A Mother Forever: The warm and captivating tale of one woman's courage through hardship

Elaine Everest

Mar 2021 · Pan Macmillan

About this ebook

From the bestselling author of The Woolworths Girls, Elaine Everest, this is the moving story of one woman's journey through the hardest trials of her life – and how the love of friends and family will pull her through. This is the tale of Ruby, and how it all began . . .

1905: Ruby Caselton may only be twenty-five years old but she already has the weight of the world on her shoulders. Heavily pregnant with her second child, penniless and exhausted, she is moving her family into a new home. The Caseltons left their last place when they couldn’t pay the rent, but Ruby’s husband Eddie has promised this will be a fresh start for them all. And Ruby desperately hopes that this time he will keep his word.

With five-year-old George at her feet and her mother having a cross word for everyone and everything, life is never dull at number thirteen Alexandra Road. It doesn’t take long before Eddie loses another job and once again hits the bottle. It’s up to Ruby to hold them all together, through thick and thin. She remembers the kind, caring man Eddie once was and just can’t give up on him entirely. What she doesn’t know is that Eddie has a secret, one so dark that he can’t bear to tell even Ruby . . .

Through Ruby’s grit and determination, she keeps food on the table and finds herself a community of neighbours on Alexandra Road. Stella, the matriarch from across the way, soon becomes a friend and confidante. She even dreams that Ruby will ditch the useless Eddie and take up with her eldest son, Frank. But when war breaks out in 1914, the heartbreaks and losses that follow will fracture their community, driving both Stella and Ruby to breaking point. Will their men ever return to them?

'A warm, tender tale of friendship and love' – Milly Johnson on The Woolworths Girls

A prequel to The Woolworths Girls, A Mother Forever can also be read as a compelling novel in its own right.

Ratings and reviews

Another wonderful novel from the pen (laptop?) of Elaine Everest. As Ruby arrives at her new home with her five year old son and her mother in tow, she hopes that this will be a house they can settle in. Having had to do many a moonlight flit due to unpaid rent, she needs her husband Eddie to knuckle down and stop losing jobs. As he turns to drink more and more, it falls to Ruby to provide for the family on her own. She can't quite turn her back on Eddie though - she remembers his gentle, loving nature when they first met and keeps hoping that version will appear again one day. Making good friends with neighbours and being able to depend on that friendship keeps Ruby moving forward; her friend Stella hopes that one day Ruby and her eldest, Frank, will make a go of things. Then comes the outbreak of war in 1914 and things will never be the same again for families - and friends. It's an uncertain life for the women waiting at home for the men who went to war. I always know I'm in for a good, well-researched read when I being a book by this author, and this one is no different. I was interested to discover that this is a prequel to The Woolworth Girls as that is one I haven't managed to fit into my list (yet). Ruby comes across as a strong woman at a time when Britain depended on strong women to keep the home fires burning, look after children, elderly parents, do their bit for the war by volunteering AND go out to work! This is an enthralling story of a woman who doesn't need to search for her sorrows yet digs her heels in and does anything and everything she can to stay in the home she loves. Deftly written with a fine cast of believable characters and scenarios, there is never a dull moment; everyone's lives are cleverly entwined and there is always something to grab the reader's attention. I particularly like that by the final word, every thread is neatly tied off leaving nothing to play on my mind. If you don't normally read the author's notes before and after the story, I would urge you to do so with this one - there are some very adroit points which can only add to the reader's experience. An excellent novel which I'm happy to recommend and give 4.5*.

About the author

Elaine Everest, author of bestselling novels The Woolworths Girls, The Butlins Girls, Christmas at Woolworths and Wartime at Woolworths, was born and brought up in north-west Kent, where many of her books are set. She has been a freelance writer for twenty years and has written widely for women’s magazines and national newspapers, both short stories and features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led to her broadcasting on radio about our four-legged friends. Elaine has been heard discussing many topics on radio, from canine subjects to living with a husband under her feet when redundancy looms.

When she isn’t writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school in Hextable, Kent, and has a long list of published students.

Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent, and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, the Crime Writers’ Association, the Society of Women Writers and Journalists, and the Society of Authors.