This book, written by Rosie Harris is set in Cardiff, Wales where I was born; so of course I wanted to read it. It warmed my heart and brought back a lot of memories when the characters visited Porthcawl, a seaside resort about twenty miles out of the city. I could smell the hamburgrs we used to have cooking on the seashore!
The story itself is told in an easy style and concerns a young woman, Sarah Lewis who is pushed by her father to go into law. She is accepted by Cardiff Univrsity, where she meets a young man. His only objective is to get her to "go all the way". She becomes pregnant, but instead of asking her to marry him, as he had once before, he offers to move in and kep house with her. They find a place in the seedy wherehouse district and he later abandons her. Luckily Sarah is befriended by two other residents of the tenament house who stand by her through everything. She makes peace with her father who had disowned her.
During this time she mets another man at the job she works at. He's a high living sort who enjoys smoking pot and going to jazz clubs and is very attractive to (though wrong for) her after the previous controlling relationship she's escaped from. They marry, but something goes wrong. After that she finds another job through a man that did business with her previous boss and meets the love of her life. He proposes, and she accepts, but two things delay their happiness. After the ceremony her father suffers a stroke. Later, the man who recommended Sarah for the job has a heart attack. But, as the Bible says all things work out for for good in the end.
This story mirrors my own life. My first marriage was a disaster, and the second is very rocky. Maybe there will be a third chance for love for me too. :)
