The Scarlet Sisters

p>i>‘Oh my goodness – another girl Mrs Swain!’br> Clara’s normal iron composure broke and she screamed, ‘No! That’s not the bloody deal!’br>/i>i>And that is how my nanna, Bertha Swain, entered the world./i>br>br>When Helen Batten’s marriage breaks down, she starts on a journey of discovery into her family’s past and the mysteries surrounding her enigmatic nanna’s early life.br>br> What she unearths is a tale of five feisty red heads struggling to climb out of poverty and find love through two world wars. It’s a story full of surprises and scandal – a death in a workhouse, a son kept in a box, a shameful war record, a clandestine marriage and children taken far too soon. It’s as if there is a family curse.br>br> But Helen also finds love, resilience and hope – crazy wagers, late night Charlestons and stolen kisses. As she unravels the story of Nanna and her scarlet sisters, Helen starts to break the spell of the past, and sees a way she might herself find love again./p> p>i>‘Oh my goodness – another girl Mrs Swain!’br> Clara’s normal iron composure broke and she screamed, ‘No! That’s not the bloody deal!’br>/i>i>And that is how my nanna, Bertha Swain, entered the world./i>br>br>When Helen Batten’s marriage breaks down, she starts on a journey of discovery into her family’s past and the mysteries surrounding her enigmatic nanna’s early life.br>br> What she unearths is a tale of five feisty red heads struggling to climb out of poverty and find love through two world wars. It’s a story full of surprises and scandal – a death in a workhouse, a son kept in a box, a shameful war record, a clandestine marriage and children taken far too soon. It’s as if there is a family curse.br>br> But Helen also finds love, resilience and hope – crazy wagers, late night Charlestons and stolen kisses. As she unravels the story of Nanna and her scarlet sisters, Helen starts to break the spell of the past, and sees a way she might herself find love again./p>