A Good Week for The Surplus Girls' Orphans

It's been a very happy week following the publication of The Surplus Girls' Orphans on January 7th. Early reviews are saying . . . .

"This is another brilliant storyline that centres around the women after the war and the expectations that were placed on them by their family and society, no matter what their own hopes and dreams were!"

"This is a book which has completely engaged me and I really have felt as though I have been right there with the characters."

"I am totally in love with these books. I love the characters. Molly is such a sweetie and doesn't let anything stop her or hold her back. Such an inspiration. I loved the 'will they won't they' moments with Aaron. It was nice to see a few characters from the first book and see a softer side to them. Beautifully written, uplifting with lots of charm. I can't wait for the next book."

Many thanks to all the reviewers who have shared their thoughts about the book.

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Last week, I promised that today I'd share my list of Reading Group questions for The Surplus Girls' Orphans, but before we get to that, may I share another couple of pieces of news?

For those of you who are Kobo readers, The Surplus Girls' Orphans is one of Kobo's Books of the Month in its Romance section.   Here's the link: https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/the-surplus-girls-orphans

And the book is also doing well on Amazon. Here it is in the Hot New Releases chart for Coming of Age fiction.

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And now (big fanfare) we finally come to the promised questions for your Reading Groups. I hope you find them interesting and that they add to your enjoyment of the story.

The Surplus Girls’ Orphans

1. Do you think Molly is happy at the start of the book? Does Molly think she is happy? What compromises has she had to make?

2. Why is Norris generally seen as good husband material? How do you think Norris views himself? How does he view Molly and their relationship?

3. In the first book, Patience Hesketh was a viewpoint character, ie part of the story was seen through her eyes and her experiences. What difference does it make to this book to have Prudence Hesketh as a viewpoint character? Has it changed your opinion of Prudence?

4. If you have read the first book, what was your opinion of Lawrence Hesketh then? What have you learned about him in this book through what happens to Lucy?

5. What do Vivienne and Molly see in one another that makes them become friends?

6. Is Molly right to take Danny to Southport to see his dad? Why/why not? Is Mrs Rostron right to dismiss her?

7. After living under his brother Thad’s thumb, is it inevitable that Jacob won’t get free of Shirl? Is Jacob a natural victim or is he just unlucky?

8. How does the bond grow between Danny and Aaron?

9. In what ways is the theme of ‘family’ explored in the story?

10. In what ways is the theme of ‘independence’ explored?

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That's all for this week. I'm hoping that there will be a lovely sunny day in the next few days so that next week I can share one of my lockdown walks with you.

Something else to look forward to, at the end of January, is a blog about my Book of the Year 2020. If you are on Twitter, or if you are a reader of the Sister Scribes pages of Frost magazine, you'll already know which book was my runaway winner. If not, you'll have to be patient for a while longer....

Stay safe.

Susanna/Polly xxx