Living a Lie by Josephine Cox

Living a Lie by Josephine Cox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 480

Publisher - Headline

Source - gift

Blurb from Goodreads

In 1975 Lucinda Marsh throws herself in front of a speeding train leaving her twelve-year-old daughter Kitty alone, confused and abandoned - save for a selfish aunt, a violent father and her childhood sweetheart Harry Jenkins.

When Kitty is sent to an orphanage after the death of her father, she meets Georgie, a lively cockney girl who, through the following difficult years, becomes her loyal friend. Convinced that her feelings for Harry will ruin the brilliant future that lies ahead of him, Kitty turns her back on his love. Together with Georgie, she strives to find fulfilment in other places and other relationships, but when fate throws her back together with Harry she begins to wonder if true love can ever die . .

My Review

We open with a suicide, leaving little Kitty without her mother, a father who is consumed with anger/grief/self pity and an aunt who has enough on her plate without Kitty adding to it. Kitty finds herself being shipped off to an orphanage and this is her story of what comes next.

Living a Lie is all about Kitty's life, her relationships, actions and consequences and family, those by blood and those we choose. Kitty is a good wee soul and the reader finds her being taken advantage of at times provoking rage and a thirst for retribution on her behalf.

A look at the darker side of (some of) humanity, the goodness, endurance and of course love, the good and bad kinds and how it can impact or guide our choices in life. 3.5/5 for me this time, read Cox before and I will read her again.

View all my reviews