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Amanda Prowse

An Ordinary Life Kindle Edition

by Amanda Prowse (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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From the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner comes a tale of love, loss—and one last extraordinary dance.

Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.

London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all. Life becomes brighter when she meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance. But then war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice, and when she’s brought to her knees by a daring undercover mission with the French Resistance, only her sister knows the secret weighing heavily on Molly’s heart.

Now, lying in her hospital bed, Molly can’t escape the memories of what she lost all those years ago. But she is not as alone as she thinks.

Will she be able to find peace—and finally understand that what seemed to be an ordinary life was anything but?

Print length

396 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Lake Union Publishing
Publication date

9 February 2021
File size

3439 KB
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Product description

About the Author

Amanda Prowse likens her own life story to those she writes about in her books. After self-publishing her debut novel Poppy Day in 2011, she has gone on to author twenty-six novels, seven novellas and a memoir about depression co-authored with her son, Josiah Hartley. Her books have been translated into a dozen languages and she regularly tops bestseller charts all over the world. Remaining true to her ethos, Amanda writes stories of ordinary women and their families who find their strength, courage and love tested in ways they never imagined. The most prolific female contemporary fiction writer in the UK, with a legion of loyal readers, she goes from strength to strength. Being crowned ‘queen of domestic drama’ by the Daily Mail was one of her finest moments. Amanda is a regular contributor on TV and radio but her first love is, and will always be, writing.

You can find her online at www.amandaprowse.com, on Twitter or Instagram @MrsAmandaProwse, and on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/AmandaProwseAuthor.

Book Description

An Ordinary Life is a tale of love, loss and one last extraordinary dance, from the bestselling author of The Girl in the Corner, Amanda Prowse. --This text refers to the audioCD edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B088ZTDTGK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lake Union Publishing (9 February 2021)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 3439 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 396 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 2,208 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 9 in Women's Fiction About Mothers & Children
- 48 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- 57 in Historical Romance (Kindle Store)

Customer Reviews:
10,997 ratings

About the author

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Amanda Prowse

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Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty-six novels, non-fiction title and seven novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Published by Lake Union, Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today; her titles also consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. Her books, including the chart topping No.1 titles 'What Have I Done?', 'Perfect Daughter', 'My Husband's Wife', 'The Girl in the Corner' and ‘The Things I Know’ have sold millions of copies across the globe.

A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5's 'The Jeremy Vine Show' and numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national independent Radio stations including LBC and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, 'A Mother's Story' won the coveted Sainsbury's eBook of the year Award while 'Perfect Daughter' was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016.

Amanda's ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can't possibly read another book until the memory fades...

Praise for Amanda Prowse:

'A powerful and emotional work of fiction' - Piers Morgan

'Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subjects with delicate skill' - Daily Mail

'Uplifting and positive, but you will still need a box of tissues' - Hello!

'A gut-wrenching and absolutely brilliant read' - The Irish Sun

'You'll fall in love with this...' - Cosmopolitan

'Deeply moving and eye opening. Powerful and emotional drama that packs a real punch.' - Heat

'Magical' - Now magazine

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Customer reviews

5 star		57%
4 star		32%
3 star		8%
2 star		2%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from Australia

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Barbara West

A history women will never forget

Reviewed in Australia on 31 May 2021

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This a common story of a time that stopped women being able to raise their baby's because of the stigma of the times. But this girl is treated badly by her mother and manipulate by her sister who cannot have children to give up hope of having a life with her son. She comes to terms with it. It is a story well worth reading. I was a bit disappointed we didn't get to hear the sons reaction when he found out.

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Margy

I cried at the end

Reviewed in Australia on 16 January 2022

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Amanda Prowse is a marvellous storyteller. This reads as a memoir and could be the true story of many women from the WWII era. Her characters are so lovely, I was mesmerised and couldn’t put this book down even though I didn’t want it to end. It’s left me feeling rather melancholy but grateful to have lived in a country of peace.

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J Reynolds

A wonderful Story

Reviewed in Australia on 16 June 2021

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An ordinary or not so ordinary life.People who lived through things so that we didnt have to. A love you can feel,pain,heartbreak,sorrow and joy.Molly is very real,and reading the book is like hearing her memories.One of my favourite authors.

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golden ears10

It was hard to stop the tears

Reviewed in Australia on 19 July 2021

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I really enjoyed this book. The story could have easily been true. What people sacrificed during WWII is beyond our comprehension. What people did during the war was so brave and selfless.

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Pam Wainwright

A really lovely story

Reviewed in Australia on 15 June 2021

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My biological mother wasn’t known to me and I referred to her as Auntie. I am now 87years of age and have access to Ancestry and found her story, so this story was wonderful - i hope it was like that for her.

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Kindle Customer

Molly. My hero.

Reviewed in Australia on 5 February 2022

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omg I loved this book Amanda. So powerful and compelling. Molly was so courages abd stoic.

From her strict upbringing, her respect for her mother and her undying love for Johan, her sister Joyce and her growing family, she remained.

I cried buckets for her throughout the chapters, but at the end, the button, so near yet so far, I lost it.

Thank You for a beautiful read.

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Pamela J. Gabriel

A must read..

Reviewed in Australia on 23 June 2021

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A wonderful, heartfelt read. Tissues needs, at many points, throughout this story from 1942 to the 20th century about an amazing, courageous caring women and her family..

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Butterfly

A must read Historical True Life Novel

Reviewed in Australia on 28 August 2021

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This novel is a must read for lovers of history, namely the Second World War and kept me unthralled the whole way through. What happened to Molly and Johan must have been replicated so many times and is entirely believable. I watched it on Kindle but should have bought the book - so much more enjoyable.

