Book Description:
Even in the darkest of times, she never gave up hope
Staffordshire, 1911. Ginnie Jones’s childhood is spent in the shadow of the famous Potteries, living with her mother, father and older sister Mabel. But with Father’s eyesight failing, money is in short supply, and too often the family find their bellies aching with hunger. With no hope in sight, Ginnie is sent to Haddon Workhouse.
Separated from everything she has known, Ginnie has to grow up fast, earning her keep by looking after the other children with no families of their own. When she meets Clara and Sam, she hopes that she has made friends for life… until tragedy strikes, snatching away her newfound happiness.
Leaving Haddon three years later, Ginnie finds work as a mouldrunner at the Potteries, but never stops thinking about her friends in the workhouse – especially Sam, now a caring, handsome young man. When Sam and Ginnie are reunited, their bond is as strong as ever – until Sam is sent to fight in WW1.Faced with uncertainty, can Ginnie find the joy that she’s never had? Or will her heart be broken once again?
An emotional, uplifting and nostalgic family saga that will make you smile, while tugging on your heart-strings. Fans of Sheila Newbury, Kitty Neale and Sheila Riley will love this beautiful read.
My Thoughts:
I love being transported back in time and the author does this wonderfully in this story. Whilst life in the early 1900’s is very different to how it is in today’s world, the one thing I love about books set in this era, is peoples spirits.
Ginnie finds herself split up from her family, living in a workhouse. I couldn’t think of anything worse but Ginnie seems to make the most of the bad hand that life deals her. Her life is certainly far from easy but certain characters within the home, make life a lot more bearable.
In the back ground is the suffragette movement of which I don’t think I’ve ever read in any other book in this genre, which for me was an added bonus and I loved Connie’s character. Obviously the war also features quite heavily having an impact on the families left behind as well as the work places. It was good to see this side of things.
The Girl From The Workhouse is a step back in time with a young protagonist who pulled on my heart strings. I felt so much empathy for this young girl who is thrust into growing up far to soon. The friendship between her and Sam was especially heartwarming. I really enjoyed my first introduction to this author and look forward to reading more.
My thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources, Hera Books and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.
The Girl From The Workhouse is available to purchase from Amazon. (Please note that link used is an Amazon affiliate link).
Author Bio –
Lynn Johnson was born in the Staffordshire Potteries and went to school in Burslem, where the novel is set. She left school with no qualifications and got a job as a dental nurse (and lasted a day), a nursery assistant, and a library assistant before her ambition grew and she enrolled at the Elms Technical College, Stoke-on-Trent and obtained six O’levels. She obtained a Diploma in Management Studies and a BA Hons in Humanities with Literature from the Open University while working full-time.
Most of her working life was spent in Local Government in England and Scotland, and ultimately became a Human Resources Manager with a large county council.
She started to write after taking early retirement and moving to the north of Scotland with her husband where she did relief work in the famous Orkney Library and Archives, and voluntary work with Orkney’s Learning Link. Voluntary work with Cats Protection resulted in them sharing their home with six cats.
She joined Stromness Writing Group and, three months after moving to Orkney, wrote a short story which would become the Prologue to The Girl From the Workhouse.
Social Media Links – https://twitter.com/lynnjohnsonjots
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