I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Widow Ginger
by
Pip Granger
historical fiction in a paperback edition that was published by Penguin on July 27, 2004 and has 234 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Trouble in Paradise, Not All Tarts are Apple, No Peace for the Wicked
Third in the fictional Soho series based in post-World War II England.
My Take
I continue to be amazed and thoroughly enjoying of Granger’s thoroughness with the vernacular. I’ve really noticed the use of the Cockney in this particular story, and it’s been an absolute treat used in the middle of family. Yes, there’s a “criminal element” here but it’s more of a past practicality than anything. A way to survive and thrive through the privations of World War II.
It’s a tight-knit family that has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with friendship in the very tolerant Soho. Aunt Maggie and Uncle Bert run the café, which serves as a gathering place for everyone. Rosie is the little girl they adopted as a baby from another of the extended family — and we finally get a good inkling as to the identity of her father! There’s Bandy and Sugar, an odd couple who run a local private club — Bandy smokes too much, wears slinky pajamas to the club where she loves to insult the patrons into coming back almost as much as she loves children, and Sugar prefers sequined gowns with perfume and make-up when he tends bar.
The Campaninis are a huge Italian clan whose base is the delicatessen just two doors down from the café where they sell their homemade pasta, sausages, desserts, and more; there are a lot of guys who could learn from Luigi and his relationship with the luscious Betty Potts in this story.
Jenny is Rosie’s best friend and fellow student who plays a pivotal role in this story as she lies dying in her bed. Sharky Finn, lawyer to the bent and always assured of finding a tot of brandy in his tea at the café, is one of those lawyers you actually want to have around. Maltese Joe runs the neighborhood with his boys; no one crosses Maltese Joe. And no one will ever want for protection either.
The primary topic in The Widow Ginger is the Widow Ginger, a former partner-in-crime back in the day with Bert and Joe. Now that he’s out of jail, he feels he’s got some coming, and he’s determined to make everyone pay and pay and pay. He’s a sociopath with a bent toward discipline who can vanish in the blink of an eye.
There’s a very 1950s feel to the cover with its cartoonish, and windy, street scene: Mrs Robbins making use of Jenny and Rosie’s signal flag as the Widow Ginger rushes up the street leaving a trail of fireballs behind him.
I’m just dying to read what happens next in No Peace for the Wicked.
