Children of Fortune

by Val Wood

A powerful new family saga from the  Sunday Times  bestselling author Val Wood.

1864:  Following the untimely death of her cold-hearted husband, Beatrix and her three children are finally free. While Ambrose has already determined his path in life, eldest son Laurie's future is less certain. With the responsibility of the family estate on his shoulders, Laurie must decide between staying in Yorkshire to farm the family land and following his dreams.

Meanwhile, headstrong and independent Alicia is defying expectation and excelling at school. There she befriends the enigmatic Olivia Snowdon and they quickly become inseparable. But Olivia's past is shrouded in mystery and as the two families grow closer, secrets start to come tumbling out...

A powerful story of family ties, long-held secrets and the fleeting days of childhood, from  Sunday Times  bestselling author Val Wood.
 

Genres: Historical Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

Published April 20, 2022

About the author

Valerie Wood

Since winning the Catherine Cookson Prize for Fiction for her first novel, The Hungry Tide, Val Wood has become one of the most popular authors in the UK. Born in the mining town of Castleford, Val came to East Yorkshire as a child and has lived in Hull and rural Holderness where many of her novels are set. She now lives in the market town of Beverley. When she is not writing, Val is busy promoting libraries and supporting many charities. Find out more about Val Wood's novels by visiting her website: www.valeriewood.co.uk

Reviews

[Brenda Anderson]

Good read

[teresa harris]

Enjoyed start to finish

Brilliant book. Thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Excellent. story great characters bounding with interest from start to finish. Strongly recommend.

[Louisa Charlotte Phillips]

A lovely follow up to the lonely wife, I agree with another reviewer though who said that there were a few too many characters whose back stories were crammed in, but overall a nice read.

[Claire Fraser]

Nice gentle family saga which was gripping nonetheless. My only criticism is that at the only there was too much crammed into a summing up of lives

[Judith Ring]

Without doubt Val Wood is a brilliant author. I’ve read a number of her books and although some of them may have an element of trauma within the story they always have a happy ending. This is important to me as I like to read for enjoyment and need to be in the correct frame of mind to read a more traumatic book. This book is, particularly, a lovely pleasant family saga which was just what I needed due to the difficult time we have all been through with the pandemic. I wonder if Val recognised this need when penning such a novel. As usual her characters are fully believable and she seems to thoroughly research the appropriate information required for a historical novel. Lastly this novel ends properly, tying up any loose ends so you know what has happened to each of the characters.

[Melanie]

I enjoyed the first half of the book, catching up with Beatrix's life and children, but then it dragged on and there were so many characters it got a bit confusing. Towards the end it was reading more like a biography, and I got rather bored.

[Anne]

I usually love Val Wood because her books are set in the area I live, however this one just wasn't for me. I gave up with about 30 pages to go because I was bored. Also too many characters to keep track of.

[Layla]

Couldn’t get into it. Didn’t bother finishing it.

[Trudie]

This is the sequel to The Lonely Wife and follows the story as Beatrix family grow older.

[S Ashton]

Superb book. I have read all of Val Wood’s books and I look forward to her next book.

[Debra Reedy]

I found this book to be rather dull.

[Tracey]

I really enjoyed reading this family saga - and paired it with 'The Lonely Wife'.

[Joy L Bochsler]

Beautiful

Loved it. I kept waiting for something awful to happen but it didn't. This book filled with such love and dreams 💕

[Heather]

Not bad, but a bit longwinded story of a family and there heirs.

[Kathy E]

Another great read from Val Wood.