A Mother’s Courage

by Maggie Hope

A gripping saga from the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Coal Miner's Daughter

Eleanor Saint has always dreamt of making her mark on the world as a doctor or nurse, but in North-East England in 1851, all she can do is dream. Married off to Francis Tait, a missionary, Eleanor finds herself bound for distant Fiji, following in the footsteps of her heroine, Florence Nightingale.

But the presence of an enigmatic American, Morgan West, on the journey starts to make Eleanor question everything, and amid strange new dangers in a foreign land, he might just be the most dangerous of all…

400 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book jumped around a lot. I also found that the majority of the book was quite slow paced but the ending felt rushed and sudden. Despite this it was a fairly engaging story but as other reviews have said quite far fetched in some respects.

[Julie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by the author and I look forward to reading more. It reminds me of Catherine Cookson, but it is better written with a well developed plot.
The book focuses on Eleanor who lives in a pit village in the North East and she is strongly influenced by Florence Nightingale and longs to follow in her footsteps. Instead she marries the slightly pompous Methodist minister Francis and becomes a missionaries wife in Fiji. Her life there is threatened by the locals, disease and the American Morgan West.
I came to love Eleanor and her friend Mary and enjoyed their adventures at home and abroad, they were both characters I warmed to as I read the book.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher Ebury for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review

[Kathryn Garner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and different story about early days in the colonies and one woman's attempts to make a difference.

[Rachael Lord · Rating 2 out of 5]

Our heroine, Eleanor, begins the story naïve and misguided - she wants to help the poor but appears to be more zealous than kindhearted.

Her husband, Francis, whom she marries early in the story, is a self-righteous, pompous prude, who clearly values his missionary work far above his family.

We follow Eleanor and Francis to Fiji, where they very rapidly grow their family, and much more gradually become slightly nicer people with a slightly healthier marriage. The story flip flops at times to secondary characters - sisters Mary and Prue. But neither of these characters are particularly likeable either, and again the character development is slow and not a lot really happens.

There are moments that pace along nicely and draw the reader in. But my overall impression was of a very meandering story, with characters that I struggled to engage with, and no real conclusion.

[Vicky Stevens · Rating 2 out of 5]

For me this story had too many lead characters to develop any of them very well within 300 pages. I initially thought we would see this story with Eleanor as the main protagonist. But then it switched to Mary then prue then back to Eleanor then Mary. I found it hard to get into but persevered. The last 100 pages were more bearable.

[Ayny · Rating 4 out of 5]

They certainly did encounter every bug, bad guy and weather in one book. The story takes place over quite a few years. Although outspoken, I doubt many ministers wives were like the characters in the book. It was interesting descriptions of Fiji and Tongan people. The heat they endured with all those layers of modest clothing, ugh!

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but found it rather far fetched and not believable at times which is why I would not rate it as 5 stars. The characters were interesting and on the whole the story was engaging.

[gemma spratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice story but not as good for me as war time nurse

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed a good book

[Annemarie Farthing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Action packed story, sad parts and happy ones.
Ended abruptly though.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy enough reading but not the best storyline!

[Jo · Rating 2 out of 5]

very slow moving
not my cup of tea at all