- Title: The Mersey Mistress
- Author: Sheila Riley
- Publisher: Boldwood Books on April 6, 2021
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Pages: 284
- Formats Available: Paperback, Audiobook, & Digital
- Rating: 5/5
Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, Arson, Death of Children, Violence, Implied Pedophilia
Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and Sheila Riley for providing me with a digital copy of The Mersey Mistress with a request for an honest review.
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The Mersey Mistress Blurb
BRAND NEW FROM LIVERPOOLS’ VERY OWN BESTSELLING AUTHOR, SHEILA RILEY
1910 LIVERPOOL DOCKS.
Ruby Swift is a hard-working, straight-talking woman of substance who does not suffer fools gladly,
But when tragedy strikes on a bitter Christmas Eve, Ruby and her beloved Archie take matters into their own hands when a trusted employee’s house is mysteriously engulfed by flames and lives are lost.Orphaned by the fire, Ruby welcomes heartbroken sixteen-year-old Anna Cassidy, into her home and family but circumstances conspire against them and she is unable to save Anna’s twelve-year-old brother Sam Cassidy, who is sent by the Church to Canada as a Homeboy.
Can Ruby help mend a broken heart and can these two children ever be reunited or is there another higher game in play?
Mersey Mistress takes you on a journey to another time, another place. From the banks of the River Mersey to the frozen waters of the Canadian Saint Laurence River.
My Review
The Mersey Mistress is a bittersweet saga penned by Sheila Riley. It is the second in the Mersey trilogy but works great as a standalone. I didn’t feel as if I missed anything from the first book, The Mersey Orphan.
The Mersey Mistress ticks many boxes for me. It is like no other book I’ve ever read. There are several stories all spun together in a cohesive delight to read. It was much more than I could have asked for.
I was tearing up starting with the Prologue and spent many more tears while reading this novel. I believed that the whole story would be about Ruby and Archie as they navigated her father’s ire. But, we get Ruby and Archie, almost as background characters while Anna and Sam take center stage.
But, as I mentioned either, it all comes full circle with every character mingling with all the others. I knew what my mind thought the book would be, yet Riley shattered those notions with flair.
I award The Mersey Mistress a full 5 out of 5 stars. I look forward to many more journeys with this author.
About the Author – Sheila Riley
Sheila Riley wrote four #1 bestselling novels under the pseudonym Annie Groves and is now writing a new saga trilogy for Boldwood under her own name. She has set it around the River Mersey and its docklands near to where she spent her early years. She still lives in Liverpool. Her new trilogy began with The Mersey Orphan in September 2019.
Author’s Contact Links: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bookbub
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