Product Description

An absorbing tale of adventure and true love Young Maryann Nelson is devastated at the loss of her beloved father. But worse is to come when her mother, Flo, sees an opportunity to better herself and her family in a marriage to the local undertaker, Norman Griffin. Though on the surface a caring family man, Norman is not at all what he seems, as Maryann and her sister Sal soon discover.Unable to turn to their unsympathetic mother for support, the girls are left alone with their harrowing secret. But for Sal it is too much to bear . . . The chance of a new life opens up for Maryann when she befriends Joel Bartholomew. Aboard his narrowboat, the Esther Jane, she finds herself falling in love with life on the canal as she is swept away from Birmingham and all her worries. Until Joel's feelings for Maryann begin to change, awakening all the old nightmares that she had thought were long buried, and in panic and confusion she takes flight . . .

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133686 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-04
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

From the Author
'The Narrowboat Girl' is one of the books I have most enjoyed writing. The research was fascinating, learning so much about the people who used to work our waterways, transporting coal and many other goods and bringing up families in the tiny cabins of narrowboats. It was such a hard and in many ways dangerous life, but did bring its own freedoms and the lovely surroundings of the countryside once away from the smoky, grimy cities.
Maryann's story contains sadness and tragedy, but there is much adventure, love and friendship for her as well!
If you would like to know more about what happens to Maryann and her family on the 'cut' don't miss the sequel to this story, which is called 'Water Gypsies.'

About the Author

Annie Murray was born in 1961 in Berkshire, and graduated from St John's College, Oxford. In 1991 she won a SHE-Granada short story competition and was taken on by a literary agent. Her first novel, BIRMINGHAM ROSE was published in 1995. This has been followed by several other bestselling Birmingham sagas including, most recently, CHOCOLATE GIRLS and WATER GYPSIES. She lives in Reading with her husband and four children.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic read
Annie Murray weaves a wonderful story in this book. You feel she must have lived several lifetimes to be able to write with so much depth and feeling. I have read this book twice now which is unusual for me.Upon the second reading I was still spellbound and couldn't put the book down. The story starts and ends in Birmingham, it is about a young girl who faces violence and hardship due to her stepfather and a mother who is unable to help her children.She changes her life to live on the canal boats to find the happiness she so deserves. This book is the first of the two book Ms Murray wrote about the canal boats and the lives of the people who live on them. If you love this book like I did and want to follow the lives of the main characters you will also love "The Water Gypsies"which is a continuation of "The Narrowboat Girl".

A very interesting & enthralling historical novel
This book gave me a wonderful insight into canal life & poverty in the back to back houses of Birmingham in the early 20th century.
Annie writes so vividly that I felt I had actually lived in these times, in the squaller. I could smell the coal, the dank dripping canal basements.
Although this is a realistic insight, it is seen through the eyes of a child & later a young woman, it is also a romance. It's truly compelling read which will be difficult to put down & it's one which will stay in your memery for a good time afterwards.

Absorbing, so good...
I picked this up from the hotel 'library' while on holiday in Corfu, not expecting too much to be honest. Being a Brummie, the fact that the story is set in Birmingham was the only draw to picking it up, but I'm glad I did. A wonderful story, brilliant characterisation and scene setting. The ending was a tad predictable, but that spoiled nothing - a very, very enjoyable book.