The Family Line

It is the end of a working day on a cold, wet Saturday evening in 1894 in the small seaside town of Southend-on-Sea. All the staff in the bed shop, save the manager, Tom, and his girlfriend Emily, have gone home. An elegant bed arrived earlier in the day, tempting them to lay on it, to feel what a posh bed is really like. The couple cannot resist, and make love for the first time, knowing their wedding is only a week away. Yet within three days Emily's world is turned upside down. So begins the saga that follows a poor working class family as they cope with two world wars, the depression, and changing fortunes. The story ends in 2008 when the family is prosperous and well educated. From the trenches on the Somme, dog-fights over Britain, love affairs, life at the Royal Naval College, to romance in the USA, the novel sweeps over the life of one family and secrets that are never revealed.