An intriguing tale of a woman whose life path was changed when she was abandoned and then rescued by. Romany woman. It's emotional and educational. A good read,

The Girl on the Doorstep is an absorbing historical novel (I was up quite late finishing it). Rosie is a friendly main character who possesses the sight. The secondary characters are equally delightful. Margy is quite a character and Sarah, Bill’s wife, is an individual that you will love to hate. I thought the book was well-written and had gentle pacing. It was interesting to find out more about the gypsy lifestyle as well as the “cut-rats”. Before trains and trucks took over transporting goods, items were shipped along the canals in England. Their boats were their whole life. It provided their livelihood as well as a place to live, entertain and raise their family. I like how the “cut-rats” looked out for each other. Life is full of ups and downs as we see in The Girl on the Doorstep which is a story about the working class. There are good life lessons presented throughout the book and I liked the variety of characters. Lindsey Hutchinson did not disappoint with The Girl on the Doorstep.

Saved from the workhouse aged 5 when her Mum dies suddenly five-year old Rosie is found and raised by Maria a Romany Gypsy.
As she grows up Rosie realises she has second sight and is able to read palms which she makes a good living out of on the Black Country waterways amongst the cut-rats canal folk.
Although having second sight means nothing if your heart rules your head and here is where Rosie struggles when she becomes embroiled in a forbidden love triangle in the pursuit of happiness.
A really informative story. I enjoyed learning of the Romany and cut-rats customs and traditions.
It was so atmospheric I could in detail visualise it all and this kept me hooked.
Such an interesting read that I would recommend.
My thanks go to the publisher, author and Netgalley in providing this arc in return for a honest review.

The Girl on the Doorstep. The title alone begs it to be read.

A story of a young girl left alone by fate and taken in to live the life of a traveler It was a story I have yet to read. I think that's why I found it so captivating as it is a story not often told.

Rosie finds herself alone at the young age of five only to be taken in by the kind-hearted Maria. Life for Rosie would be anything but easy. All she ever wanted was a home but to find it she will have to go through many heartaches.

I will say the author painted a beautiful picture fo the life of a traveler both on and off the land. The characters she created were colorful and kind. Within a few chapters, I was in love with Rosie and rooting for her to find her forever home and family. I was immediately taken in and enjoyed the ride the author took me on.

Another great part of this book even though I learned it was the fifth installment in a series of books it was a stand-alone story so even if you haven't read anything previous such as myself you will have no problem diving in and enjoying the story. It can totally be a stand-alone book.

I highly recommend getting a copy and reading this book from cover to cover. It is a story of love, friendship and finding a place you can call home.

This book had me enchanted by the characters. I built up connections with the characters and truly felt part of the story.
This is my first book by this author and will be reading the other books in the series.
If you enjoy historical romance that is simply absorbing, well written, has a cast of intriguing characters then you will adore this book.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher. This is a stunning story that had me simply enchanted by the characters and the life of the travellers. Rosie was just 5years old when her mother died of a heart attack. Alone and scared, along came Gypsy Maria Valesco, to save her from the Workhouse.

5☆ A Stunning Must Read!

THE GIRL ON THE DOORSTEP is a stunning story that had me simply enchanted by the characters and the life of the travellers.

Rosie was just 5years old when her mother died of a heart attack. Alone and scared, along came Gypsy Maria Valesco, to save her from the Workhouse.

Maria took Rosie under her wing, and taught her all about the life and culture of the Romanies.

Rosie quickly came to realise the discrimination the Romanies faced every day. But she also embraced the culture and soon became to realise that like Maria she too had 'The Sight' the ability to tell fortune.

When Rosie meets Margaret Mitchell aka Margy, who is part of “cut-rats” (the canal travellers) she senses a connection and a deep sadness, and trouble ahead for her.

Rosie finds Margy again and they soon become friends, as Margy welcomes her into the cut-rats family. Rosie settles in perfectly and soon begins to use her abilities to earn money and pay her way.

Rosie doesn't have it easy, every time she appears to be doing well, something happens. But Rosie is strong and resilient and she just keeps dusting herself off and getting back up!

I don't want to delve anymore into the story as I may give something away.

This story absolutely melted my heart.
I love reading books about the Romanie Gypsies, their beliefs and traditions.
But particularly enjoyed learning about the 'cut-rats' which I haven't yet come across before.

