Great time period, great setting, interesting plotline. Full book feature to appear on my blog in June, as I ran out of time to review it on the release date:

https://sonyaheaneyblog.com/

Unfortunately, this book was archived before I got chance to read it.

The Girl from the Tyne by Melody Sachs begins on the night that Jack met Alice. The author describes how Jack prepared for the ballroom dance. Before he leaves the house, he dances with his mom. It is all high spirits as the young man ventures out into the night that would later alter the course of his life. Alice was gorgeous and talented. As soon as Jack saw her on stage, he was enchanted by her beauty. He described her as a real woman unlike the girls that he had previously met. He finally gets a dance with her but quickly realizes that she is not the girl for him. However, Alice has other ideas. Jack is exactly the guy for her and she has no intention of letting him go. The night ends with the conception of Lizzie.

Alice, Jack and their daughter Lizzie have a strange, little family. Alice is one of the meanest mothers that I have ever read about. She seems to dislike Lizzie. Sometimes it appears as if she is just extremely jealous of her daughter. She didn’t want her to have friends. She hated it when her husband dotted on their little girl. From birth, Lizzie has to deal with her mother’s anger issues and jealousy. It was crazy!

I sympathized with Lizzie from the beginning and immensely disliked Alice. However, I couldn’t stop reading about her. As details of her upbringing came up, I sympathized with her a little bit but still… On the other hand, my feelings for Jack kept changing through the chapters. I liked him then hated him in equal measure. I was frustrated with how he dealt with his wife’s abuse. I know he loved his daughter and was just doing what he thought was right but it was frustrating to see him not stand up to Alice. The family members on each side were also interesting to read about. On Jack’s side, Mrs. Wood was such a lovely grandma to Lizzie. She loved her family, a fact which was evident throughout the story. Lizzie’s uncles and aunts were well portrayed in the book. On the other side, Alice’s mum, Mrs. Rooney was not very easy to like though she did have her good moments. I really liked her other daughter, Peggy though. Another key character in the book is Madame Bella. I felt like she’s is the kind of woman I would like to know(in real life). She was loud in her dressing, opinions and affection. I also liked Lizzie’s best friend, Molly and her mom, Mrs. Brown.

This book is character-driven. The author gave background stories of each character such that I felt like I knew all of them. I would roll my eyes when Alice started speaking even before she said anything but I just knew what to expect. Oh boy is what I would think whenever Mrs. Rooney showed up because I knew trouble was coming. Sometimes, I wished I could sit down with Jack and have a talk with him about standing up to Alice. Peggy made me smile each time. She was so delightful. Mrs. Wood (Lizzie’s grandma) made me wish I had known my grand folks. She is what I imagine what I think about grandmas. The characters made me feel invested in the story. This made me feel different emotions through each chapter. Most times, it was sadness and anger especially where Alice was involved. Other times, it was joy where Lizzie triumphed. It was quite a roller-coaster.

I think lovers of historical fiction or family drama will love this book. The book covers a time period of 1932 to 1950. A lot happens during the time including World War 2 which had Jack leaving his young family. The author describes the period in such a vivid manner than enabled me to understand what was going on. There were mentions of food rations, bomb shelters, air raids and descriptions of lifestyles including dressing that made the time period come alive at the background of the story. The story is harrowing yet beautiful at the same time. It is well narrated in an easy flow that helps readers follow the events through the years. I truly enjoyed reading this book and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it.

I enjoyed reading this book but not sure about some parts and actually skipped quite a bit

Coming from the North East, this put a smile on my face - the language, the sayings, the sing song rhymes more than took me back to that time (well not exactly, I'm now that old). This was a story set in the lead up to the war and how its shadow hovered over and changed everything that the local people of Newcastle and Blaydon did.

The tone of the novel changes as the abusive relationship between Alice and her daughter comes to the fore.
It was sad to read this at times as the woman did what she could to scupper her talented daughter's plans.

However the journey little Lizzie goes on in the world of dance - her dreams of performing at the Theatre Royal was a joy. It was hard to see this kind of abuse when the men were away at war but it makes you think just how life could be far from the battlefield, the type of story that doesn't normally get told.

I do think a few geordie phrases might have been useful here as there is a fair bit of dialogue in the dialect too which might put some people off. There is plenty warm Geordie fair to enjoy here though and the first book I've read set in Blaydon!

I think I just prefer books with a more defined plot arc. Books like this where there isn't one are all well and good, but I spent most of the book waiting for the story to really start, not realising that it actually already had. I mean it wasn't a bad story. It was interesting to see Lizzie grow up and the way that the abuse of her mother had an effect on her.

I do think that Lizzie grew up into a surprisingly good kid considering the lack of affection and the critical way her mother was towards her. I mean the amount of times Lizzie skipped meals to avoid conflict or was sent to bed without, I feel she probably should have been severely undernourished. Either way, I think that it was probably inaccurate that she would be such a put together person having grown up with a mother like that.

It was interesting to see how the family all banded together to try and look after Lizzie as much as they could though. I've never thought about how things were before child services and how kids could just suffer all on their own like that, so it was nice that they showed that, but also showed the father and his family doing what they could to support Lizzie and give her time away from her mother.

I would have enjoyed it better if it had been a more focused plot but it was a fairly good book overall.

I requested to review Melody Sachs first novel, “The Girl from the Tyne”. This is her first novel and I enjoyed the book very much. The story begins in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1932. Jack Wood lives with his Mum and is happy with his life. He owns a business that is prospering in spite of the depression. On this particular evening, he is heading to a dance in town. All of the young folks are there and the bands are swinging. There is a dance contest and he is smitten with Alice Rooney, one of the winners of the contest. He gets his courage together and asks her to dance. They finish the evening with each other. Alice is a forward young lady and entices Jack, which has consequences. Jack decides to do the right thing and marry her even though their families are nothing alike. Alice’s family is crude, rude and smarmy; while Jack’s is the son of a veterinarian. His family is good, supportive and loving.

Jack and Alice have a volatile relationship. Alice’s mouth is crude and rude, just like the rest of her family. Their daughter, Lizzie, bears the brunt of Alice’s wrath. Nothing she does is right, she is screamed at, embarrassed in front of her friends and their parents, yet Lizzie tries to be quiet and not anger her mother. The story continues as we see Lizzie growing up and becoming a lovely young lady in spite of the abusive relationship with her mother.

I really did enjoy reading about Lizzie. However, it was very hard to read the abusive dialogue that Alice subjected Lizzie to and I suffered with her. No one was immune from her wrath and everyone walked on eggs in order not to upset Alice and cause Lizzie more trouble. The thing I enjoyed most about this novel is the time period written about. I wish Ms. Sachs much success with her writing.

I received a Kindle copy of this book from NetGalley.com.