Queenie by Kimberley Chambers @kimbochambers @HarperCollinsUK

Book Description:

SHE WAS MADE IN THE EAST END . . .
 
For young Queenie, life in the backstreets of Whitechapel was a lesson in survival – Hitler’s bombs hit those with nothing the hardest. When danger strikes close to home, Queenie finds an ally in Mrs O’Leary, whose two sons are the kingpins of the East End. But while the O’Learys are the light in Queenie’s life, fate has a different path in store.
 
AND MEN ARE WHAT THEIR MOTHERS MAKE THEM . . .
 
Now married to the useless Albie Butler, Queenie is raising her children to fight their own battles. If the O’Learys taught her anything, it was that surviving meant doing whatever you had to, no questions asked, and family always comes first. The Butler boys will make sure their mother’s name becomes East End legend.
 
MEET QUEENIE.
THIS IS HER STORY.

My Thoughts:

My first introduction to this authors books were the ones in the incredible Butlers series. Obviously when I saw that the author had written a novel following Queenie from a young girl to the formidable woman that we know and love in the series, well of course I had to read it.

I loved getting to know and understand Queenie better. Having a fairly normal upbringing until the war happened which then turned her and her families lives upside down. More so for her and her mother. Queenie finds a friend and mother figure in their new neighbour Mary, Mrs O’Leary. I loved the bond between them both.

The story takes us through Queenie’s childhood into adulthood, her marriage, having children and getting to know the younger butlers as children and watching them grow. There is just something about the bond between mother and son and Queenie and Vinny’s is both heartwarming and heart breaking.

Queenie was a much anticipated and engrossing read which met all my expectations. If not more. It made me go through a whole heap of emotions and was devastated when I got to the end as this is one book of which if it was a thousand pages, it would still be to short. Kimberley Chambers is a Queen when it comes to story telling. So glad she shared Queenie’s story with us as the Butlers have been a huge part of my life over the last few years since meeting them and are one family you will never forget.

My thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins UK for a readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

Queenie is available to purchase from Amazon.