Her Family’s Shame

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2.5(5)

In 1937, fourteen-year-old Lizzie Gillespie is rescued from a desperate situation by soldier Geoff Fulton, who brings her into his family home as companion to his ailing mother. For the first time Lizzie experiences security, education and the possibility of choosing what sort of adult life she wants rather than simply surviving from one day to the next.

As she grows older, however, the protection offered by the Fulton household develops its own complications. Gratitude, affection and the expectations of the people who helped her begin to shape decisions that should belong to Lizzie herself. The novel follows her attempt to turn a second chance into genuine independence, set against a working-class Britain moving towards war and the social pressures placed on a young woman whose position in the family is never entirely straightforward.