Trouble in Paradise: A Fantastically Funny and Feel-Good Tale from the East End..

It is 1945, and all over England people are looking forward to being at peace again. Except for one woman. For recently married Zelda, peace means the return of her husband, and this is bad news indeed. Zelda has had to marry Charlie Fluck because she was pregnant by him. And the Fluck clan are backed by the unsavoury Holes, at the centre of whose criminal empire sits Ma Hole like a large malevolent toad. Not only is Zelda frightened of her husband - and she has reason to be, having lost her baby due to a bad 'fall' when Charlie pushed her down the stairs - but so is her good friend, Zinnia Makepeace, local midwife, herbalist, wise woman and layer out of bodies. Her house fronts Paradise Gardens, and she has the choicest of garden allotments - both of which Ma Hole is determined to have at any cost. Meanwhile young Tony, Zelda's nephew, is going off the rails. His dad's missing, presumed dead, his mum is in a state, and he's running wild with Bung 'Ole, or Brian Hole as his police records call him. But Tony can sing. He has, in fact, the voice of an angel. So Zelda arranges for Tony to have singing lessons to straighten him out - and this takes her to Soho, where she meets Maggie and Bert Fetherby who run a cheerful and very busy café in Old Compton Street. When Zelda reads Maggie's cards, and tells her that she can see a baby, she is unprepared for the tears that follow. For Maggie has always wanted a baby, and it seems that this is the one thing that she and Bert cannot have. Zelda knows there's a solution - but she has reckoned without the trouble now raging back in Paradise Gardens... ** From Publishers Weekly This warm prequel to Agatha-finalist Granger's Not All Tarts Are Apple and The Widow Ginger follows the post-WWII adventures of Zelda Fluck and her neighbors in Paradise Gardens, a section of Hackney in London's East End. Peace has just broken out and the blitzkrieg has ceased, but Zelda and her large working-class family are confronted with food shortages, bombed-out buildings and the camaraderie and scheming that hard times bring. "Ma" Hole and her son are engaged in their customary crime spree. Someone is stealing petrol. And Zinnia Makepeace, the mysterious healer, is being threatened, her house burgled and cats stolen. Worst of all, Charlie, Zelda's abusive husband, is due home from the army. Readers won't find a major crime in these pages, but they will find a wealth of vivid, likable characters in a fully realized world that casts a bewitching spell. And Granger gets the atmosphere of 1940s London just right, down to the fish-paste sandwiches and the seamed "nylon" stockings women drew onto their legs. Gradually, Zelda forges a life beyond the restrictions of Paradise Gardens, moving to bohemian Soho, where her talented nephew Tony takes voice lessons. This charming and enticing novel stops just shy of becoming too sentimental: it's a kind of time machine to what London life could or should have been. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist World War II has just ended, but Zelda Fluck's joy is tempered by the imminent return of her abusive husband, Charlie. Further worries include her nephew Tony falling in with a bad crowd and her good friend, healer Zinnia Makepeace, being tormented by persons unknown. Charlie's arrival leaves Zelda battered and bruised but determined to solve her personal problems. Meanwhile, Zinnia has to deal with a suspicious fire, missing pets, and more threats against her. The mystery element is really only a small part of the novel, which is finally about Zelda and her family, her friendship with Zinnia, and her search for a safe, independent life for herself. Highly evocative of a time, a place, a people, and a changing way of life in London at the end of World War II, this is a satisfying, compelling novel--a prequel, in part, to Granger's other two books. Sue O'Brien Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Perfect for fans of Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell, a heart-warming saga set in post war London from Sunday Times bestselling author Pip Granger. "She brings the East End to life..." - Barbara Windsor "Read it straight through..." - ***** Reader review. "Love her writing." - ***** Reader review. *************************** 1945 : The end of the war spreads joy through London, but for Zelda Fluck the news isn't all good. The end to hostilities will bring her violent husband Charlie home. It also sets off a chain of events that brings more strife and destruction to the people of Paradise Gardens in Hackney than did the Blitz. That's not all. Zelda's nephew, Tony , is hanging around Brian Hole , a one-boy crime wave and only child of Ma Hole , leader of the local spivs. But Tony can sing - he has, in fact, the voice of an angel - and Zelda's friend, Zinnia knows a voice coach in Soho whose lessons may be able to straighten Tony out. The people Zelda meets there change her life. Will she find a way out of Hackney and her failed marriage? Trouble in Paradise is a prequel to Pip Granger's Rosie novels... It is 1945, all over England people are looking forward to being at peace. Except for Zeida, for whom peace means the return of her abusive husband - but she is also concerned for the safety of her friend Zinnia. Meanwhile her nephew is raising hell and Zeida thinks through his voice she can save herself and him.