Somewhere a bird is singing - E. V. Thompson

Life is not easy for Sally and Ruth. Alone since the death of their mother both girls struggle to survive the hardships of life in Plymouth's docklands. Ruth, the eldest sister, does her best to look after Sally but the only way she can make money is through prostitution.

Sally, however, is luckier; she finds a respectable job and, when she meets Ethan, who plays the flute with the Salvation Army band, she also finds romance. However, just as life seems to be finally getting easier for the sisters, Ruth is brutally murdered.

Sally decides to search for her father, Robert, now a butler in Cornwall but finding her father doesn't bring the happiness Sally anticipates. Instead Robert's reappearance brings further disappointments.

But Sally's optimisim never dies - the beautiful sound of a bird singing fills her with hope for a happy future.

E V Thompson was born in London and spent nine years in the Navy before joining Bristol police. He moved to Hong Kong, then Rhodesia and had over 200 stories published before returning to England to become a full-time award-winning writer. He passed away in 2012.

...cracks on a good pace
HISTORICAL NOVELS REVIEW

(he) has always been a good writer in his chosen field of historical fabulations &, as usual, he emphasises the historic over the romantic. His many fans won't be disappointed
BRISTOL E. News

No more readable novel will come out of Cornwall for a long time. It confirms Thompson's place in the top flight of novelists, right there alongside Dame Daphne du Maurier and Winston Graham: the cr?me de la cr?me
CORNISH GUARDIAN

E V Thompson... has pulled off yet another superb historical novel which is bound to appeal to his legions of existing fans and many new ones too.
CORNWALL TODAY