Powerful And Heart-Breaking

Voices From The Past – The Baby by Elizabeth Uywin is a powerful and heart-wrenching tale based on the real life of Mary Cole born in the East End of London in 1924. It is the first of a trilogy.

The reader instinctively likes Mary Cole. We meet her as she emerges from the womb. She almost seems like an invisible baby to all but her brother Roy (whom she calls Roysty) and he adores her. Their bond is beautiful. Your heart will swell as you witness their love, and there are times when your heart will break too.

The Cole family live in poverty. Love was chosen over inheritance. What they lack in wealth, they more than make up in love. It is this love that reaches from the pages of the book to envelop the reader.

God is at the heart of lives. “ ‘Thank you’ he whispered to his ever hearing, ever listening God.” It is not uncommon for the vicar to just drop in on the family… although it seems as much for a high tea as for spiritual welfare.

There is much loss in the novel including that of grief. “I’ve got to keep working… if I stop, I think, and when I think, I cry.” The pain radiates outwards. Your heart will break for the characters.