Laceys of Liverpool

by Maureen Lee

Vivacious Alice Lacey couldn't be more different from her sister-in-law, the bitter, ambitious Cora. Both women give birth to sons on one chaotic night in 1940, and Cora's jealousy and resentment prompt her to swap her puny baby for Alice's beautiful son. The relationships between the cousins Cormac and Maurice, their parents, Alice's 3 girls, and their eventual husbands and children, combine to give a unique picture of Liverpool in the last 60 years of the 20th century.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, British Literature, Romance

481 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2001

About the author

Maureen Lee was born in Bootle, England, UK, near Liverpool during the World War II. She attended Commercial College and became a shorthand typist. She married Richard, and they had three sons, now adults. The last years the marriage lives in Colchester, Essex.

During years, she published over one hundred and fifty short-stories, before published her first novel Lila in 1983. She continued published dramatic historical sagas mainly setting in Liverpool since 1994. In 2000, her novel Dancing in the Dark won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maureen Lee is probably my favourite saga writer. Her characters are warm, flawed and sympathetic. Laceys Of Liverpool begins with a secret in 1940 and ends with both a birth and a death thirty or so years later. I particularly like the period detail in Maureen's novels and her emphasis on family life. This is one of her best.

[Yolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Shirley Revill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed. Storytelling at it's best.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent saga about the family of Alice Lacey. Born into poverty Alice has dreams of making something of herself. Starting out as a hairdressers assistant she plugs along in life with her husband John Lacey. This story takes us through the trials and tribulations of her life, the horrors of her sister in law Cora Lacey and the evil she dishes out, the experiences of her four children and their children. This was quite an enjoyable read as are all of the novels of Maureen Lee.

[Elaine Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Maureen Lee I just could not put down. I got so engrossed in the characters and what they got up to and again interest levels were kept high throughout. There was no second guessing how this story would pan out and I was sorely disappointed when it came to an end simply because I didn't want the book and the story to end.

[Kristyne Lafolua-misionare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awesome read however i found there to be too many characters, was really hard at first remembering who was who. I think the ending could have been worked on a bit more, wasn't really what i was expecting the ending to be but overall a good read.

[Bettyjoy Engelbrecht · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good light read. Nice family saga. Just wish Maureen had wrapped up the ending a bit better.

[Sophia Loves to read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another hard to put down book from Maureen Lee. Follows the life of Alice and her family through the generation .

Can't wait to start my next one

[Gail Marchant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about the Lacey’s of Liverpool the family from 1940
The loves, romance, heartache, laughs & tears
This book had me entertained with the comings & goings
The effect the war had
Alice and her family I felt like I knew them after reading this believable book
Recommend if you like hard times & families living the best they could

[Spring Flower · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basically a pretty good read. Keeps you wanting to read on. Alice (Mam) is the main character but the book encompases the lives of her family and extended family. So many life events over 50 years or so, some of them very sad, others very satisfying. You can visualise the characters they are so well described.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 4 out of 5]

As much as I enjoyed this, I couldn't wait for it to end. In places I felt the storyline was rushed through. It covers over 30 years. A lot happens and there's a lot of characters to remember too. I would not class it as a 'romance novel' at all although it won the 'Romantic Novel of the Year 1999'. It was more of a saga. Quite a sad ending too.

[Tracey Carnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blinding book

Just loved this book.really felt like I knew the characters personally. Was very moved by this book as it resembled a part of my life.loads of spelling mistakes though.still give it 10/10

[Julie Woodfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at a little free library in London while I was on vacation there. What a fun find! Loved the characters. They were so much more in depth compared to many of the characters in books today.

[Mrs A Lovejoy-Findlay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying read

I loved this book, written by a superb storyteller who brings all her characters to life and makes you care about them.

[Cecile Paddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a family! Great story.

[Armel Abel-Seedoyal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful family Drama that ends well

[Jean St.Amand · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't enjoy the first 100 pages at all and was planning to stop reading but I decided to give it a few more pages and I'm so glad I did.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

An epic family saga that starts in 1940 during World War II, it opens with Cora and Alice Lacey, sisters in law who give birth at virtually the same time.
Cora has always hated Alice and out of a fit of pique and spite at her mistaken belief that Alice's life is perfect, she has the better husband, better life and now the better son she does something drastic that has repercussions many years later....
The story follows on from that night and charts the fates of the whole Lacey (and extended family) members and how their lives flow from that night onwards.
Trial, tribulation and heartbreak as well as happiness and enduring love and family bonds are all ingredients for a wonderful drama that narrates the Lacey history upto the point of around the 70s, they live through war, poverty, rich times and the swinging 60s and 70s.
Their lives are ever changing and so is the line up of the essential core family but somehow they manage to hang together and stay strong despite anything that could potentially tear them apart.
A brilliant read for anyone who is a fan of the drama / period novel and a Liverpudlian version of Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox in whose footsteps she admirably follows with her down to earth, believable and all round lovable characters.
Could not put this down and continue to enjoy her other work and this is just one of a number of her novels I have read so far.

[Louise Lacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, a present from my father because of the family name sat on my bookshelf for two years before I thumbed through it, I later kicked myself for that as The Lacey's of Liverpool is a fantastic read.

I found the character of Alice to be naive at first when she borrowed money from Cora to start her own hair salon. But as the novel progresses Alice becomes an excellent business woman and the salon quickly becomes her life.

I won't spoil it too much, but I would highly recommend this novel.

[Michelle Muench]

i really enjoyed this book. it was cute, and sad but there was still humour. This book is about how important family is.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kind of a typical everyday Liverpool family saga. It was OK, but I’m not sure if I’d read more of her books.

[Laura-Colette Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this book, really shows how important family is.

[Emma Harvey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book! Really enjoyed it!

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story illustrating the result of jealousy within a family.

[Tina]

it was a good book

[Sally Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this book & the relationships between the charachters.

[Pauline Wilson]

another fab read with a twist loved it

[Emily Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars if it was possible! Really enjoyed this. A sobering real life family saga of ups and downs, highs and lows!! A LOT of names/characters to remember!!

[Dayna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recently discovered this author and I really enjoy her books. My mom grew up in Bootie during WW2 and I feel like this gives me some insight into what her life was like.

The story is multi generational, starting with two sisters in law who give birth during an air raid. The characters and the story took twists and turns that I didn’t expect. I really enjoyed Alice, her character and determination. Cora was a bit more of a straight forward villain, although she had a bit of character growth towards the end of the book. Recommended!