The Mother and Baby Home

Sheila Newberry 

THE trials and triumphs of a young mixed race girl in Greater London in the 1950s take centre stage in a heartwarming story just made for the Christmas season.

Sheila Newberry, the Suffolk-born author who sadly died in January this year, knew a thing or two about the ups and downs of family life. A mother of nine children, and with twenty-two grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, this much-loved writer has left a legacy of nostalgic sagas – including The Winter Baby and The Nursemaid’s Secret – which have enthralled readers across the decades.

In The Mother and Baby Home, Newberry transports us back to wartime and an area near Croydon where she grew up… a place where she played with her friends, rolled down grassy slopes, explored old gardens, and danced to the sounds of Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen. And it is here too that we meet Sunny who grows up in the mother and baby home on Grove Lane. The daughter of a wartime nurse from Trinidad and a pilot, she was abandoned by her mother on Christmas Eve in 1940 shortly after her birth and taken in by Nanette (Nan), the warm and gentle proprietor of the home.

ENCHANTING STORY:
Sheila Newberry

Never having known her parents, Sunny has always felt like she doesn’t quite fit in, but now aged 16 she is ready to find her place in the world.

Heading out to start her first job in 1956, she finally feels she has some idea of who she wants to be. But Fifties London is changing at a rapid pace and so is Sunny.

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Soon, however, she settles into her job at Rowland Printing Press where she catches the eye of the owner’s grandson, Alec, but when someone from her past returns, Sunny has some tough decisions to make… decisions that could affect the rest of her life.

The Mother and Baby Home is a beautiful, thoughtful tale exploring life’s unexpected twists and turns, and the loves, challenges and friendships that we encounter along the way. Full of rich period detail, and written with Newberry’s natural empathy, this enchanting story is a saga to savour. Published throughout most of her adult life, Newberry’s novels were always inspired by her own family’s experiences and this charming, drama-filled novel certainly packs in all the wisdom and heartfelt emotions that were the trademarks of her writing. And with the added bonus of a tasty, authentic recipe for gammon and pease pudding to try out, Newberry’s heartwarming story is a wonderfully nostalgic read for dark winter evenings.
(Zaffre, paperback, £7.99)