Birmingham Rose by Annie Murray tells the story of Rose Lucas, a child of the slums of Birmingham who swears she is going to get out . Unfortunately life isn’t easy for Rose and although she makes many attempts to change her life, she seems to always end up back where she began. The author touches on many issues and injustices that faced women in the 1930’s. Rose goes through many traumatic events, including being raped. World War II does give Rose a chance to make changes to her life. She enlists in the Woman’s Army and was sent to Italy. By the time she returns to Birmingham after the war, she has found and lost the love of her life. Settling into a loveless marriage, Rose’s troubles are far from over.

This story of a spirited, intelligent girl trying to break away from her bleak life was a good read. Her struggles to escape from the poverty and ignorance felt real, at times she seemed to be winning and at others she came across quite broken and resigned to never getting out. I appreciated that the author didn’t turn the story into a fairytale, but did allow Rose to eventually find her way to peace and happiness. ( )