Tiger Bay Blues

Written by Catrin Collier

 

Summer, 1930. At her sister’s wedding, Edyth Evans is strongly attracted to the handsome young curate, Peter Slater. Soon, they are “courting” despite her parents’ reservations. When Peter is offered the parish in Cardiff’s Tiger Bay on the condition that he has a wife, Edyth rashly defies her concerned family, leaves college and marries him. But Peter’s behaviour is strange. Within a few unhappy weeks, her safe world is turned upside down and she learns why her parents opposed the marriage.

Very slow getting started, but things pick up once the Slaters arrive at the Vicarage. If Peter’s secret is a little too predictable, the solution is handled with flair. Multi-racial Tiger Bay is colourfully drawn and almost a character in itself. In this first novel of a series, Collier makes us care about Edyth as she painfully matures.