The Bermondsey Bookshop: A heart-wrenching saga of love and loss in 1920s London

'Happiness had never been something she'd looked for. A quiet day with no insults or wallops, that was the best she could imagine.' London, 1920s Kate Goss lives in a freezing cold garret, bullied by her aunt and cousins. She dreams of being rescued by her handsome father. No one knows where he is, or what he is doing, just that he is sure to come back a rich man. By the time Kate is seventeen, she has learnt to cope alone. When her aunt throws her out, she finds a job as a cleaner in the Bermondsey Bookshop and Reading Room. Here she will discover a world she never knew existed. But trouble is never far away and long-held secrets are about to burst into the open, ensnaring her in a web of lies and violence. Will she ever be able to escape? Praise for The Bermondsey Bookshop : 'Poignant and intensely emotional' BOOKISH JOTTINGS 'A fabulous, fascinating read' VANESSA FELTZ 'I simply couldn't put it down' THE BOOKBAG 'A must-read' OK MAGAZINE "Bermondsey, 1920s. After her mother's death Kate is taken in by her father's sister, the quick-tempered Aunt Sylvie. Already struggling to feed children of her own, Aunt Sylvie treats Kate like an unwanted burden. Although Kate's father disappeared when she was a child, she still harbours hope that he will one day reappear and release her from this miserable existence. If only she knew why he left and what really happened to her mother... One day, after a terrible argument, eighteen-year-old Kate is thrown out. Desperate to land on her own two feet she answers an advert for a cleaner at The Bermondsey Bookshop and Reading Room. Little does she know that her life is about to be changed forever... In this cosy shop in Bermondsey Street, owned by a wealthy, idealistic young woman, Kate's eyes are opened to a whole new world. The bookshop is a vibrant meeting place for the local factory workers and dockers and the free reading room a place where they can read in peace and attend lectures by the famous literary lights of the day. Here Kate rubs shoulders with Johnny 'Rasher' Bacon, the docker who goes to read Marx, and Martin Cliffe, the handsome, upperclass student who comes to hear H.G. Wells speak. But when Kate recognises a stranger from her past, can she be sure that he is all that he seems? And will she be true to her roots and pick the fiery young Docker 'Rasher' Bacon? Or can the handsome young scholar Martin Cliffe persuade Kate that love can bridge the gulf between their two worlds?"--Publisher description 'happiness Had Never Been Something She'd Looked For. A Quiet Day With No Insults Or Wallops, That Was The Best She Could Imagine.' Set In 1920s London, This Is The Inspiring Story Of Kate Goss's Struggle Against Poverty, Hunger And Cruel Family Secrets. Her Mother Died In A Fall, Her Father Has Vanished Without Trace, And Now Her Aunt And Cousins Treat Her Viciously. In A Freezing, Vermin-infested Garret, Factory Girl Kate Has Only Her Own Brave Spirit And Dreams Of Finding Her Father To Keep Her Going. She Has Barely Enough Money To Feed Herself, Or To Pay The Rent. The Factory Where She Works Begins To Lay Off People And It Isn't Long Before She Has Fallen Into The Hands Of The Violent Local Money-lender. That Is Until An Unexpected Opportunity Comes Her Way – A Job Cleaning A Most Unusual Bookshop, Where Anyone, From Factory Workers To Dockers, Can Learn To Read And Then Buy Books Cheaply. A New World Opens Up, But With It Come New Dangers, Too. Based On The True Story Of The Bermondsey Bookshop, This Is The Most Inspiring And Gripping Novel Mary Gibson Has Yet Written. The inspiring story of one girl's struggle against poverty, hunger and family cruelty, set in 1920s London.