Lizzie of Langley Street – Carol Rivers

This is so totally not the kind of book that I usually pick up in bookshops or even charity shops. I normally pass over the section entitled "romantic fiction" or similar and imagine it to be full of Mills and Boon style books which are just not my cup of tea at all. My mum passed on this book and a couple of others recently having picked them up from a hospital book stall. I thought I'd give them a go and I'm so glad I did.

Lizzie of Langley Street is in a way a typical gritty East-End saga set after the first world war. There's a strong lead female character – daughter Lizzie, who has to deal with her father coming home from the war injured and then the sudden death of her mother. The rest of the family needs looking after and that's what Lizzie tries her best to do. There's a good plot line through the book and a few twists and turns too.

Although a light read I found this book famtastic. As a mum with a small family to look after it really made me realise just how hard some people had it, especially in the days before mod-cons to help. It has certainly changed my opinion of this type of book and I won't be looking over them in shops quite as quickly as I did before.