‘Angel of Liverpool’ by Elizabeth Morton is a dramatic and emotional historical saga set in Liverpool. This is the third book in the saga, but I had no issues just picking this book up without reading the rest.
Evangeline O’Leary spends her time being a stand-in mum for her siblings and working at the Tate & Lyle Sugar factory as well. Her mum is the subject of gossip for the street as they think she has left her family, while her husband is serving King and country, and ran away with another man. Evie’s siblings believe their mum is with the angels in heaven. Evie had no choice but to step up, that’s what you do. When her childhood sweetheart leaves for Canada, it breaks Evie’s heart. The thing she doesn’t know yet is everything is about to get so much worse as she is carrying his child.
Evie knows what will happen when it becomes common knowledge, the shame of being an unmarried mother will stick to her and her family for good. The other option is to marry the first man who would be willing to take her and her baby on…her dad’s suggestion. Evie is unwilling to marry for less than true love. She doesn’t want to be the same as her parents. Is Evie ever going to get her happily ever after or will she lose everything in her quest for happiness?
I have a rather large soft spot for historical sagas especially when they are set either nearby my town or in the North West. They always tend to make me think of my own grandmother who lived in these times. This is a heart wrenching and emotional read that I felt I was a part of. The grittiness of the story and the harsh realities of life in the 1940s really made me want to give Evie and her sisters all a great big hug. My maternal instinct kicked in with this beautifully written book and the vivid characters. I loved my time in Liverpool with Evie and her family, I was invested in her from the start, a brilliant main character who anyone will cheer on when reading ‘Angel Of Liverpool’.
If you love a captivating historical saga with characters you can get behind just try this book, it will spirit you away from your own life.
Thanks to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours and Pan MacMillan for the copy of this book
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