After the first world war when so many men died there were many women left whose hopes of marriage and children were cruelly crushed. This story is about one of these women. Belinda Layton was engaged to be married but when her fiancé Ben was killed she became what was known as a surplus girl. She has worn black mourning for four years but now wants to start to live again and have colour in both her clothes and her life. This is not easy as Ben's mother and grandmother feel that any lessening of her mourning is disrespectful to Ben's memory. I enjoyed this book which is easy to read and gives a good insight into the problems that women faced after the war. As Belinda tries to better herself by doing a secretarial course she faces the opposition of her family who feel she is turning against her roots. Her own parents are only interested in the money that she earns and not her life.