Tiger Bay Blues - Hardcover

Collier, Catrin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0752867024 ISBN 13: 9780752867021

Publisher: Orion, 2006

Synopsis

Pontypridd 1930 - At eighteen Edyth is the 'plain, intelligent' one of Harry and Sali Evans's five daughters. Until a chance meeting with handsome curate Peter Slater throws her life into turmoil. Head over heels in love, she sacrifices her own ambitions of a college education and career, and defies her parents' opposition so she can help Peter realise his dream of running his own parish.

The church sends Peter to Butetown, a multi-racial dockland area of Cardiff, commonly known as Tiger Bay. There Edyth and Peter encounter rich cultures from all corners of the world that flourish even in the depression ridden conditions of desperate poverty. It is a society where creed, language and the colour of a family's skin doesn't matter - as long as the borders that separate Tiger Bay from the city aren't crossed.
And there Edyth discovers exactly why her parents were so opposed to her marriage. Peter has a dark secret that has not only blighted his life but also hers. A secret that threatens to destroy her love and, ultimately their marriage.

In Tiger Bay she finds out - too late - the difference between true love and infatuation. She experiences the heartbreak that stems from being unable to acknowledge the one man she has come to recognise as the great love of her life.

About this title

Review:

Catrin Collier has written an absorbing love story with a difference. Peter, a handsome, attractive, kindly, loving curate, has a `dark secret' which threatens his relationship with Edyth, who falls deeply in love with him at first sight. Having just left school, she ditches all her plans to have a career, and defies her parents and family to marry Peter. (The Bishop has insisted that Peter should marry before he can be considered as suitable to have his own parish.) Once they are engaged, Peter is posted to Tiger Bay in Cardiff Docks, a famous cosmopolitan quarter of the City. On her first day at college in Swansea, Edyth absconds to pay a surprise visit to Peter in Tiger Bay. Arriving late at night she is subjected to some terrifying experiences before being rescued in the police station by a Lutheran pastor who becomes a friend, and is best man when she marries Peter. Although baffled by Peter's changing moods and his relationship with his mother, who schemes to move into their home in Tiger Bay, Edyth learns to love the culture and people of the colourful, multi-ethnic Bay. Increasingly unhappy with her home life, she becomes more involved with the social life of her neighbours. Readers will be engrossed by the mystery of Peter's secret and his ambivalent behaviour towards Edyth, whom he truly loves. Catrin Collier tackles a difficult topic with sensitivity and understanding. There are many linked stories relating to Edyth's family (her father is a Labour MP) and the diverse people she meets in Tiger Bay, so the story races along. Because it is so well written and easy to read, I found I was reading it well into the night. A very different romance. -- Beryl Thomas * www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council. *

Book Description:

A stunning novel in a new series from one of Britain's best saga writers.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0752867024
• ISBN 13: 9780752867021
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416