Tom and George

by Shayne Parkinson

When Jack Leith died in 1899, his bequest to Tom and George, the children of his second marriage, was five hundred pounds and an understanding that they would always take care of their mother. The money was to be shared equally between the two of them; responsibility for their mother Tom took entirely upon his own shoulders.

determined to honour his father's legacy, and willing to set aside his own wishes as he does his best to please a demanding mother. strong-willed to the point of obstinacy, and equally determined to go wherever his ambitions lead. George seeks adventure, while Tom asks for little more than a tranquil household.

Though the brothers' affection for each other never wavers, they follow increasingly divergent paths as each in his own way strives for a life that may hold more than mere contentment.

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For readers of the “Promises to Keep” series, Tom and George follows the lives of Amy’s younger brothers after their father’s death.

Genres: Historical Fiction

813 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 17, 2021

About the author

I write historical novels set in New Zealand, starting in the 1880s and continuing through to the 1920s. I'm fascinated by social history, particularly that of my own country. I was born in New Zealand, and apart from two years in England have lived here all my life. I'm married to my childhood sweetheart, who grew up in the farming valley that's the inspiration for my imaginary one.

We have a few acres in the countryside, where we have an orchard and a large vegetable garden, and a small flock of sheep to keep the grass down. We make our own wine, cider, jams, jellies and sauces.

Reviews

[K.S. Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome continuation

Having read all of Shayne Parkinson's other works thus far, I got giddy when this popped up as a notification. I waa trying to savor it slowly, intending to make it last, but spent most of a day devouring it instead. It was a joy to see Tom find purpose in his life and to read about George's life as well, since not much is spoken of them in the later stories of Amy and Daisy. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad to see the series continued

I read all the books in the series and thought the series was over. I was very to happy to find another book in the series. And even though it dealt with 2 of the minor characters in the other books it mentioned the major characters quite a bit I really enjoyed it

[Elvin W. Friesen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Again

Shayne is one of my favorite authors! I love this family! Thankyou Shayne for another wonderful story. Looking forward to your next book.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this continuation of Amy's family's story. I thought that George's "unconventional life that had yet to include marriage", mentioned in one of the earlier books, meant that he was gay. Not the case, but we get to find out what he did instead. (I'm thinking Sarah, who "doesn't want to ever marry" and "doesn't like men", is either ace or a lesbian.) I liked the story of Tom finding Ellen, though I wish she'd been a little older, like 20 or so. I understand the social mores were different in this time and place, but seeing 30ish Tom fall in love with and propose to a 16-year-old was a leetle bit offputting. Though honestly, by that point in the story Tom was so socially stunted that he certainly wasn't on par with most of his age-mates, as we see contrasting his life with George's and Dave's.

Next can we hear about John's and Harry's families?

[Mrs Joanne Lees · Rating 2 out of 5]

it was ok

Bit disappointed by this book as i love this author and her stories starting with Amy. However this story didn’t seem to actually go anywhere. Like there was no point to the story. We all get the authors skills at embedding real life historical events into her stories but this one just didn’t do it for me and i found the constant references and repeats from other books rather annoying. I suspect she has now exhausted these stories. I read it and finished it but i cannot honestly say i enjoyed it. There were no shocks or twists and nothing really exciting or unexpected to hold the readers attention.

[Colmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whilst this is not my preferred fiction genre, I thoroughly enjoyed the read. It's a long book- some 800 pages - but never tedious.

I do have to say that Shayne Parkinson has an absolute knack of creating absolutely detestable characters. I won't spoil the enjoyment of other readers by naming the character I'm referring to - it will quickly become apparent which one I mean.

Altogether an interesting and engrossing glimpse of the author's interpretation of post Victorian times in New Zealand.

[Alexandria · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

I’ve been waiting a long time for another book! I was glad to dive into more of Tom and George’s lives…and I’m so glad that they got the endings they deserve! Susannah was a surprise as well…though she’s just the same as ever lol, maybe just a tad bit softer in her older age. Can’t wait for the next installment! Hopefully we get to see Amy and Tom and George’s families together!

