View source for Through Rose-Coloured Glasses by Anne Baker

{{infobox1 
|title= Through Rose-Coloured Glasses
|author= Anne Baker
|reviewer= Sue Magee
|genre=Women's Fiction 
|summary= An entertaining and engaging tale of nineteen-thirties Liverpool, with a good plot and characters you can warm to.  For a feel-good light read it comes highly recommended.
|rating=4 
|buy= Yes
|borrow= Yes
|pages=352 
|publisher= Headline
|date= October 2009
|isbn=978-0755356645  
|sort=Through Rose-Coloured Glasses
|cover=0755356659
|aznuk=0755356659
|aznus=0755356640
}}

Dinah Radcliffe lived in one of the poorer parts of Liverpool and whilst there might not have been a lot of money to spare she was happy in her job as an apprentice milliner and spent her free time nursing her mother, Sarah.  Her father had been killed in the Great War, but it was the nineteen thirties and the Radcliffes were making the best of things.  The son of their next door neighbour was a jockey and it was his free tickets which took Dinah and her friend to a race meeting at Aintree.  It was there that she met Richard Haldane, a widowed businessman who swept Dinah off her feet and introduced her to a life of wealth and privilege beyond her wildest dreams.  Within weeks they were married - and within hours Dinah discovered that her husband was not the man she thought he was.

You can't help but love Dinah Radcliffe.  She's positive, whatever the situation, honest and she has guts.  Wealth doesn't turn her head and she doesn't forget the friends she had when she didn't have money.  Despite her relative youth she's got an old head on her shoulders and a lot of get-up and go.  Had she not had the misfortune to meet Richard Haldane life might well have been a lot simpler for her.  He's a risk taker, and it's not just betting on his horses that gives him a thrill.  It's not long before Dinah realises this and then discovers that there are other things she should be worried about as well.

The book gives a wonderful picture of nineteen thirties Liverpool.  It's not only the wealthier areas or the two-up two-down terrace houses but there's a wealth of detail in there about the racing industry and – in complete contrast – about the worlds of ribbon and button manufacture.  It's a gloriously full picture of the life of the wealthy and of those who serve them.

The characters come off the page well.  It's not just the major characters but you'll want to hug Nellie, Richard Haldane's young daughter whose mother died and was replaced by Dinah within a matter of months – much to her surprise when she's taken to the wedding.  You want to tell her that it will all be alright.  Add to this a good story.  You really do wonder how it's all going to work out and it certainly kept me turning the pages until late into the night.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

For more of early twentieth century Liverpool we can recommend [[Little Girl Lost by Katie Flynn]].  For more about Liverpool try [[Just a Liverpool Lad by Peter McArdle]].

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