I was left in two frames of mind about this book, I loved the look of it and the back blurb intrigued me and made me want to pick it up and read and then I started reading and despite the story being wonderfully engaging and highly emotional, I felt it went on way too long, at times it was it like like a chore to read and then other times I was gripped. I can't explain properly as I said two frames of mind about it. I liked the concept of the story and I loved the era and the settling and that the characters are very real and relatable but I had issues with the length and the pacing, it felt way too slow. Saga's for me have always been hit and miss I love them but if the pacing is wrong then it ruins the overall enjoyment of the story which is what happened here.
Great story there is lots to love about it but it needs work long the length and pacing!

Cally Manfield is only eight when her mother Ada dies in childbirth, her father George is a coal miner at Calthorpe Colliery and the general strike has just ended. When, Cally really needs her father's attention, he becomes involved with his sister-in-law Annie and he’s forced to marry her. Annie's a spiteful woman, she hates Cally and makes her life absolutely miserable. She lies to Cally, informs her that her dad doesn’t want her to live at home anymore, and sends her off to work as a maid.

Cally works hard, the owner has wondering hands and she's forced to leave. At fourteen Cally’s on her own, the girl who once dreamed of getting a grammar school scholarship, and is now homeless. A kindly couple Dolly and Henry Brook give her a job working in their pub, and she learns a lot about the hospitality industry from them. Mary and Sykes Balmforth, want to open a country house hotel in the Colne Valley, they offer Cally a job, it’s a huge success and Cally finally has stability she's wanted.

She keeps in contact with her father George, Annie doesn’t change her ways and he had no idea what his horrible wife had done to his eldest daughter. Cally marries Red Blackstone, they start a family and she continues to work at the hotel. With the threat of war looming, Cally and Red struggle to get over a terrible loss and the last thing Cally wants is to be trapped in a unhappy marriage like her father.

The Child From the Ash Pits is a story that spans two decades, about a girl who grew up in poverty, forced to sit outside in the cold by her evil step-mother, despite hardship and constant setbacks, it's amazing what she has accomplished, and her father is very proud of her. I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, if you like a long historical saga, I highly recommend reading this book, and four stars from me.

Did not finish this one and am so very sorry. I hope to get back into it eventually.
It sounds good but it was not holding my interest at the time and thus I forgot about it.

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I hope to have a new review when I do get back to it and finish it.

The Child from the Ash Pits, Chrissie Walsh describes this so beautifully. Poor Cally, the trials that befall her.
You read thinking she’s found someone who cares about her when everything goes wrong. After an unhappy childhood then making friends only to be met with the demon employer. Then the employer who’s everything she could wish for. I found my self reading on feeling anxious for her. Then she meets Red how will this turn out? I fully recommend this and it definitely deserves 5 stars.
My favourite part was the authors description of their relationship, reading it and thinking how true..

The Child from the Ash Pits by Chrissie Walsh takes us back in time to 1926. Cally Manfield is nine years old when her mother passes away and her life changes forever. The Child from the Ash Pits takes us from 1926 through the end of World War II. Despite her humble beginnings, Cally was determined to get ahead. There were numerous obstacles put in her path. Cally had a horrible stepmother who intensely disliked her and a father who failed to stand up for her. She is intelligent and worked diligently on her studies. Cally is tested throughout her whole life, but she perseveres thanks to her strength and determination. A saying of her mother’s guides Cally. It is “Happiness doesn’t find you; you make your own.” The beginning is incredibly heartbreaking (have a box of tissues nearby). We get to see what it was like living in the shadow of the mines. The air, the filth, and the incredible danger. I found The Child from the Ash Pits to be well-written and the story moved along at an even pace. The characters were developed and suited the time period. I thought the author captured what it was like to live during this era. I do want to let readers know that there is violence in the story along with foul language (a sprinkling). The Child from the Ash Pits is a story that will linger with you long after you finish it. The Child from the Ash Pits is a heart-rending tale with coal calamities, flashy floozies, handsy humans, terrible travesties, and a sympathetic soul.

Gritty, gutsy and written straight from the heart, The Child from the Ash Pits by Chrissie Walsh is saga writing at its best. An outstanding tale of joy, sorrow, survival and the ties that bind, The Child from the Ash Pits continues to affirm Chrissie Walsh’s position as one of the genre’s fastest rising stars.

In the aftermath of the General Strike, life is anything but easy for the coal miners and their families. Poverty, anguish and despair are constant companions to this community struggling to survive and to keep their loved ones fed, clothed and safe. Poor Cally not only has to contend with starvation and certain destitution, but with the heart-breaking loss of her beloved mother. Cally hopes that her father will protect her and comfort her during this difficult time, but when rather than be there for her, her father finds solace in another woman’s arms who becomes a vengeful stepmother to young Cally, the determined young girl realises that she is completely on her own.

