The Little Shadows

I quite enjoyed The Little Shadows by Marina Endicott which is set in Canada in the very early 20th century.  Laura is widowed and then rejoins the Vaudeville circuit of which she was part before she married.  This time she has her three young daughters to also take on the road.  They are a very close-knit family all with their own special talents.  Their life is difficult times and hard to find a place on the "bill" and then pay their debts.  There are some unscrupulous people to deal with and also kind ones. Each girl Aurora, Clover and Bella will eventually tread different paths as love and opportunity pull them in different directions.  The First World War begins to impact on their all their lives and when a tragedy strikes this close-knit group, they each must decide how to deal with this development.  It was an interesting insight into the people who entertained in the theatre in those days and I enjoyed the development of the characters and how they dealt with their lives.  At 527 pages, it is a big book, but enough to hold the reader to the end. 31/2/5