Judith Barrow

The first instalment of Judith Barrow’s Mary Howarth series is ‘Pattern of Shadows’, a historical romance set in World War Two Lancashire that explores the challenges and new opportunities for women in wartime. Set against a male-dominated background where the aspirations of working class women have traditionally been put second, war brings change and some people adapt better than others.
Mary is a nursing sister in the hospital attached to a prisoner of war camp, nursing German soldiers captured and injured in action. Some people find that challenging but for Mary it is a satisfying and fulfilling job. Things get complicated when she attracts the attention of two men who could not be more different. One night Mary meets Frank Shuttleworth, a guard at the POW camp and, thanks to a combination of unforeseen circumstances, runs to a shelter with him during a bombing raid. This evening has far-reaching consequences for Mary and her flighty younger sister Ellen. There are tensions at home too with her argumentative irascible father and defeated mother, as Tom her older brother is in prison as a conscientious objector and her younger brother, injured fighting, must now work as a coal miner. Meanwhile a new German doctor arrives at the hospital. With two choices in front of her, Mary must decide whether to do what is expected or defy convention, to be loyal to her family who are not always loyal to her, or to be selfish and do something for herself.
A well-paced story combining stalking, prejudice, domestic violence, homophobia, poverty and family strife, Mary is the only unselfish, balanced person in her family. Will she finally put herself first? This is at times a grim story set at a difficult time and at first I worried this was misery fiction and longed for an occasional bright light. But the setting and time period are so well researched I soon relaxed into the story as the character of Mary and her predicament drew me in. I admire her stubbornness, her selflessness and loyalty, above all her bravery. Sometimes she is misguided, always well-intentioned, I look forward to reading more about Mary in ‘Changing Patterns’, the sequel.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-reviews-a-z/… (mehr)

My review is now on my blog: https://kyrosmagica.wordpress.com/2016/02/11/my-kyrosmagica-review-of-living-in-...

I’d recommend reading Living in the Shadows by Judith Barrow. This particular novel is the third in the series, published by Honno Press: ‘Honno is an independent co-operative press run by women and committed to bringing you the best in Welsh women’s writing.’

The first two books are: Pattern of Shadows and Changing Patterns. I read Living in The Shadows as a standalone. Whilst it can be read as a standalone I’d recommend that you read it as part of the complete series.
Without a doubt Living in The Shadows is a lovely family saga set in the 1960’s following the lives of three families, the Howarths, the Booths, and the Schorrmans. I really enjoyed this saga which reminded me of a TV soap (of the highest quality,) in so many respects.

To begin with I have to admit that I found it a bit daunting as there are a whole host of characters to get to grips with, and I made this worse for myself by not getting acquainted with them in the first two books! As well as this the novel is written in an unusual style with short chapters, telling the story from the viewpoint of individual characters. But, by the end of the book I felt as if knew all of the characters personally, and shared in their sad moments, worries and dreams. Judith has a talent for bringing the reader into the moment, employing the full use of all the sensory organs, creating a visual, and auditory delight. The dialogue flows well and all in all this is a very confidently written book. My favourite part of the story focusses on Victoria, a wilful young woman who runs away from her home in Wales to join a hippie commune. Sadly this decision ends up being far from a good one. The promises of freedom and happiness that she hopes for, turn out to be empty promises made by Seth, also known in the Commune as The Master.

As well as this there is a particularly villainous bad guy and the final few chapters are both sad, and riveting.… (mehr)

I read Changing Patterns as light relief while making my way through the more demanding Multiple Personalities by Tatyana Shcherbina. It’s apparently a sequel to another family saga called Pattern of Shadows and there’s another one in the trilogy called Living in the Shadows but I didn’t know that when I picked it up from the library. I was attracted by the cover image of young women from my mother’s era in what looks like London, but isn’t. It’s postwar Ashford in Lancashire, and the book is published by a Welsh women’s press, which has an interesting story of its own (as I discovered when I got to the last page of the book)
It is a bit Days of Our Lives. Though they have their reflective moments, the characters are a bit one-dimensional, and the plot taxes credibility here and there. But unlike Days of Our Lives, it is engaging enough, and it doesn’t go on forever. (Wikipedia tells me that DOOL started in 1965 and is still going.)
To read my review, (and yes, there are some spoilers) please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2018/02/23/changing-patterns-by-judith-barrow-bookrevie...… (mehr)