Lindsey Hutchinson has written a highly absorbing, Enchanting, Compelling and poignant read, that was authentic, it had romance, tragedy, drama, heartache, discrimination, tradition, loyalty, strength, friendship, fortune telling. It was heart warming, emotional, and had me hooked!

The characters were spot on! I built up connections with the characters and truly felt part of the story which I loved.

This is my first book I have read by Lindsey and I now have her on my must read list.
The Girl on the Doorstep is 5th book in the series and I am definitely going to look into the other books.

If you enjoy Historical Fiction, that has a rich Romanie storyline, that is simply absorbing, beautifully written, a cast of intriguing characters, that will have you captivated then you will adore The Girl on the Doorstep.

Slow start. The writing was great. Character development and description were great. Storyline was just not relatable or hugely interesting to me. I would definitely try other books by same author though. Some subjects just don't appeal to everyone.

The author wrote an amazing read that grabbed me from the beginning and stayed with me after I finished reading. Highly recommend!

Wow, the girl on the doorstep is an engrossing saga of yesteryears with cut rats and gypsies at it's heart. At times it felt like I was reading a story of present times.

I don't know what it was about this book but I just couldn't get into it. It was slow and I found myself hesitating to pick it back up. I actually started and finished two other books trying to get though this book. It wasn't terrible it just didn't hold my attention. The story summery sounded so promising. I was disappointed when I couldn't get through it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book In exchange for an honest review.
I'm not ashamed to say I shed a few tears in the reading of this book.

Rosie life has so much heartache yet she loved unconditionally and continues to help anyone she can .

Many of the characters show love and forgiveness and how the bonds between family are not always just blood.
It was lovely to read about the Romany gypsies lives and highlight the attitudes towards them and how their lives and traditions are changing .
The people of the waterways the "cut rats" way of life and how they looked out for eachother was heartwarming .

Several times the characters lives seemed to go full circle, their lives and futures twisted and tangled into a messy web with drama after drama. I could put it down .
A really enjoyable read.

I would like to thank the Aria editions and the Netgalley website for this partnership.

I was immediately attracted to the blanket and the catchphrase below: "All she wanted was a place called house"

Rosie left as orphan is found and taken under the wing of Maria. Life for Maria is difficult on the roads as travelers, but Rosie acclimates well. As Rosie grows older, she realizes that at second sight she can read the future in her hands. Needing to make a living, she decides to leave with the people of the canal.

I loved this book filled with suspense and twists with the endearing Rosie character and a captivating, captivating story. Look forward to reading other books by this author.

Left an orphan, five year old Rosie Harris is found and raised by Maria, a Romany gypsy. Life on the road is hard, but Rosie soon settles in with the travellers lifestyle. As she grows older, Rosie realises she has "second sight" and is able to read palms and predict the furred.

Rosie needs to earn her keep so she befriends the canal folk, known as the " cut-rats" who work the Black Country waterways. Rosie does readings for anyone who can pay for them. Margy and Abner Mitchell become good friends with Rosie and they take her under their wings when things get really bad for her. Then there is Jake Harding, the Romany bandolier who wants Rosie to marry him but Rosie has her sights set on someone else, but he's also a married man.

Things just seem to get worse for Rosie Harris. Just when things start looking up, she is quickly knocked back down again in this tale of hardships, death of loved ones, heartbreak and poverty. This book does have a happy ending though. I have only recently been aware of Lindsey Hutchinson but I'm quickly becoming a fan.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Aria and the author Lindsey Hutchinson for my ARC In exchange for an honest review.

A great read following the life of Rosie who was left alone at 5 years old when her Mum died. You get to see her grow up with the Romany’s and also the cut rats on the canals. I highly recommend this book

'Rosie was afraid, she’d heard about gypsies taking off with young children.'

Maria Valesco is a ‘dreaded’ gypsy, the sort that Rosie has been warned to fear, but as she is crying on the steps of her cottage, with a mother who ‘won’t get up’ and no father at all, Maria is her salvation. It’s either trust in the gentle, kind Gypsy or be sent to the workhouse, the harsh reality for poor orphans in the late 1800’s, England. Rosie and Maria become like mother and child, befriending the ‘cut-rats’ (people who work on canal) and are treated just as lowly as the Romany. Coming of age, learning the traditions of the Maria’s people, traveling in a caravan has been a life of love, but all that ends with a loss and Rosie finds herself dependant on the kindness of Margy and Abner Mitchell. Soon, she is living on their boat, until she can figure out what to do with her future.

