Boon's Bookcase

The Bermondsey Bookshop

by

Mary Gibson

BLOG TOUR

I am thrilled to be a part of the Blog Tour for Mary Gibson's latest book, The Bermondsey Bookshop. I love this authors books and feel they are getting better and better and as a South East London girl myself, I can relate to the area where her stories are set and none more so than Bermondsey. Please read my review below on this fabulous story of love, strength and struggle.

Review

When Kate Goss is left with her Aunt Sylvie to bring her up after her mother dies tragically  and her father disappears to "make his fortune", little did Kate know that the path to happiness and true love will take lots of twists and turns in the overcrowded house she has to share with her scheming cousins.

Kate's mother was a Romany and died in mysterious circumstances and her father, Archie Goss, has left the country to make his fortune, always insisting that he will come back for his daughter when he has made enough money to care for her.

Meanwhile, Kate dreams of a better life once her dad returns, but finds herself having to work all the hours God sends in a tin factory, a public house and also cleaning in a bookshop, just to make ends meet and to pay the rent on a room that she has to find when her Aunt throws her out on to the street.

Kate loves working in the bookshop and soon bonds a close friendship with the owner, Ether Gutman. She also strikes up a friendship with Ethel's nephew, Martin North, who soon holds a torch for Kate, but with so many barriers keeping them apart, non more so than their different classes, Kate is determined to keep things strictly professional. Anyway, her heart belongs to another, Johnny, who has problems of his own looking after his alcoholic mother.

This book has a handful of wonderful characters, who I loved, but especially Kate, who is strong and stubborn and won't stop fighting until she gets what she wants!

As I have mentioned before, I come from South East London and my beautiful Mum, who I lost a year ago, was born in Bermondsey and I loved listening to her stories of the factories she worked in and the people she met, so this story really got to me and I loved every single page.

It was obviously thoroughly researched as the author and her family come from the area as well.

I really loved this book and it's my favourite so far of Mary's and with the author's permission, I would like to dedicate my review to my beautiful Mum, my original Bermondsey Girl.

Ethel Elizabeth Locke

28.12.30 - 11.02.19

Rest in Peace

Thank you to the author for putting my name forward for reviewing this book and to Head of Zeus for letting me be a part of the Blog Tour.

Well done Mary on a gritty, heart wrenching book that kept me turning page after page when I really should have been asleep! I loved it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mary Gibson was born and brought up in Bermondsey, South East London. In 2009, after a thirty year career in publishing, she took the opportunity of early retirement to write a book of her own! Her debut novel, Custard Tarts and Broken Hearts, was inspired by the lives and times of her grandparents in World War One Bermondsey and was a top ten Kindle best seller and selected for World Book Night 2015. Further Bermondsey novels: Jam and Roses, about three sisters living in Dockhead during the 1920s; Gunner Girls and Fighter Boys, set during World War Two; Bourbon Creams and Tattered Dreams set during the 1930s, and Hattie's Home, following three women's struggles to rebuild their lives in post-war Bermondsey, A Sister's Struggle, set during the 'hungry thirties' are all available in e book, hardback, paperback and audio. Her latest novel, The Bermondsey Bookshop will be published on 6th February 2020. www.marygibsonauthor.co.uk

To order a copy of this book click here