I had a hard time really enjoying this. I just could not find much interest with the main character. The premise sounded good, but it did not deliver as i had hoped.

2.5 stars.

I very much enjoyed this book. It has a good story and excellent main characters. I would definately recommend this book.

Manchester - 1908

Mary Maitland, age 23, has worked at the Town Hall for 5 years. She is a very efficient worker and trains young men for higher jobs there. She has just been turned down for the 6th time for a promotion. Her boss told her she is too valuable as a trainer to promote her. Men need jobs and she will probably marry one day. Furious, she applies at an employment agency for women. Mary is hired by the agency itself as they need someone with her skills to keep things running. Mary also writes articles for different publications under a pen name. As she lives with her parents, she finds her father a strict man and she must follow his rules.

Greg Rawley inherited money from his wealthy parents that he blew through quickly. Now, he has just inherited from his uncle and needs that money to pay for his gambling debts. However, the inheritance of his uncle’s home comes with the man’s elderly sister, Helen Rawley. Now, Greg must accept that Helen will remain in the house where she has always lived until her passing. They both must abide by various stipulations set up by his deceased uncle and mediated by the man’s physician, Nathaniel Brewer.

Mary must face many setbacks in her life that appear to be instigated by the wealthy and aristocratic Kimber family. But when she charms the son and heir, Charlie Kimber, his family is shocked when he marries her. But their marriage is not to last for Charlie is an immature and spoiled young man. Once again, Mary faces humiliation in her life.

This story is an example of the ways in which young women of the time period were treated. They lacked rights in so many ways and always had to bow to the wishes of men and their social betters.

I admit that I had a difficult time getting into this book as it took awhile for me to find empathy for Mary. I also found that she seemed to be the receiver of many misfortunes, the number of which appeared to be excessive. I stuck with the book and feel that it ended up being a nice little story.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Poor Relation is a excellent historical novel. The characters are interesting and the storyline is entertaining.Well written.

A great historical fiction full of emotions, drama, twists and turns.
I liked the well written cast of characters, the well researched historical background and the gripping and entertaining plot.
Some parts were hard to read with our contemporary sensibility but it was informative and thought provoking.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

1908 England must have been a very tough time for females. Subservient to either husbands or fathers, governed by outlandish ideas of knowing your place in society and not trying to rise above it which was obviously a cardinal sin is not easy when you know you are capable of doing better and are more intelligent than most of the men around you.

Mary was a clerk at the local council office but she was never going to get promoted even though her boss considered her a treasure. The boys who were inane and silly kept on getting promoted till finally she took matters into her own hands and found a job. Convincing her father that it was a respectable job was one matter but also trying not to annoy the family that they were connected to and who were the big wigs in the town they lived was harder to manage.

Mary's life went from hard to harder to downright unfair and crushing. That she was able to come out of it with her head held high, and to maintain her happy spirit showed courage and considerable determination. With very little support from family, she finds support from an unlikely outsider who sees herself in the young woman and is determined to help her sort out her life.

It was a hard read for someone living in present times to even accept the total unfairness of what was dealt out to women at the time. A well written story with rounded characters and a very good story line set in Manchester.

So well written emotional moving a true page turner.The author writes beautifully the characters come alive .Highly recommend.#netgalley#allisonbusby

Loved this book loved the characters. The author has given great attention to detail in the research of writing this book.. Loved the roller coaster of emotions. Would definitely recommend this book. Thankyou to the author and also net galley for the opportunity to read this book. Loved it

Enjoyable story from Susanna Bavin. Good research and period detail. I liked the characters and the setting. Mary Maitland is a great heroine and full of spirit.