Rosie has the gift of second sight, and before long word spreads and she has clients. Not everyone likes what they hear about their future, and Rosie has uncomfortable predictions for Margy too, involving a woman and her own beloved son and grandchildren. Rosie’s own love is uncertain, falling for a much older and very married man. Then there is the Jake Harding, a Romany bandolier who wants her desperately as his monashay (wife), despite discovering that she wasn’t Maria’s biological daughter, hence not a true Romany. He is dangerous, and won’t give up. The man she has fallen in love with has complications of his own, and the future of his sons are utmost in his mind, despite his growing feelings for Rosie.

The Mitchell’s daughter in law has caused them nothing but untold grief, kept them from being around their grandchildren and son with her devious lies and manipulations. I actually thought Sarah was needed in this novel, with her flaring temper. Every family seems to have that one difficult person, pulling everyone’s strings, making a mess.

With every step Rosie takes, and despite her gift of sight, things keep going wrong. While she has brought hope and friendship to the Mitchell’s, her own life seems to be under a dark cloud. Is it truly darkest before the dawn? Will Rosie have the happy ending she desperately longs for? beginning with the devastating grief of a child losing her mother and growing into a strong young woman raised by an incredible selfless gypsy, Rosie’s future couldn’t possibly end without genuine love. This is a delightful, historical fiction with characters whose lives have a lot of difficulties besides making a living. Most of them caused by other family members. What’s a love story without obstacles?

August 7, 2018

Aria

Enjoyed this very much,you will call in love with this little girl! The characters jump out at you where you will be right there! I don't like to tell the whole story of that s the case why read??

I enjoyed the rare Black Country setting full of Gypsy characters in this novel. It's a very compelling work of historical fiction. Orphaned Rose is taken in by the Gypsies. The Girl on the Doorstep chronicles her story. It's interesting but slow paced.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

This historical romance is set in the Black Country of the Midlands, during the time of the canal boats. Many would find it a bit of a snooze to read of the lives of the working poor, but their loves are as strong as any other. Rosie, our heroine, certainly has guardian angels watching out for her, as her mother has just died and the first person to come upon the weeping five-year-old is a gypsy fortune teller in her vardo, or traveling home.

The Romany value children, and rather than be sent to the workhouse, Rosie clings to her skirts and becomes her daughter. She has been dropped exactly where she can develop her own psychic abilities to the full, and with complete acceptance. For the rest of her life it is how she will make her living. When she sees the 'pictures' and feels the shiver down her spine, they will not let her rest until she has told them.

For the rest of the book, we hear about a regular soap opera of characters when at last her beloved Marie has died and her vardo is burnt around her, according to Gypsy custom. Rosie is taken in by an elderly couple of her clients upon the canal boats, the 'cut-rats'. Those who work and live upon the canals, or 'cuts', are despised nearly as much as the Gypsies by some of the land dwellers. Margy and Abner Mitchell's only son left to please his new bride by working upon the railway instead, and his bunk is empty, as are their hearts. They have never seen their twin grandsons at all.

Of course Rosie is able to tell them enough to rekindle hope for them, but try as she might, she's unable to see her own future! Yet in the end, she will be entwined into this loving family and the happy ending flows steady as the cuts themselves beneath their unfolding lives.

I would dearly wish that this author knew and used the Oxford comma. However the regional dialect is quite refreshingly seasoning the narration until it feels crass to notice the lack. Slow down your expectations for action to a pluvial pace and you will better enjoy this rather long story.

A very easy to read book, it is the tale of the "cut rats", the men and women who sail the canal picking up and delivering heavy loads of equipment for the local merchants. Included in the plot too are a band of gypsies despised and distrusted by the people of the town.
The story is related through the activities and interactions of the characters who are mostly likable, kind, and caring with each other, who meet opposition with honestly and courage. Their strength lies in their loyalty to each other. Their lives are hard as they sail through the canal and through life.
The tales of the boat men and the gypsies-rather rare, but interesting and informative reading.
If you are a historical fiction fan this is for you!