Not my type of book but would recommend to others
A Ration Book Victory is the eighth and concluding instalment of Jean Fullerton’s WWII East End saga and catches up with the big-hearted Brogan family in the final months of the war. Previous books have focused on specific family members and this book elaborates on indomitable matriarch Philomena Dooley, known to all in the East End as Queenie, and traces her story right back to childhood in the Irish village of Kinsale. As grandmother to Jeremiah and daughter-in-law Ida’s seven children and great-grandmother to eight and still rising, Queenie has plenty of demands on her time. Nevertheless she is a faithful devotee to the local parish of St Breda and St Brendan’s and in particular long-serving priest, Father Patrick Mahon, but it is only when he collapses and the full extent of his declining health comes to light that the Brogan’s start to notice the impact it has on her. Throughout the series Queenie has always played her cards close to her chest and although she has always hinted that her and Father Mahon knew each other as children in Ireland, she has several undisclosed secrets that threaten to unsettle those closest to her.
The novel employs a dual timeline and moves between the village of Kinsale, County Cork in 1877 when Philomena was five years old through to 1890 and her arrival as wife to Fergus and mother to Jeremiah in the East End that she has long called home. As the action moves back and forth between Queenie’s early years in Kinsale to present day London (opening in 1945) the story that unfolds isn’t particularly surprising given several heavy-handed hints but it is sensitively done. Alongside the overarching story focusing on Queenie and Father Mahon, the entire Brogan clan are planning for the future and thinking about life after the war. Jeremiah’s expanding removal and delivery business is threatening to outgrow its premises, Billy’s real mother wants to play a part in his life and with Mattie, Cathy, Jo and Charlie all married, the soon to be reunited family seems to be growing by the day. Although I found the opening of the novel involving and pretty action-packed as Fullerton updates readers on the lives of all of the family members, I was disappointed that by halfway through the book seemed to be marking time in preparation to draw to a close. Apart from tying up some obvious loose ends I found the content of the second-half prosaic, even for a WWII saga novel, and the pace sluggish.
Despite only having read two previous instalments of this series I had no problem keeping track of the plentiful cast of characters or picking up the stories that I had missed, but this concluding instalment will mean most to diehard fans of the series and is very much about brighter days ahead after the VE Day celebrations.
The novel employs a dual timeline and moves between the village of Kinsale, County Cork in 1877 when Philomena was five years old through to 1890 and her arrival as wife to Fergus and mother to Jeremiah in the East End that she has long called home. As the action moves back and forth between Queenie’s early years in Kinsale to present day London (opening in 1945) the story that unfolds isn’t particularly surprising given several heavy-handed hints but it is sensitively done. Alongside the overarching story focusing on Queenie and Father Mahon, the entire Brogan clan are planning for the future and thinking about life after the war. Jeremiah’s expanding removal and delivery business is threatening to outgrow its premises, Billy’s real mother wants to play a part in his life and with Mattie, Cathy, Jo and Charlie all married, the soon to be reunited family seems to be growing by the day. Although I found the opening of the novel involving and pretty action-packed as Fullerton updates readers on the lives of all of the family members, I was disappointed that by halfway through the book seemed to be marking time in preparation to draw to a close. Apart from tying up some obvious loose ends I found the content of the second-half prosaic, even for a WWII saga novel, and the pace sluggish.
Despite only having read two previous instalments of this series I had no problem keeping track of the plentiful cast of characters or picking up the stories that I had missed, but this concluding instalment will mean most to diehard fans of the series and is very much about brighter days ahead after the VE Day celebrations.