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Beyond the Crushing Waves

By: Bronwen Pratley
Narrated by: Melissa Chambers
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Summary

Two generations face heartbreak and injustice in this poignant and emotional novel inspired by true events.

Mary Roberts is an impoverished child living in a council flat in 1950s London. When she and her sister are left at an orphanage by their mother, they don't think their lives can get any worse.

Harry Evans is an orphan who finds himself, with Mary and her sister, on board a ship bound for Australia. They're sent to a farm school for children, where abuse and neglect are rife. A journey that will change their lives forever and from which they’ll never return.

Married to her dream man, and with a baby on the way, Dr. Mia Sato’s life is in perfect order. When her beloved grandmother has a fall, the photograph clutched in her hand prompts Mia to ask questions her grandmother isn’t willing to answer. When she cries out a confession that rocks Mia to her core, it leads to a shocking discovery of a past filled with lies, broken families, and forced child migration.

Based on one of Britain's most secret and shameful real-life scandals in which more than 100,000 British children were forcibly deported to Canada, South Africa, and Australia over several decades.

Bronwen Pratley’s heartbreaking, captivating, and ultimately uplifting tale reminds us that no matter where the journey leads us, our heart will always find its way home to those we love.

For fans of Before We Were Yours and Where the Crawdad Sings.

This book was previously published under the author name Lilly Mirren.

©2021 Bronwen Pratley (P)2022 Black Lab Press
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Audio page turner

From start to finish, a gripping story about poor or orphaned children sent to work on Australian Farms via a charitable Farm School. I liked how the author moved seamlessly from present-day to past events - skillfully achieved. My only issue was a few historical queries - such as Mary's mother keeping her off school to look after her sister. This was 1953, and I think the local authority would have been chasing or even prosecuting parents who failed to send their children to school in that year. Still, never mind, the character of Mary's mother was still very believable!

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