Life in the early twentieth century was tough, but for a girl all on her own, it is a scary and unforgiving place where danger lurks round every corner. Still, Cally refuses to be deterred. She will not give up until she finds somewhere she belongs and a place she can finally call home. However, her path to fulfilment and safety is going to be fraught with jeopardy and menace. Hard work and determination see Cally through the harshest and most desperate of times, but with the fast approaching clouds of the Second World War, Cally wonders whether she is about to lose everything all over again…

The Child from the Ash Pits would make for a fabulous Sunday night drama! Chrissie Walsh is a sensational storyteller who has penned a first class saga that has at its heart a terrific heroine who is independent, courageous, brave and somebody readers cannot help but admire and cheer for. Chrissie Walsh deftly manages to juggle searing emotional drama with humour, warmth and heart leaving readers on the edge of their seat and entranced from start to finish.

Saga fans looking for their next favourite author need look no further than Chrissie Walsh, a writer who is certainly more than a match for Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin.

I’m starting off saying that I really loved this book. A lot.

Cally growing up had it very hard as a miners daughter and later no mom. Her dad struggled.
She later had a “wicked stepmother” to contend with.

I thought her dad at the beginning a very weak and fluid man who got himself into such a pickle he took the easier way out. But then I reminded myself it’s not based around the 20th Century, so of course certain things would be viewed and understood differently.

Later though, as he aged and Cally got older, stronger despite all the hardship and experiences she went through after being ousted out of the family home, he actually came into the light as a better person. To me and for Cally.

Not all is good for Cally, even her stepsister betrays her later in life.

The characters within this stood out a great deal. Each with her own or his own makeup and characteristics.

Cally s husband Red. Later in the book he appealed to me much more.

I took some morals from this story which I think many will see once they read this.

There’s plenty to think about, I’m thinking, communication of feelings, wants, hopes and dreams in your marriage and helping each other to achieve that and support each other.

True friends around you who have your best interests at heart and tell you “as it is”.

I loved this book so much.

If you chose to read it, I hope you do too.

Chrissie Walsh's historical fiction is like opening a door to the past. I felt like a spectator of the time and the tone, mood and atmosphere was captured to perfection. The narrative pulled me straight into a captivating world and the story that played out on the pages was both heartbreaking and bewitching in turn.

We first meet Cally from a rather young age and the story follows her life over the subsequent years. This life is certainly one that has seen hardship and cruelty and my heart went out to her with the turn of each and every page. Chrissie has a way of shaping and designing characters to vivid proportions and the cast came alive in true glory to create a, true to the times, tale that had me hooked from start to finish.

The narrative spanned many decades as we witnessed Cally grow and mature. The writing continually engaged my attention and kept me right at the heart of the story and I lived for each and every moment. Life is never a walk in the park and trials and tribulations are sent to try us, but Cally rode each storm and learned from each and every mistake. It was an absolute pleasure to watch her grow into the intelligent, brave and loving woman we see in the concluding pages of this fascinating book.

The Child from the Ash Pits is a truly engaging and heart-rending book that will captivate your heart and soul and leave you wanting more. Yet another fabulous creation for fans of historical fiction.

Cally is just a girl when her mother dies whilst she was still carrying her unborn baby. Cally had a strong bond with her father. But her father is a weak man, he couldn't resist the temptation of his sister-in-law. So when he finds out he has put her in the family way, he does the right thing and marries her. But she is an evil stepmother and on Cally's fourteenth birthday, she throws her out of the family home. She sends her to a house to work for a master who is quite happy to take advantage of young girls. Ut Cally escapes and is eventually taken in by by a couple who own a pub. This is where Cally's luck changes. She event5meets the man of her dreams, but does he live up to them? There is more heartbreak for Cally and her husband . Is the marriage strong enough to survive?

This story starts in 1926 and goes all the way through to World War II. It tells of the hardships of working I the coal mines, the general strike and the hardships of World War II. It alsomcovers what the loss of a child an do to a famil l loved and felt sorry for Cally. She was just seven years old when her mother passed away and her dad took a new wife. Cally's husband, Red had no backbone and liked idle his time away doing odd jobs for people. Cally is the bread winner. The story is well crafted and written. I was quickly pulled into this story and I did not want to put the book down. I will certainly be looking out for more from this author in future I highly recommendthis book. Fans of historical fiction will love it.

I would like to thank Netgalley, Aria and the author Chrissie Walsh for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Your Life is What You Make it.

This book is a testament to the courage of women for standing up for themselves in impossible conditions and being able to go on with life.

The book starts with Cally, a 7 year old in a small mining community. It starts with the death of her mother and ends with the death of her father. As she goes through life she is forced to grow up young and to defend herself from those that would mean her harm. The emotional harm her uncaring stepmother does with her mean ways stays with Cally most of her life.