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved seeing there lives

Omg amazing, I loved seeing there lives, & how the bits intwined with he other books. I have hard time with Tom & George’s mother, I can’t let go of what she did with any, & part of me wanted her sons to find out but…. Maybe that’s me wanting her to get karma, there father did an honourable thing getting Tom to look after his mother like that, she didn’t deserve it (to be in there life yes, but to have her kinda run the home, no)

[Cheryl Lyons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow

This book could have been half as long but the character building went on for ten chapters. No mystery, no climax, just slow moving people with little imaginations. The younger brother was the most interesting but the author chose to follow the older brother who was a bore with no backbone. Very disappointed. Almost boring.

[Patricia J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. The series has been read three times so far. It's one of my top five favorites, and no doubt I will go back to the beginning and read it again. Well written, and the characters are wonderful. I hope there will continue to be more in this series!

[Blanca E. Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read all the books

Amy's character and all others were so warm and exciting that I just had to read all books and I'm waiting on the next book after the roses. Tom and George was not very interesting to me maybe because I disliked the mom so much,I found it boring. All other books I loved and enjoyed to the max.

[K Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book, it felt like catching up with old family members. Easy to read, so lovely to see both Tom and George get their happily ever afters. Was sad to finish this book so quickly, hard to put it down once started. Looking forward to continuing on Daisy’s story next 🤞🏻

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another cracker

Shayne never disappoints. I was so delighted to see another book by her. Shayne you need to carry on this story of Tom and George. Their mother I hope has mellowed in her dotage so you need to carry on with good two. Please.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

The entire series fantastic!!

Each one of the books in this series is amazing! You know the characters as if they are your friends! Thank you, Shayne for giving us such a great read!!I certainly hope there is more to come!!

[Rachel Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read

Another enjoyable read. Tom and Ellen great characters and the story lines are very good and go into detail that makes you picture being there yourself. I would certainly recommend this book to others.

[Jason Eagle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly wonderful book

Ms. Parkinson’s is a most talented writer. Her books about this extended family she has created never fail to delight and this one certainly did not. I would recommend this book to anyone.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good in depth book on their stores

It was great, if not a little bit long, but that's okay....I wish there had been slightly more overlap with Amy's story though... Or maybe he learns the whole truth about his family

[Laura E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

What a nice new addition to series that started with Amy. And once again a delightful read that I couldn't put down.
More please!!!"c

[Sharla Elcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as enjoyable

The book paled in comparison to the stories before. There was too much of a rehash of Amy's life and Tom's story was dull.

[Graeme Waymark · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be the last novel of this incredible 20th Century historical fiction read of a New Zealand family and community from the beginning of the 20th Century almost to the conclusion. I believe this summarized well all the previous novels of the series (eight I believe, including a short story of Ms. Parkinson). I will rate this as her best, but with a wee bit of caution or prevarication only in that, it is difficult to NOT see a concluding novel in a series as giving more reading joy in totality than any of those preceding it; however, the same logic applies to the first novel "A Sentence of Marriage" as that also holds many memories and much fondness. I must say, that Shayne Parkinson is more than just a gifted writer. She transforms history from dates and places or people to personalities to an incredible resurrection of much of what is forgotten by us even tho we lived through the transformations, revolutions, inventions, advancements and the conflicts, wars, disease epidemics and pandemics, depressions and recessions and political upheavals from one hegemony to another. Even though much of those periods should be indelible in our minds, they do tend to fade. Shayne Parkinson applies heat or lemon juice to the invisible ink of our memories and brings to life like no author has done for me before. I do hope this is not her last of this series. I seriously could "die for" a continuance LOL....

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed getting back to the Leiths and their associated families and friends again and picking up on the continuing family events.

Susannah is almost as loathsome as ever. She is lucky to have gotten away with what she did to almost everyone in the series. I would have liked more revenge and justice.

George is interesting. Thomas is very, very boring. I had to skip long sections of Tom's story.

Nevertheless the book is worth reading. I like the writing. I like the views of a changing New Zealand. I like the various venues where family members found themselves. A very good insight into the Maoris' past and present lives.