Judith Lennox — Middlemere

Macmillan 2003 Hardback, 502pp. In 1942, after half a century of farming Middlemere, their isolated tenant farm, the Cole family are to be evicted from their home. While Martha Cole and her young son Jem have fled the house, her husband, Sam, and their daughter, Romy are hiding inside barricading themselves against intruders. When Sam brandishes a shotgun, the police are called in, and nine year old Romy sees her father shot dead. Years later, Martha Cole has remarried and lives with her family in a small council house. Romy, now nineteen, is quick and clever, passionate and single-minded. She schemes to restore the family fortunes, to rescue her mother from drudgery and to care for her younger brother, Jem, a charming scoundrel who is always in trouble. She remembers Middlemere with longing, comparing its peace and beauty to her present surroundings. She has never forgotten - or forgiven - the violence and injustice of her family's eviction. DJ; Heavy. (ISBN: 9780333900574). Very Good.