022
Poignant but riveting reading.
Go home and hug your kids.
Go home and hug your kids.
February 22, 2023
another good read
February 16, 2024
Far too many characters. Not for me. First time reading by this author
May 2, 2024
Another Brilliant read by Cathy Sharp. Just hope there is a sequel to this story as it is left in the air of what happens to all the characters at the end.
July 20, 2023
Quite a confusing sort of book. The blurb makes you think that it will be about Cassie when she is actually not featured that often. There are many storylines throughout which are not mentioned on the back and all in all, it makes for slightly muddled reading. I didn't dislike it though.
October 15, 2022
the characters were really well written, and the plot was well thought out. i would recommend it to a lot of people
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews