The final story in the Moving Times trilogy. After the hardships of the 50s, how will any of Ruth's family experience the new freedoms of the swinging 60s
Throughout the years that Veritas has spent trying to rear me, there's one essential truth she's always stuck to. 'Love is stronger than mountains.' My mother's name meant truth. But could any of us trust her to tell the truth about our family '
Can Ruth and her sister Mary discover lasting love for themselves amid the chaos of their large bohemian family And what about their eccentric mother Could they find a new love for her too After the hardships of the 50s, how will any of them experience the new freedoms of the swinging 60s As Ruth stands at the altar promising love to a young man till the end of life, under her breath she makes a vow: to set down everything of the past, the reality of a girlhood constantly touched by sadness, yet always profoundly secure.
BLOOM OF YOUTH 'funny, with a melancholy edge and the advantage of an underexplored setting: the 50s rural bohemian-shabby-genteel ... There are two more books in the series to come. I shall read them avidly. - The Guardian, 2nd October 1999
sad, funny, ironic, thoughtful and entertaining. The writing is wonderful - School Librarian, v.48, no.4, Winter 2000
an evocative trilogy - TES, 5th May 2000
THE WAR ORPHAN 'a rare and truthful book' - Books for your children
BLACKTHORN, WHITETHORN ' there's a personal, original vision here involving and impressive' - Philip Pullman, The Guardian