Gilding the Lily

by Rita Bradshaw

Lily and Sarah Brown's childhood is an unhappy one. Sarah escapes by marrying Ralph Turner, a Sunderland dock worker, but Lily doesn't trust Ralph - a dark volatile man with a hidden cruel streak. When he tries to seduce Lily on his wedding day, her worst fears are confirmed.



Ralph's younger brother John is cut from a different cloth, though, and Lily is increasingly drawn to him. But just when Lily sees a future for them, a terrible incident destroys her happiness. Heartbroken, Lily agrees to accompany the family she works for as a nursemaid to New York. As Lily boards RMS Titanic little does she realise that her decision will change the course of her life for ever...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, British Literature

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Rita Bradshaw was born on 1949 in Northampton, England, where she was educated as a good Christian. She met Clive, her husband, at the age of 16 andnow the magic is still there. They have three lovely children, Cara, Faye, and Benjamin, and have always had a menagerie of animals in the house, whichat the present is confined to two endearing and very comical dogs who wouldmake a great double act on TV! The children, friends, and pets all keep thehouse buzzing and the food cupboards empty but Helen wouldn't have it anyother way. She still lives today in Northampton with her family. Althoughhaving enjoyed some wonderful holidays abroad she has never been tempted tolive anywhere else, although she rather likes the idea of a holiday homeclose to the sea one day.

Being a committed Christian and fervent animal lover she finds spare time is always at a premium, but long walks in the countryside with her husband and dogs, meals out followed by the cinema or theatre, reading, swimming,and having friends over for dinner are all fitted in somehow. She also enjoys sitting in her wonderfully therapeutic, rambling old garden in thesun with a glass of red wine, (under the guise of resting while thinking ofcourse!)

For years, she was a secretary. She began writing in 1990 as sheapproached that milestone of a birthday 40! She realized her two teenage ambitions (writing a novel and learning to drive) had been lost amid babiesand hectic family life, so set about resurrecting them.

Her first novel was for Mills and Boon and was accepted after one rewrite in 1992 as Helen Brooks, and she passed her driving test (the former was a joy and the latteran unmitigated nightmare!) She has written 50 novels as well as several sagas as Rita Bradshaw.

Since becoming a full-time writer she has found her occupation one of purejoy and often surprised when her characters develop a mind of their own bu tshe loves exploring what makes people tick and finds the old adage "truth isstranger than fiction" to be absolutely true. She would love to hear from any readers care of Mills & Boon.

Reviews

[Cindy aka "The Book Fairy" · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a captivating and easy to read story/drama/saga etc....I kept wanting to find our what happened next after each chapter. I liked how I felt as if I was right immersed with the British culture and time as the setting was so imaginable. The stark poverty and pitiful times were certainly portrayed! I have a soft spot for Great Britain as much of our heritage and ancestry originated from the UK and Ireland with many influences still evident ;albeit a mixture of American and British with expressions, saying, terms,..also a blend for us here in Canada and especially Newfoundland! :)

Anyway; back on track or try anyway; it was an enjoyable with a glimpse of life in how families were along with being a bit of a Titanic story which grieved my heart yet again.....lives changed forever and the separations devastating. It's an easy to read even with the local dialect at times....It sorted ended up fairly happy but was wondering about a couple of brothers.....oh well;I reminded myself that it is fiction after all so a pleasant read.

[Tara Chevrestt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel. Despite the four hundred some pages, I devoured it in two days.

Sarah and Lily come from a very tense household. Sarah gets herself pregnant and marries Ralph, unknowingly going from the frying pan into the fire. Sarah doesn't realize that Ralph has a cruel, dark side. On top of that, he has a thing for her sister, Lily. Lily wards off his advances not realizing Ralph's determination to get revenge on her. She takes up with his brother John. Meanwhile, family scandal abounds, suffragettes are wreaking havoc in England, her da divorces her mom, and Sarah is dealing with spousal abuse at the hands of Ralph.

