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Pure as the Lily
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During the Depression, unemployed Tyneside worker Ben Walton places his hopes in his daughter Mary, whose intelligence and affection provide relief from poverty and a bitter marriage. He dreams that she will escape the slums, but a concealed family truth destroys the future he imagined and alters the relationships within the household.
The novel follows Mary and the Walton family from the 1930s into the 1970s, tracing how hardship, marriage and changing social expectations pass between generations. Economic recovery does not automatically resolve the shame and resentment created when the family was most vulnerable.
Historical periods
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