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TeresaNik

An emotional read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2021

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'When you're young, or just younger than we happen to be, it seems unthinkable that you will ever become the older people around you. I think the older you get, the more invisible you become'

Molly is 94 years old and on Christmas Eve 2019 she settles down in bed to write a letter that she should have written a long time ago, a letter revealing a secret that she has kept hidden for more than seventy years, but she never gets to finish it as she decides to go downstairs and, in a lapse of concentration, she loses her balance and falls down the stairs, resulting in a stroke and some broken bones. Now, lying in a hospital bed, all battered and bruised, she reflects back on her life, the man she met and fell in love with during WW2, the huge sacrifice she made and the secret she's held close all these years, the content of which, it seems now, will never be revealed.

There is nothing ordinary about the life of Molly Collway, who witnessed and dealt with so much tragedy and loss within a very short space of time during the war, making the ultimate sacrifice and then keeping it secret for such a long time, standing by the promise that she made to her sister until she thought the time was right. The story is told over two timelines, starting in 2019, then going back to 1943 where Molly begins her story in war torn Britain, reliving the trauma that many people can relate to during those terrible times, and hoping that future generations will never experience these atrocities in their lifetime. Amanda Prowse, once again, writes with dignity and compassion, a tale of love, loss, hope and adversity, creating real characters that, for the time that I was reading this book, I felt like they were a part of me. It is such a poignant tale and in true Prowse fashion, I was reduced to tears on more than one occasion, the quote at the beginning of my review really hit a nerve and I was a complete mess for a whole day. It's an exquisite piece of writing that deserves way more than the maximum five stars I am able to honour it with.

58 people found this helpful

Nicky King

The best book you have written (again)

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 10 February 2021

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I have had this book on preorder since July and I have to say it didn't disappoint, in fact I have to agree with one of the previews that I think it is her best book yet, and yes I do think it will be one of my top books in a few years time. From picking it up yesterday afternoon to allowing myself time to read this morning I was totally immersed in the story. Thank you Amanda once again you have done it can't wait for the next one, have already ordered this in paperback to read again.

21 people found this helpful

Toscana

"You never really know anyone's story"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2021

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What a book! Amanda Prowse writes in a way that makes the writing seem so easy. The words flow from the pages and into your heart. And yet, we all know how things that seem easy are not.
The opening is so tender. An elderly lady has had an accident. She has suffered a stroke and her words come out as gibberish. There is something she wants to tell and she can't say it. This story is very cleverly crafted.
"Her life, had, she believed, been an ordinary one." There are very few elderly people left now who lived through the last war and what stories they have to tell. We won't learn the half of them. Their lives were not ordinary. Terrible circumstances contrived to make their lives so extraordinary that we would hardly believe that the frail, wispy-haired lady or gentleman with the rheumy eyes and the shaking hands, had been part of truly amazing events ...
Fortunately, Amanda Prowse can tell us one of these stories: the story of "Magnificent Molly" from the age of eighteen through to ninety-four. (I love the simple way that we are always kept abreast of Molly's age at the beginning of each chapter.)
I loved this book so much. I read it in two days and I'm a bit lost at the moment. I need a pause before I pick up something else. It's an honest story brimming with all kinds of emotions: it's sad: "It was as if the had acknowledged the crack in her armour...", Molly realises, when she has a breakdown. There are tender passages that made me cry, lots of setbacks and there are an awful lot of positives too: real passion, true friends, wonderful family members. It's a blinking good story that kept me guessing and turning the pages.
"We are all but dust..." Molly says in the opening chapter. I disagree, Molly, you proved that wrong. There is far more to you than you think. You gave the world so much.
You see? I believed totally in this wonderful character; she got right under my skin.
I highly recommend. I read this on my Kindle but I'm buying a paperback copy now to pull from my bookshelf when I want to savour it again.
What a writer. Huge congratulations to Amanda Prowse.
"No one tells you that, do they? That no matter what happens to our bodies, you feel the same inside?" I'll leave that thought with you.

15 people found this helpful

Leande

Molly - an extraordinary lady!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 February 2021

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Fall in love with Molly and her family. Molly thought her life was ordinary - in fact it was anything but ordinary. Hard to say too much without giving away the story - a story that starts and ends in Molly’s last years but oh the story in between. Amanda Prowse has done it again with this book of superb characters - I didn’t want it to end but I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Loved it!

15 people found this helpful

Helena Halme Author

A all but ordinary

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 February 2021

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An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse is an atmospheric novel, which takes the reader from the London Blitz during the second world war to contemporary Britain.

We follow Molly, an intelligent young woman, at a time when brains in a girl were not considered particularly desirable. The war, however, gives the linguist Molly a chance to shine at the Foreign Office, where she dreams of a high-flying career. Her home life, on the contrary, is far from a bed of roses. With her father passed away, and her siblings married, Molly is left alone with her judgemental mother as they struggle through near-nightly bombings in their creaking Bloomsbury house.

Molly dreams of an escape from her mother's clutches and her wishes come through in an unexpected way, when she finds both pure happiness and utter misery in the space of a few weeks.

I do not wish to spoil the plot for anyone who has yet to read the book, so I'll just say that after finishing the novel, Molly stayed with me, as if I'd been reading a book about a real person. Molly's life which is filled with sadness is not totally unhappy, but this novel leaves the reader decidedly sad for her, and all that she might have had if war and social norms of the day hadn't intervened.

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