Forgiven by Ruth Sutton

A powerful novel of guilt, truth, and the long reach of the past

Very Good Condition – light shelf wear with minor creasing to the cover edges. Pages are clean and bright, binding is tight, and the book presents well overall.

Forgiven continues the story of Jessie Whelan, an independent Cumbrian woman with a secret past, in the aftermath of World War 2. Before the war, in the first part of the trilogy, Jessie had learned to be a ‘A Good Liar’, struggling to hang on to her job as a teacher during the economic depression of the 1930s, and embarking on a risky affair with a much younger man. Now we find her still struggling, this time against local men returning from active war service who resent both her job and her occupation of the schoolhouse.
In the meantime, Jessie and her secret son are still not reconciled. John is older and more confident, creating a successful life for himself in the hazardous coalmines of West Cumberland. He falls in love with a young war widow, but the road to marriage is a bumpy one, complicated by secrets and religious disagreements. Through the fierce winter of 1947 Jessie and her son both have difficult decisions to make about their futures, while the mining community of Whitehaven faces disaster. It is almost the end of an era, as coal gives way to the dawn of nuclear power.

Forgiven, like ‘A Good Liar’ (Part 1 of ‘Between the Mountains and the Sea’) offers an authentic and moving account of this unique part of England in the middle of the last century. The characters are strong, complex and engaging, and their stories told with conviction. They may make you smile; they may even make you cry. You will not forget them.