The Children Left Behind by Eliza Morton: a gripping blend of romance, heartfelt emotions and post-war intrigue – book review -

But amidst the rubble, one young woman is determined to fight for a brighter future and help rebuild the city she knows and loves ... unless the hand of fickle fate gets in her way.

If a gripping blend of romance, heartfelt emotions and post-war intrigue is your perfect reading recipe, then head off to Liverpool again with actress Eliza Morton for a deliciously nostalgic saga for summer nights.

Morton – better known as Elizabeth Morton and married to actor Peter Davison of Doctor Who fame – has a keen eye for drama and her childhood years in Liverpool have armed her with a love and in-depth knowledge of both the city and what makes its people tick.

And after success with The Orphans from Liverpool Lane, she returns with The Children Left Behind, the second book in her Liverpool Orphans trilogy, and another gripping, poignant tale, this time set against the backdrop of the Festival of Britain and the hardships brought about by the rebuilding of the city which had seen a third of all its houses destroyed or damaged.

In November of 1940, the bombs are raining down on Liverpool but feisty seven-year-old Alice Lacey and her two best friends, Bob and Matty, have disobeyed their parents by going up Everton Hill to watch the sky set on fire.

Ten years later, the three remain friends, and Bob is now Alice’s sweetheart. He would marry her tomorrow but Alice has ambitions to better herself and she finally leaves her factory job to work as a secretary for architects firm Hedley and Worboys, dreaming of a better future and playing some small part in rebuilding Liverpool.

But not everyone is as hopeful as Alice. ‘What Hitler started, the Corporation is finishing off,’ some are saying. Families are being ripped apart, whole streets are being demolished, friends and neighbours are being separated, and some children find themselves with nowhere to go but the orphanage.

These children are given the unkind name, ‘Orphans of the Living’ and when Alice’s father dies and her mother struggles to cope, Alice is horrified to see her younger brothers and sister facing the same fate. And, to make matters worse, Bob has returned with unsettling news after running away to sea... and when Alice turns to Matty and they begin to fall in love, it seems he is harbouring a secret.

The Children Left Behind packs a real emotional punch as Morton brings us a gritty but also heartwarming and uplifting story which was inspired by her own grandmother, a widowed mother of ten, and the many other Liverpool families which saw children split up from their parents and siblings, and communities forced to separate.

Filled with the nostalgia that has become a hallmark of Morton’s moving sagas, a cast of colourful Liverpool characters, love in its many guises, and the rich detail of life in the aftermath of war, readers follow a young woman determined to achieve her ambitions.

With the realities of Liverpool’s post-war rebuilding operation placed firmly at centre stage, a strong sense of family and community, and the author’s warmth and humorous affection for her home city shining through all the drama and emotion, this is a trip ‘up north’ you wouldn’t want to miss!

(Pan, paperback, £8.99)