Family Connections

By Anna Jacobs

Book Overview

After her father's death, Gina Porter discovers that she has family on the other side of the world, in the north of England. Soon, Gina is travelling to England to meet these unknown relatives. At her Blackpool home, Peggy Wilkes constantly suffers verbal abuse from her bullying husband. She too determines to make a new start.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0727864726
• ISBN13: 9780727864727
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers
• Length: 278 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Heartwarming story of two families making a fresh start

The book begins in Austrlia where Gina Porter has taken some time away from being treated by her daughters as an unpaid childminder for her grandchildren to try to clear out some of the clutter left behind by her late father, Daniel Everett. Still vigorous and active at 51, Gina is trying to find a new purpose to her life having recently lost both her husband (killed by a drunk driver) and father (to old age.) Gina has always regretting knowing so little of the background of her father's family, so she is looking carefully through his papers and memorabilia for anything which might give her a better idea of her family origins Relief at finally locating the file where he kept certificates of births, marriages and deaths is replaced by surprise when she finds an additional marriage certificate: Gina had never been aware that her father had been married to another woman before meeting her mother. Before long Gina has decided to go to Lancashire and look up her father's other family ... Meanwhile, one of Gina's fellow residents of Western Australia also learns of a family connection in Lancashire: Widower Brad Rosenbury gets a letter from a girl in England who says she is his daughter from a long-forgotten relationship. He too decides to visit the UK. And in England, Peggy Wilkes is wondering how to cope with an unhappy marriage, while her brother, Jake Everett, is plunged into a family row when his grand-daughter wants to look up her great-grandfather in Australia ... A tale of the trials and tribulations of family life among normal fallible human beings, most with their strengths and all with their weaknesses. It's well written with some very moving sections, both happy and sad, and several bits of excellent humour in the story, such as the snappy dialogue, e.g. "Other people put down roots: Mel puts down a mine shaft." If you like stories of human relations and family life, you will probably enjoy this.

A nice read!

Anna Jacobs has done a great job of weaving this story between family members in the UK and Australia. It was a quick, easy read yet not simplistic. A definite feel good story.