Synopsis
Set in the early twentieth century, ‘Poverty’s Pain’ is a remarkable novel telling the story of Edna Pain, a young woman struggling with survival. Her resilience against extreme poverty and the life that comes with it, is exciting yet fascinating, as it engulfs the reader and transports them into Edna’s world. This is a place in time where people have become marginalised in society and trapped, not only because of the ravages of war, but also due to the era into which they have been born. This is a tale of romance, intrigue, great emotional catastrophe and is evocative of a time which may have been forgotten but for this novel, when life was not soft and cosy, but harsh and a bit wild: a true haunting novel. The reader will become submerged into Edna’s search for hope and happiness. Will she ever find true love? Will she ever be truly happy?
My Review
This is the story of Edna Pain. A daughter, wife and mother who was born into poverty. This is Edna’s story of survival.
I can only describe this book as extraordinary. When I finish reading it certainly left a big impression on me and I felt like I had lived Edna’s life with her in the pages of the book. Edna’s life is what I would describe as traumatic and not a particularly happy one. From a very young age she’s been through an awful lot and in some ways the odds were always stacked against her because she was born into poverty.
Three generations of her family from her grandfather, her father to Edna and her siblings all experienced what it was like to be in the workhouses. It was awful to see how Edna and her siblings were treated when they were in the workhouse as children. Rather than being looked after they were tortured and made to do traumatic things like pray over dead bodies meaning they were essentially locked in a room with a body.
But despite this and Edna’s last experience of the workhouse things didn’t get better for Edna. As she grew up into a young lady she was subjected to other horrors. She was abused by her boss and when she thought she’d found happiness with George her husband he was cruelly taken away from her. She then found herself in a violent and abusive marriage to Jimmy which she couldn’t escape from. When she did escape she was accused of murdering him when what had happened to Jimmy he had inflicted on himself.
Despite all the hardships she faced Edna’s children were her strength and kept her going. She would endure beatings to protect her children so that Jimmy didn’t turn on them. I can only describe Edna as a very strong woman who never gave up or walked away. I was so angry when Edna’s son who witnessed her being beaten tried to obtain help from the police but they dismissed what had happened as a small domestic matter when Jimmy had beaten Edna to within an inch of her life. it was horrific when the local council got involved and rather than seeing what Edna had been through, that she was being abused and was raising all of the children alone, instead of helping her they chose to take some of her children away from her. My heart broke for Edna at that point because her children were her hope, her happiness and her light at the end of the tunnel.
I have so many questions as to what happened to Edna next because I was invested in her story. I was glad to see that at the back of the book the author is writing a sequel which I am very much looking forward to reading.
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