A Shop Girl at Sea by Rachel Brimble #Review #Pennington'sBk4

We return to Pennington's Department store for this Edwardian Romance / Family Saga. You can read my reviews of books found earlier in the series here: A Rebel at Pennington's   |  The Mistress of Pennington's   |  Christmas at Pennington's 

Bath, 1912.

Amelia Wakefield loves working at Pennington's, Bath's finest department store. An escape from her traumatic past, it saved her life. So when Miss Pennington sets her a task to set sail on the Titanic and study the department stores of New York, she couldn't be more excited –or determined!

Frustrated with his life at home,Samuel Murphy longs for a few weeks of freedom and adventure. Meeting Amelia on board theTitanic, Samuel can't help wonder what painful history has made the beauty so reserved. But he already has too many responsibilities for love.

Ruby Taylor has always kept her Pennington co-workers at a distance. Making sure her little brother is safe has always been her priority. But when that means accepting Victoria Lark's offer of sanctuary, more than one of Ruby's secrets is under threat of being revealed...

A riveting and uplifting saga, perfect for fans of Elaine Everest and Fiona Ford

My Thoughts

The latest in the Pennington's series continues to bring you historical accuracy, period details, some astute social commentary, some familiar characters and not one but two romances. It is what you could call, good value as a read! The pre-war period is described through the daily life in the Department Store as it continues to change with the times. It is an ingenious idea to weave storylines based in Bath with the famous and ill-fated maiden voyage of the Titanic.The class system in place on the ship is fascinating. Women's lives and the power they often do not feel they have over their own destiny are explored through Ruby and Amelia's stories.

    Both Ruby and Amelia are determined and ambitious young women with some harsh parts of their home lives which they want to break free from. There are aspects of their lives which they have to come to terms with. The contrast between the established English life in Bath and the new, up and coming pioneers of the United States is a clever one. There is plenty to enjoy in the fourth in the series and it benefits from part of the story being away from Bath. Not all the characters are likeable but they all have a part to play in the story and you learn a lot about Ruby, Amelia and Samuel's characters by how they react towards them.

In short: Edwardian society at all levels meets at Pennington's.

About the Author

Rachel Brimble lives in Wiltshire with her husband of twenty years, two teenage daughters and her beloved chocolate Labrador, Tyler. Multi-published in the US, she is thrilled to have a new beginning writing for Aria in the UK. When Rachel isn’t writing, she enjoys reading across the genres, knitting and walking the English countryside with her family...often stopping off at a country pub for lunch and a chilled glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

  

You can follow Rachel here:|   Website  |  Blog   |  Twitter 

                |  Instagram  |  Bookbub

Book links:  Amazon Author Page   |  Goodreads Author Page

Amazon UK    |   Google Play  |  Kobo   | iBooks  

Aria links: Website  |  Twitter   |  Fiction   |  Instagram 

  

Thanks to Rachel Brimble and Victoria Joss for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.

                                      Be sure to check out the rest of the tour!