A Mersey Mile
Post-war Liverpool, and Polly Kennedy and her disabled twin brother Cal run Polly’s Parlour café in the impoverished Scotland Road. A modern government has plans to demolish the area in the name of redevelopment, and Polly is trying to motivate her community to fight to retain their homes. Her ally in this fight is local entrepreneur Frank Charleson, her landlady’s son and the widower of her best friend. The community is thrown together in shock when Father Brennan, a local priest who is both alcoholic and violent, attacks and seriously injures a child. Frank saves the child’s life, and the locals are torn between their desire for vengeance and political turmoil. Polly’s already difficult life is pulled in different directions by her devotion to her brother, her love for her community and her growing attraction to Frank. Shadows from the past and problematic family relationships haunt them.
Ruth Hamilton has written a number of popular novels set in Liverpool, and previous books have included other stories from the Scotland Road. For the new reader however, this story, though ambitious, lacks direction and the characters seem stereotypical and without depth. Historical accuracy seems to have been sacrificed to please a more modern audience. For example, there were very few lady solicitors in 1955, and it seems unlikely that Elaine would have met a client in a pub during that era as she would surely have been too worried about her professional reputation. Equally, although she has neither a father nor a husband, a colleague tells her that she will have no trouble getting a mortgage at a time when women could not get mortgages without male guarantors. These are minor points, but together with slang which is more modern than Scouse, they irritate and distract from the plot. Fans of Ruth Hamilton will probably forgive and read on, whilst others may find it hard to believe that the working class in Liverpool would not have rioted if their local ‘caff’ had served up paella!
