The Tulip Girl by Margaret Dickinson, (Pan paperback, £5.99)

THE Tulip Girl is a fascinating story about the endurance of true love in the face of great adversity. It is captivating, well-written, descriptive and one to really hold your attention.

Maddie March was abandoned outside an orphanage as a newborn baby and grew up fighting her way through the tough life of the orphanage. She is protective and ever-loving of the tiny, timid orphan Jenny Wren who, too, was abandoned outside the building.

The two form a bond, as strong as if they were sisters, which they truly wish they are, both having an emptiness deep inside from the fact that they have no family.

When Maddie has the chance of a new life and home at Few Farm with Frank Brackenbury and his family she jumps at the opportunity of happiness.

Work on the farm is hard, made even harder by the strange animosity of housekeeper Mrs Harriet Trowbridge, but Maddie finds true love in the shape of the farmer's son, Michael, and clings on to the hope of a future life with him.

But 1947 brings a wild winter and devastation hits the farm. Their livelihood is threatened and all seems lost until Maddie has an idea which might just save them. But her world is turned upside-down as she finds she is pregnant.

The Tulip Girl is another great read from Margaret Dickinson.

Beverly Abbs