The Four Streets by Nadine Dorries

Thank you to Head of Zeus and Lovereading for the review copy. Due for publication April 2014

       This is the first book in a trilogy based on the author's life growing up in post-war Liverpool. The Four Streets are where the poor Irish immigrants, who are the cast of the story, live.

I really loved this book. It has a little of everything – love and hate; births, deaths and marriages; fun and laughter; sadness and misery – but above all I found it uplifting, reading how people with no advantages whatsoever rose above their situation to create a close knit family based community. Even families with lots of children of their own still manage to find room to care for children in need.

I grew up in a mixed community of “pre-fabs” in Bath during the same period. Some people were as poor as those in this story, others, like my family, had the advantage of a decent income courtesy the “Admiralty” across the road. On every page I was reminded of my own childhood playing in the streets all day, wandering off to  play in the local woods, running in and out of each other's houses, being fed by whichever mother we called on at mealtimes. Things that never happen today. We were all materially disadvantaged after the war but our lives were rich and we felt safe. Nadine has depicted the times so carefully it reads more as a biography than fiction. I really believed in the characters.

I look forward to Part 2. Anyone who enjoys “Call the Midwife” will love this book.