Book description
For twelve-year-old Mary Ann Clark life has always been tough. The
pretty daughter of a wife-beating drunk, it is no surprise that she has
grown up afraid of her own shadow. That is until 'Battling Bessie
Ruddick' takes the young girl under her wing and into the heart of her
bustling family. Growing into an attractive young woman, Mary Ann yearns
to be loved and when her affection for Bessie's son, Dan, is finally
returned she becomes a skipper's wife. But the arduous life aboard ship
is clearly not for her and only the arrival of a daughter, Lizzie, seems
to hold the marriage together. Yet, tragically, the family is torn apart
when Mary Ann is seduced by the promise of a happier life. Although
bewildered by her mother's disappearance, it is now up to Lizzie to help
her father. For she, unlike Mary Ann, has inherited Dan's love of the
river. But then, disturbingly, her life starts to follow the same
pattern as her mother's....
