Digging with a Spoon

The Streets of Cardiff #1

by Anne Main

A gripping story of survival and a mother's love for her child set in the turbulent and impoverished post-war docklands of Tiger bay Cardiff. In 1929, aged just 21yrs, Elizabeth Evans was forced to flee from her respectable home in Alma road, thrown out onto the streets by her father Evan for expecting a child out of wedlock. Shamed and disowned Elizabeth would never see her parents again. Elizabeth reinvented herself as widow Betty Jenkins and with the help of her friend Phoebe she learned to survive on the streets of Cardiff.

Now that Ivy is sixteen and growing into a young woman Betty fears for the girl's future. Betty has had to be tough to keep her daughter safe from the dangerous, world she lives in, but by keeping Ivy shielded from the realities of Tiger Bay, she leaves her daughter vulnerable to scheming liars and rogues like Jimmy Benson.
Jimmy is a dangerous man and Ivy soon finds out, to her cost, that is she married to a controlling bully who does not love her or their little daughter June. Just like her own mother before her, Ivy vows to protect her own darling daughter. Beneath Ivy's meek and shy exterior, and with help from her friends, Ivy has an iron will to survive. This is the first book in a compelling new series set on the tough streets of Cardiff. Heart-warming and sad the characters will find a way into your hearts as we watch their struggle to find friendship love and happiness.

332 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 11, 2021

Reviews

[margaret bale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very disappointed being I live in the Roath area of this city. And what a bad end to what could have been a reasonable book. Won’t bother to read her books again

[Sarah Meah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the whole series but was sick of correcting the mistakes as I was reading them, anne main really needs to sack her editor

[Joy Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, in fact I love the whole Series