Book description
In 1984 two young mothers meet at a toddler group in Birmingham. As
their friendship grows, they share with each other the difficulties and
secrets in their lives:
Joanne, a sweet, shy girl, is increasingly afraid of her husband. The
lively, promising man she married has become hostile and violent and she
is too ashamed to tell anyone. When her mother, Margaret is suddenly
rushed into hospital, the bewildered family find that there are things
about their mother of which they had no idea. Margaret was evacuated
from Birmingham as a child and has spent years avoiding the pain of her
childhood - but finds that you can’t run from the past forever.
Sooky, kind and good-natured, has already been through one disastrous
marriage and is back at home living with her parents. But being
‘disgraced’ is not easy. Her mother, Meena, refuses to speak to Sooky.
At first her silence seems like a punishment, but Sooky gradually
realizes it contains emotions which are far more complicated and that
her mother may need her help. Meena has spent 20 years trying to fit in
with life in Birmingham, and to deal with the conflicts within her
between east and west, old ways and new.
This is the story of two young women discovering the heartbreak of
their mothers’ lives, and of how mothers create daughters - and learn
from them. Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St
John's College, Oxford. Her first 'Birmingham' novel, Birmingham Rose
, hit The Times
bestseller list when it was published in 1995. She has subsequently
written many other successful novels, including A Hopscotch Summer
, Soldier Girl
and the bestselling Chocolate Girls
. Annie has four children and lives near Reading.
