Portobello Book Blog

My mum is one of the biggest Coronation Street fans I know. Heaven forbid you phone when it’s on! So I asked her to read this book and let me know her thoughts.

First of all, here’s what the book is about

A wonderful Christmas read full of nostalgia and charm, perfect for fans of Coronation Street and readers who love Fiction set in Wartime.

Elsie Grimshaw lives in one of the worst streets in Weatherfield and is desperate to escape from life at home with a brutal father and the drudgery of working at the local mill. Grabbing at the slim chances that come her way, Elsie emerges from the heartbreak of first love and her marriage to bad boy, Arnold Tanner at only sixteen years old, if not much older, then certainly wiser.

Going under her married name of Elsie Tanner, she and Arnold move in to No.11 Coronation Street in 1939 as war breaks out. Her cheeky self-confidence immediately puts her at loggerheads with local busy-body Ena Sharples and Annie Walker, landlady of the Rovers Return.

As Christmas approaches, the residents of Coronation Street must put their petty squabbles aside if they are to survive the worst that Hitler’s Luftwaffe can throw at them. And as the Manchester Blitz grips their home town of Weatherfield, the residents must pull together to make this a Christmas to remember – for all of the right reasons…

My mum said she thoroughly enjoyed reading this and that it was an easy to read, very satisfying book. She felt that it would definitely be enjoyed most by people who are fans of Coronation Street as it gave a backstory to some well-loved characters. Although the focus is very much on Elsie Tanner at the beginning of the story, many other familiar faces make an appearance too. It gave a real insight into the person Elsie had been as a younger woman and what helped shape her into the feisty character known from her years on the programme. Just as on the tv programme, at least a few years back, there was a real sense of community in the book with everyone pulling together in times of adversity. Nowadays there is perhaps rather more violence and scandal!

If you are looking for a last minute Christmas present for a Coronation Street fan, especially one who has enjoyed it during the years when Elsie was a regular character, then this book would be ideal.

Thanks to Felicity Denham at Harper Collins for my copy of this book. It is available now in hardback and as an ebook. You can order a copy online here.