Book description
Three families in post-war Liverpool, connected by history, separated
by circumstance. The O'Neils, who have lost brothers and sons into the
bowels of London's East End, keep watch over their one remaining young
male, a delightful boy named Seamus. Hardworking and good-hearted, they
cling together and help not just each other, but a whole community of
dock workers. Meanwhile, Rosh Allen mourns the loss of Phil, her
dearly-beloved husband. Aided and impeded by her mother, Anna, she
struggles to raise three fatherless children. With the help of a
kind-hearted neighbour, her wounds begin to heal, and she begins to take
the first faltering steps into 'normality'. Tess and Don Compton are on
the verge of separation. An apparently greedy and selfish woman, Tess
wants a semi-detached house, a Skaters' Trails carpet and all her own
way. But what really lies behind her desire to live on the posh side of
the St? And despite everything why can't Don hate her? Behind the three
families, two men are at work. One will do serious damage; the other
will reunite a clan that goes all the way back to Ireland and to
ancestors thrown ashore from ships of the Spanish Armada.
