Alley Urchin

Emma Grady #2

by Josephine Cox

By 1870 Emma Grady has spent seven years of servitude as a convict in Australia. Emma lives for the day when she will return to England, to face those who cheated and betrayed her. And to Marlow Tanner, the man she loves - and whose tragic child she had borne and then lost.

Emma struggles to make something of her life in Australia despite the sinister presence of her employer's evil son Foster. His determination to 'have' Emma leads to dark and terrifying consequences. As Emma battles against adversity, she is unaware that in England the child she has given up for dead is being lovingly raised by Marlow's sister Old Sal, who teaches Emma's daughter Molly to be an expert pickpocket.

Will Emma ever be reunited with Marlow? Even if she finds him, will he still love her? And what of the child lost to both of them? Emma is plagued with fears but her love for Marlow never weakens - and can never be forgotten...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Romance, Historical Romance, Historical

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, one of ten children. At the age of sixteen, Josephine met and married her husband Ken, and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to college and eventually gained a place at university but was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home. Instead, she went into teaching – and started to write her first full-length novel. She won the ‘Superwoman of Great Britain’ Award, for which her family had secretly entered her, at the same time as her novel was accepted for publication. She is now a No.1 bestselling author with over 40 books to her name.

She wrote dark psychological thrillers under the name Jane Brindle.

Reviews

[Jo Laws]

One of the best trilogy of books i have read

[Kelly Furniss]

The pace picks up a little more in this book, book 2 of the trilogy. An easy gentle read but I enjoyed it.

[Sue]

Maybe because I hadn't read the previous book, I didn't enjoy this very much. Despite the good reviews for it, I wasn't as engrossed as I usually am in a Josephine Cox book. To me it seemed to lack something and dragged, my mind was just not in it. Perhaps I shall try the first one and come back to this, but perhaps not, there are many other books to read.

[Donna Pullen]

have on read all 3 in this series more than once and loved them all

[Shirley Dawson]

Another good story from Josephine Cox. I started getting a bit confused when more characters were introduced about half way through, so much so that I had to write down who was related to who! The cook's character was a bit inconsistent, it varied between a kindly soul and one to a mean name-calling person to young Molly when she appeared at the door of the house.

The one thing which really spoilt it for me, hence the 4 stars and not 5, was that the whole story line was ridiculously far-fetched throughout. The many coincidences were really unbelievable.

Also, I was very disappointed at the unsatisfactory ending. I know this is part of a trilogy and there is a third book after this but there were a number of unresolved issues at the end. Each book of a trilogy should also be a standalone read and any storyline issues should be addressed and resolved before moving on to the next part.

Apart from the above, it was an enjoyable read and probably one of her better ones.

[Hamed Asif]

Alley Urchin, Book 2 in Emma Grady trilogy by JosephineCox.
⭐️ 4.25/5 📚

Review

No spoilers of the first Book

This book was EVERYTHING I hoped for. The time jump from the first book was unexpected, but the plot quickly picked up pace. Josephine Cox's writing is PHENOMENAL - the way she wove together multiple storylines is pure magic! However, the time jumps sometimes left me scratching my head. So much plot in such a short novel made the timeline a bit confusing.

[EILEEN SHEPPARD]

A great read

The second in the Emma Grady trilogy and it was a great read , the hard and awful life this young woman endures is shocking. Through hard work and determination she prospers in Australia and the next chapter of her life ensues. It's a good book, excellent story and well told by this talented author. I would recommend it to anyone.

[Alice Leak]

Having just read Outcast, the first in the Emma Grady trilogy ( to which I gave 4 *) I was glad to be able to read the sequel Alley Urchin straight away and continue with Emma's story. This was definitely more gripping and I have given it a well deserved 5*. Will now start Vagabonds the last part of the trilogy and hope that's as good.

[kellymarie]

Absolutely Fantastic!

the Emma Grady trilogy is just amazing! Must read! And Dont Cry Alone is also amazing. Josephine Cox' writing is gripping, romantic, heart breaking and uplifting. Loved it.

[c m bolton]

Boats and children

I have now read two of the three books in this series. From the first page I fell in love with all the characters. Some very brave. Looking forward to reading the last book. Thank you Josephine Cox.

[Jan]

Emma Grady trilogy, as I have done before I read these books out of order which a shame was. But I still enjoyed reading this series, quite saga of love, resilience and revenge, tragedy, cruelty. But Emma wins out in the end...

[julie johnson]

Fantastic reading.

Loving this trilogy. Couldn't put this book down, same as book1. Looking forward to starting book 3, final book in this fantastic trilogy. Sad, happy and such gripping story.

[Siobhan Considine]

Alley Urchin - Josephine Cox (Book 2)
Karma starts to come for those that have wronged the world and those that have been wronged. The story touches on the fact that fate can be coming around the corner at any time.

[Virginia Cuda]

Great book . One of my favourite authors. I bought this book at the op shop and was almost finished reading it before I realised it was the 2nd in a trilogy. Still a good standalone book but now I'm scouring for the first and third in the series.

[veronica Harvey]

Brilliant book cant wait to read book three

This book kept my attention couldn't put it down
Can't wait to read the third one I loved the story line

[susan hogden]

Full of intrigue and love.

A story about love overcoming hate. Very powerful with lots of twists and turns. Can't wait to read next in saga. Hope there is one!

[Patricia Benson]

Alley urchin

I am looking forward to the last book in the trilogy , I have enjoyed the last two and it’s kept me quiet for hours

[Suzi]

Superb

Really enjoyed number 2 in the series and looking forward to reading the next book to find out the fate of Emma Grady

[Celia Prout]

Just started the last of the trilogy. A lovely read. Josephine Cox is a superb writer, holds you from the beginning!

[Debbie]

Riveting, page-turner, the stuff of soap operas. Made me look right away for the next book!

[Mrs Erica A Allen]

More enjoyable

I did enjoy this book more than the first in the trilogy, maybe because I was already familiar with the characters, and because it moved along at a better pace.

[brenda hawkswood]

Could not put this book down absolutely brilliant

[Julie Homer]

Oh I loved this book 5*
Didn’t realise it was a trilogy,therefore started on book 2 ,hopefully
I will get to read the 3rd part as really want to know how things turn out
Brilliant read enjoy 🤩

[Tracey]

I am really enjoying this trilogy of books. Only one more to read.

[Vivien Hennessy]

The 2nd book in this trilogy was a lot better than the 1st. Good read. Looking forward to the 3rd book.

[Gillian Titley]

This is the second of three books excellent story 👏

[Valerie McGurk]

An easy read for a sunny afternoon.

[Gillian Baker]

As always you lose yourself in the book

I have really enjoyed this 2nd part of the series and am looking forward to reading the last part. Excellent saga

[Linda Hobson]

Fab read

[michael heron]

Great Read, held my attention most of the way