The Leaving of Liverpool by Lyn Andrews

** At the close of the First World War, two sisters' battles are only just beginning... **

It is 1919 and Liverpool has been devastated by World War I. Sons, husbands and fathers have been lost and street after street plunged into mourning. Now, at last, the war is finally over. Emily Parkinson goes back into service and enjoys the return to normality. But Emily's younger sister, Phoebe-Anne, has ideas beyond her station. Working as a lady's maid, Phoebe-Ann hopes that one day she will be more than just a confidante to her mistress's shell-shocked brother James Mercer.

When Emily is brutally attacked, the sisters' lives come close to ruin. Phoebe-Ann is forced to leave the Mercer household and falls into the arms of Jake Malone, of the notorious Malone clan. But as Emily slowly recovers it seems that Phoebe-Anne might just be able to escape the mistakes of her past after all - even if it does mean leaving Liverpool...