Hi guys, happy Wednesday and welcome to my stop on Nadine Dorries blog tour. The Mothers of Lovely Lane is my first book by this author but for sure not the last – Nadine has incredible way with words and has created a beautiful, poignant novel and I am already looking forward to reading other books in this series. If you’re looking for a captivating historical fiction that you can lose yourself in, than The Mothers of Lovely Lane may be the perfect book for you!
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Publishing Date: 15th June 2017
Series: Lovely Lane #3
Source: Received from the publisher in return for an honest review!
Number of pages: 464
Genre: Historical Fiction
Buy the Book: Kindle | Hardcover | Paperback (out on 18.03.2018)
Synopsis:
From the bestselling author of The Angels of Lovely Lane, The Four Streets and Ruby Flynn.
Noleen Delaney is one of an army of night cleaners at St Angelus hospital in Liverpool. Since her husband was injured in the war, she has supported her five children. With help from her eldest, Bryan – a porter’s lad – the family just about gets by.
When Finn, her youngest, passes the eleven plus exam, Noleen feels faint. Allowing Finn to attend the grammar will stretch her purse too far.
When Bryan steps in to help, the results rock the St Angelus community. As the nurses of Lovely Lane near their final exams, Noleen will find herself tested, and her heart broken. Just how far can a mother’s love stretch?
Rating: 
The Mothers of Lovely Lane is a third book in The Lovely Lane series, but it was new to me. I haven’t read the two previous books and, as usually, when starting reading series not in the right order I was somehow anxious but now I can absolutely positively state that this book can be read as a stand – alone. Sure, there are some flashbacks and glimpses into the past but it didn’t make the story in any way confusing.
What made it confusing however, and I must add it right at the beginning, was the incredibly huge number of the characters and the way the story was told itself. I must admit that I almost gave up on identifying who is who, to whom they belong and what is their story as there were so many of them. And also, with it being a rather long book, the fact that sometimes we needed two or three chapters to come to an event that was mentioned as happening right now, it just made me feel the whole story was dragging on and honestly, there were moments that I was losing my patience and interest and I wanted to bang on the table and shout hurry up, please, let’s something happen, I want that ward to be opened eventually! But that’s just me. And actually I don’t have more things to whine about, so let’s start gushing now, right?
The story is set in a gritty area of Liverpool and mostly revolves around St. Angelus hospital, a place where people come for help when they are sick and injured, and it also links all the characters in this story: our main characters but also the doctors, other nurses and the St. Angelus mafia. Among the many characters we have Dessie, helping other families who have suffered in the war or who have lost beloved ones. There are Biddy and Elsie, those so much needed characters, the busybodies who knows everything about everyone but whose presence lightens the situations so often, and Noleen, who works as a cleaner then to go home to take care about her husband injured in the war and their children. She was an incredible character and I think that every heart will go to her, as she did her utmost to keep the family alive. This feeling of community spirit, of friendship and of sharing this something special that only people who were victims to wars can share is overwhelming and is so easily brought to life by the author. The characters were all hard working, yet they were the people who wore their hearts on their sleeves and supported each other in this incredible, non – egoistical way.
The author has incredible way with words. She is able to effortlessly transport you into the fictional word of her characters. She vividly shows the harsh reality of post – war times but she also creates world full of hope and balances it with beautiful, poignant moments. There is a lot of friendship, drama, heartbreak, compassion and love, about family bonds and relationships, about the determination to not only survive but also to help. It shows the true sense of being a part of community. It was so heart – breaking to see that all of the characters in this book were somehow touched by the war, that they all were victims to drama and that they were not spared any tragedy. They truly experienced a lot in their lives and I admired this side of them, because they were people who really have seen and experienced a lot in their lives and had something to tell. They have depth to them, they have complex personalities and distinctive voices.
Altogether, The Mothers of Lovely Lane was moving, lovely historical fiction about changes – and, as we know, changes can be good or not, and this story gives us a wide view without judging. It was about strength and determination and written in absolutely beautiful, vivid way. Nadine Dorries may be a new author to me but I will be looking to read more of her books. In the meantime, I can only recommend this epic historical novel to you.
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