Cally manages to finally find a job where she can be happy, she falls in love and marries. Two children later her marriage is troubled. Her husband refuses to grow up and take responsibility for anything, she is totally absorbed in her job and has no time for him. The death of her son sends both of them spiraling into a world of grief, each blaming the other. Eventually with the coming of WWII and the troubles it brings her husband Red enlists and becomes a man and Cally pulls out of her grief and realizes her shortcomings.

It is a story of sadness, of love, of a woman standing up for herself in a world where women's word wasn't taken to mean much. Cally had courage, she had failings and she had love. She loved her father, but never did reconcile with the stepmother that was so cruel to her.

The book is very well written, I love the characters, especially the character of Cally and Mary. It was a good book to read and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Chrissie Walsh, Aria Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review and advance copy of the book.

An amazing story of a young girl's powerful story of survival and resilience!

This is a truly an incredible historical fiction that had me rooting for Caroline “Cally’ right from the start. Cally’s life begins with such an emotional hardship when her mother and unborn sibling dies, when she witnesses her father’s indiscretions, and when she experiences having a step mother who hates her to the core. In her growing years, she yearns for the love of her parent. However, her father buried in his own guilt and grief was not able to provide any love or attention she needed and craved. Worse yet, as she buried herself in doing well in school she was denied by her step-mother the opportunity to further her studies. Instead, her step-mother sends her away to work in a home where the master is known to take advantage of young women.

The story goes through history from 1926 through WWII, and the hardships of the laborers in the mine, the country and the injured soldiers. As the saga of Cally’s life continues, we see her through her marriage and family, her life continues to be tested. But because of Cally’s strength and resilience we are rewarded with a satisfying story where difficulties and challenges are a part of life.

Walsh is an exceptional storyteller that has brilliantly delivered an amazing life story of how a girl finds her way and picks herself up from the ash pits.

I'm very fond of a good historical saga, and this ticks all the boxes; poverty, hardship, a world war, all the obstacles put in Cally's way and one very determined young lady!

Cally is just a young child, but she understands things way beyond her years when her mother dies. Despite the obvious love between her and her father, Cally suffers even more in life and has to fight to survive against a cruel and uncaring stepmother. Her life is never easy, but Cally never loses her belief that if she works hard there is better to be had. This is her story.

My first read by Chrissie Walsh and I admit to being quite shocked that this is only her second novel - she writes like a much more experienced author, and the substance of this novel reminds me of such greats as Catherine Cookson and Josephine Cox. Chrissie spins a fantastic tale .. beautifully created, well-written and with a really good storyline which got me into the book very quickly and kept my full attention to the very end. Definitely a new fan here, and I'll be keeping an eye out for future releases and - hopefully -  somewhere along the way managing to read The Girl from the Mill, her debut novel. I couldn't fault anything about this second book and so enjoyed it! Absolutely worth a full five stars.

My thanks to publisher Aria for my copy via NetGalley, and particularly to Vicky Joss for my spot in this blog tour. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

Chrissie Walsh's writing has brought her characters to life in this story of poverty and struggles to survive. The main character,Cally, definitely goes through some hard times but she is determined! This book brought me to tears and delight. Well written.

Wowzer,Cally certainly rose from the ashpit. A book that's heart breaking along with some laughter. From an extremely devastating chikdhood ,Cally faced many obstacles from devastating loss to many changes in her life. A must must read. I cannot wait for many more books from this author.

Beginning in the 1920s and going through to the end of WWII, This is a story with a harsh beginning. Part one was explicit in many areas but Part two was full of new beginnings, hope, loss, love and happiness. The story felt real and raw and relatable, because not everyone’s life is easy from the start. 
 

Cally is the daughter of a coal miner. Her youth is full of abuse, and her life is riddled with hardships. As the story goes on, Cally is able to find the happiness and love that was lacking in her early life when she moves to Copley House.

The Child from the Ash Pits is an emotional story well worth the read.

Thank you NetGalley and Aria for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed The Child from the Ash Pits. It is a good family saga, with lots of emotion and depth. The descriptions of the time is excellent and the characters stand out from the page. The plot is well developed and realistic of the era. Very good!

This is the first book I've read by this author but won't be the last, was such a warm and wonderful read that takes you through a journey of life, death, love, growth and acceptance, absolutely brilliant read, devoured in one sitting but the characters will be with me a while longer.

A very emotional story of Cally and the loss of her mother and what comes next.Hoping for comfort and protection from her father she is devistated when she gets a stepmother.A nasty vengeful woman soon has cally facing life alone.well worth 5*

I really loved this book but historical fiction is my favourite genre
It is a very well written book with likeable characters
The pace of the book is perfect and it has a good storyline
An excellent page turner

I really enjoyed this book and read it in one sitting. Great characters and a great plot line. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.