Title: Maggie, author unknown, England?, WW2?, read in the 1970's, still haven't found a match...

[Pansyface]

a girl,(maggie, i assume), grows up in a poor family, father is always at the "pub", mother washes "stoops" i believe.  story tells of her growing up and becoming a mother, her hardships, her children.  i believe it was set somewhere in England since i remember the "pub" and "stoops".  i think during ww2 since i remember it telling of bombing raids and the one boy was marching in the streets demonstrating.  somehow she gets sent to live in the country to help stay safe from the bombing.  the book tells from her childhood to adulthood and maybe even up to being a grandmother.  in the 1970's the copy i read was paperback, pretty thick, the word "Maggie" was across the front, and the cover was a pale yellow.  i lent it to a friend and never got it back, but the story has stayed with me since.  it reminded me of A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN. 

thanks to anyone who takes the interest to read my post and reply with suggestions.

Pansyface

[FictionFanatic… · Accepted solution]

This sounds like a Lena Kennedy novel. In fact, she did write one called Maggie (circa 1979), but I've never read it so I don't know if the plotline you describe is the same or not.

Her novel Kitty is my favorite and I highly recommend it if you can find a copy.

-K

Just did a quick search to see if I could find any plot information. Here's the back book blurb for Lena Kennedy's Maggie.

Maggie by Lena Kennedy

Born in the rough heart of London's East End, like a resilient city flower struggling toward the meager sun, Maggie kept on...

through the death of her beloved father, her cherished marriage to a wayward husband of great tenderness and sudden brutality, the solitary fight to raise her four sons and the birth of her "coffee-colored baby," Maggie kept on...

through poverty, the Depression, the Blackshirt Marches, the onslaught of World War II and its lonely aftermath, Maggie kept on...

through four teeming decades touched by passion and tragedy, warmed by the sound of her own brave laughter, Maggie kept on, until - like a golden promise bought with tears and trouble - life gave her the happiness she earned.

-------------

So, is this the novel you're looking for?

[Pansyface]

to: FictionFanatic,

thank you greatly for your time and your help!  i looked it up.  b&n did not have and image, amazon did.  yes that is the very same one!  lent the book to a friend in the 70's and that was the last i had seen of it.  i appreciate your info on another great book by the same author.  i see there is even a group of them.  will be looking into purchasing them.  thanks again so much.  have a wonderful day!

[FictionFanatic…]

You are most welcome. I'm excited to see another Lena Kennedy fan exists on these boards. No one seems to know this amazing author anymore. Getting to answer your query made my day. Enjoy her work!

-K