A Daughter's Disgrace

A Daughter’s Disgrace by Kitty Neale is a lovely British historical novel.  It is set in 1950’s in Battersea (starts in 1957).  Cora Butler is the widowed mother of three daughters.  Linda is married to Terry Owens and they have a little three year old daughter named June.  Hazel is the middle daughter and the loveliest of the three sisters.  Cora treats Hazel like a queen.  Alison is the youngest daughter and is considered homely.  Alison has suffered abuse at the hands of her mother and Hazel all her life.  They are constantly putting her down (Cora cannot stand her youngest daughter).  Alison is taller than most girls (and men).  When Alison is let go from a local factory, she gets a job with the local butcher, Fred Chapman.  Next door at the hardware store is a nice looking young man named Paul Lanning that catches Alison’s eye.  One night on the way home Paul attacks Alison and she ends up pregnant.  Paul and his motley family disappear leaving Alison to face her family’s wrath. 

Hazel is engaged to Neville Parrot.  Cora thinks Hazel could do much better, but Hazel is determined to marry Neville.  Hazel is always polite and lady like in public, but behind closed doors she has an unruly temper and has a tendency towards hitting (especially her sister, Alison).  Neville is a nice young man, no temper, handsome looking, and works at the local paint factory.  Hazel wants a big wedding and expects everyone in the household to contribute to it (whether they want to or not).  They have a beautiful wedding, but life is not blissful for the newlyweds.

Alison’s life takes a turn for the better when she marries Fred while Hazel’s life is not what she expected.  Linda and Terry get into a spot of trouble up in Kent, but Terry hopes to get them safely out of harm’s way.

A Daughter’s Disgrace starts off a little slow, but then I could not put it down.  I stayed up until after 4 a.m. to finish it.  I give A Daughter's Disgrace 4.25 out of 5 stars.  I enjoyed this story and look forward to reading more books by Kitty Neale.

 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley (and the publisher) in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for reading my reviews!  Have a good evening and Happy Reading!

Kris