Some reviews for Mavis’s Shoe

‘Sue Reid Sexton doesn’t flinch from giving her readers a gritty and sometimes heart-rending account of the trials confronting her young heroine . . . This is ultimately a story of courage and survival as well as a highly readable and vivid account of one of Scotland’s worst wartime disasters.’

Esther Read, The Scots Magazine

 

‘This haunting, beautifully written blend of fact and fiction captures the strength of humanity, the courage in adversity and the heartbreaking loss caused by one of the most tragic episodes in our nation’s history.’

Daily Record

 

‘Sue Reid Sexton’s work with war veterans gives an insight into Scotland’s most devastating wartime event.’

STV’s ‘The Hour’

 

‘A moving new novel about a child living in Clydebank during World War 2 . . . Sue Reid Sexton’s work with war veterans gave her plenty of resources to draw upon when it came to capturing the feelings of survivors of war.’

The Sunday Post

 

‘Mavis’s Shoe reveals the shared trauma of war from Clydebank to Baghdad.’

Sunday Mail

 

‘A remarkable story of a young girl’s survival of the aftermath of the 1941 Clydebank Blitz.’

BooksfromScotland.com

 

‘This is the first book to be simultaneously published in Braille in Scotland. And it’s a great book. It’s also good that it isn’t in dialect – Glaswegian – it is Lenny Gillespie talking, so folk all over can understand it.’

Allan Balfour,

Head Editor and Braillist at the Scottish Braille Press, who transcribed Mavis’s Shoe into Braille

 

‘Captures wonderfully well the community spirit of the time, and is a heart-warming illustration of family loyalties.’

Raymond Young, Education and Lifelong Learning,

Clackmannanshire Council

 

‘Great subtlety in the writing, which made the story all the more moving. If all of Sue Reid Sexton’s and Waverley’s novels are going to be of this calibre, I can’t wait to read them.’

Moira Foster, Waterstones’ review

 

‘The book took me right back, I felt just as lost as the wee girl in the book during the bombing.’

Isa McKenzie, Clydebank Blitz survivor

 

‘I recommend this book – I thought it a really moving story – fiction based on the facts of those terrible nights of 13 and 14 May 1941.’

J Peel, Amazon review

 

‘This book is important. It is moving and well researched, and should be read by everyone.’

J Wilson, Amazon review

 

‘Just to let you know how much I enjoyed “Mavis” – twice! I cheated the first time – couldn’t resist starting at the bit when Lenny arrived at Carbeth, then went back to the beginning, and the next day read it all again in the right order! It really conjured up the whole atmosphere, and the intensity of Lenny’s feelings was conveyed so well. I’m sure it will do very well indeed and will sustain interest over the years as it’s so evocative of that nightmare period.’

Marlene Macowan, who was evacuated from

Glasgow to Carbeth in March 1941