“An orphaned baby who needs a home, and the woman who risks everything to provide it”
- Book: The Orphan’s Secret
- Location: South Shields, The North East (England)
- Author: Shirley Dickson
I have read several WWII novels recently and whilst all have had very unique and enjoyable storylines, from this book I was hoping for something individual and inspiring – and boy did it come through on all fronts – including the hammering a pack of travel tissues has taken, which I keep on my desk for just such emotional reads!
This was another of those stories where the main theatre and focus of events, was life on the home front for those left behind when the troops had gone off to war, although there were one or two flashes and snippets about life and conditions on the frontline too. Women stepped up to take on some of the roles which had traditionally been filled by their male counterparts, often taking them way outside of their comfort zones both physically and emotionally. However, surprising even themselves, it was amazing just how quickly they manged to adapt to the changes, taking things in their stride and making a remarkably good job of it all.
I was taken on a journey which lasted some fourteen years, from just after the outbreak of war, right up until 1954, and boy, was it one heck of an emotional rollercoaster of a ride. The skill and consummate ease with which Shirley was able to add in subtle twists and turns to the storyline, was just a joy, even though each one left me more wrecked and tearful than the last, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough in my need to know what happened next.
An extremely well-structured, multi-layered, poignant and wonderfully textured storyline. Totally immersive and rich in atmosphere, often intense and emotional, but with some genuinely intuitive and unscheduled lighter moments of touching compassion and compelling humour. Despite the fact that I couldn’t escape the obvious horrors of wartime shortages and enemy bombing raids; from the industrial mining and shipyards of South Shields, to the relative serenity of the Scottish Highlands, the assured observational and highly descriptive narrative, blended with some excellent conversational and honest emotional dialogue, to offer a genuine sense of time and place, which had great depth of vision, making it a seamlessly inclusive experience for me, as a casual observer.
Lily, like so many other young wartime women, is way ahead of her time and strives to realise her dream of independence and individuality, capitalising on the opportunities the war effort has thrown her way. Ultimately though she is forced to make the life-changing decision of whether to pursue the path she has chosen, or if, after all, blood is thicker than water. Having made that decision and at peace with herself, she then faces her biggest challenge yet. Which path will she now choose, when truth, openness and honesty set her on a collision course with her own inner emotions and longings. There are no guarantees, as either decision might have damaging and irrevocable consequences, even though her actions will always be taken with the best of intentions.
Shirley has carefully created and drawn, a substantial cast of well developed and genuinely authentic characters. Not all are immediately easy to relate to, but that has much to do with their northern upbringing and outlook on life, so scratch the surface a little and their true canny sense of humour and easy friendliness rises to the occasion, notwithstanding the usual vagaries of family dynamics. Yes! they are often complex and emotional, volatile and vulnerable, raw and passionate; however they are always reliably genuine and believable, addictive and often amusing.
A work of cultural and societal fiction, based on and wrapped around the reality of some well established historical facts, written sympathetically and lovingly from the heart, with care and deference to the subject.
Aside from the WWII theme, which features strongly in all author Shirley Dickson’s novels, to date they also have the commonality of focussing on protagonists who share the same background experience of having been raised in orphanages, or been abandoned as children, often resulting in emotional suffering and very damaged childhoods.
Was the ending the ‘happy ever after’ moment I felt that I, and indeed the characters deserved after so much sorrow? Now that would be telling! However the joy of reading is that everyone’s experience is unique, so where will your journey take you?
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