Also of note is a lady friend of Lily's named Ellen. She plays a major role towards the end and has her own traumatic tale told throughout.

Something bad happens and it is bad enough to make Lily leave John despite her strong feelings of love for him. She then boards the Titanic. We all know what happens then. The ship sinks, but is Lily one of the fortunate ones? If, perchance, Lily does get her arse on a lifeboat, will enough sense be shocked into her to go back to her beloved John? Would John even have her back? What would the cruel, conniving Ralph do?

The scene in which the Titanic sinks literally gave me goosbumps. However, the Titanic doesn't enter the novel until page 307. As I was most excited about the Titanic aspect (partly due to the back summary mentioning it as well as the picture on the front) I am left feeling just a bit cheated. Despite the advertising, the Titanic doesn't play as big of a role as I had hoped. Still a good story tho.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a good read. A bit long perhaps....the titanic was what interested me in the first place and unfortunately it doesn't enter into the story until 2/3rds into the book but it was well written and I could really see it as the writer described it.
Overall a good read.

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

lOVED THIS BOOK HAVE READ IT A FEW TIMES WOULD READ AGAIN.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I grew up reading authors like Lyn Andrews, Meg Hutchinson, Josephine Cox - all the kind of authors that write very well, and write for a specific time period. That period is quite often before/during/after World I & II. I bought this book, purely because it was about the Titanic - as depicted on the cover - but got a very similar author to the above. However, it wasn't AS good as the above authors.

It wouldn't be a book I would normally pick up, had it not been about the Titanic. I'd never heard of the author previously, and I doubt I would pick up another one of her books, unless it was from the charity shop. While it was a good read, it could have been trimmed slightly, and she does not really stand out amongst the other authors in that genre.

If you're interested in reading about the Titanic, be prepared to wait a while, as the whole Titanic storyline doesn't kick off until about page 300. However, there is a reasonably good storyline, albeit predictable, up until that point. The characters are good, although it does take a little while to get into who is who and who is married to who. By the end of the book, I still hadn't got one or two of the characters 100% straight in my head.

The Titanic section is very much skimmed over as if the author suddenly had no idea where to go with the storyline. Or maybe she did, but had to fill up the pages somehow. In that case, it's definitely not the best Titanic-based book I've ever read, but in no way it's the worse. The title is lovely, and the cover really grabs your eye. Unfortunately, the author cannot stand out from the crowd. But a good book if you're interested in the time period and can pick it up for cheap.

[Helen Magee · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s been a little while since I have cried several times while reading a book, but this really well written. Tbh I didn’t even know this story had a titanic theme, but I would say it only comes in half way through the book.
Would highly recommend

[Jacqueline Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful but heart jerking

Yet another wonderful book from Rita Bradshaw, she has a knack making you feel there a witness to the story line in her books, a thoroughly gripping read, tears were shed!

[Brenda Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic book from Rita Bradshaw.

[Larissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book, making it a goal to read all of Rita Bradshaws books. Never let me down, and I devour them within a couple of days.

[Pamela Waite · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

As usual gripping story of love and tragedy so many stories of family and friends lives interwoven to make a good and gripping story thanks

[kathleen ann day · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

This was a really good read from the very first page I couldn't put it down
Lily was amazing, the tragedies ,love , & heart breaks she endured was heartbreaking .

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story with great characters and an interesting storyline which included the great disaster of The Titanic part way through.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a really great book. Very sad and tragic at times . Interesting characters.
Well worth reading 📚.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good read.

[Nicola Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was a nice steady read, good characters. I thought oh it’s pleasant book no drama….then they went on the TItanic. It all changed, I couldn’t put the book down after that

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another really good read from Rita, I read this book in just 2 days as I couldn't put it down

[Pippin04 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the story and the twists and turns but if I had to read the word "bairns" one more time I'm not sure I could have finished.

[Booklover BEV · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous read love all ritas books