Angel of Liverpool

Elizabeth Morton

IF a gripping blend of romance, nostalgia and heartfelt emotions is your perfect reading recipe, then head off to Liverpool with actress Elizabeth Morton for a delicious saga for summer nights.

Morton, who is married to actor Peter Davison of Doctor Who fame, has a sharp eye for drama and her childhood years in Liverpool have armed her with a love and knowledge of both the city and its people.

And after success with A Liverpool Girl and A Last Dance in Liverpool, Morton (pictured below) returns once again to Merseyside for a gritty and evocative tale set in the aftermath of the Second World War as communities struggled to rebuild their lives amidst the rubble.

It’s 1946 and there are differing opinions in Liverpool’s rundown Sailortown area as to what happened to Evangeline O’Leary’s mother. Her younger sisters believe the story that she’s in heaven. But Evie, who was always called Angel by her mother, has heard the gossips… that her ma has upped and left with the man she had an affair with while Evie’s dad was fighting in the war.

As the eldest child, Evie has become ‘mum’ to her three siblings, all while holding down a job at the Tate and Lyle sugar factory. But when her childhood sweetheart, Frankie, leaves for Canada he leaves Evie with more than just a broken heart.

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Her father agrees to keep the pregnancy a secret but is determined to marry her off to the first hapless fellow who will have her. Evie doesn’t want a loveless marriage like her parents but how long can she keep her baby a secret from her neighbours… and the nuns who run the local home for unmarried mothers? Evie’s tale of hardship as she battles through a tough childhood at the Catholic school run by strict nuns, and her determination to keep her precious child against all the odds, takes readers on a rollercoaster journey full of emotional turmoil.

The indissoluble bond between a mother and her child is explored with both compassion and insight, and Morton delights with her rich post-war period detail, a charismatic cast of eclectic characters, and an entertaining slice of Scouse humour. Prepare to have your heartstrings well and truly tugged!  
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)