FREE -- US & UK Kindle Edition -- I Want To Be Doris Day by Josephine Wesley

When Josephine and James Middleton, together with their aspirational daughter, Alice move from the buzz of London to leafy Watford, they are not expecting to find intrigue. But in the old Victorian boarding house that is Belmont Place, they find colourful residents who all have something to hide.
The quietness of suburbia is also the perfect resting place for small-time, Italian crook, George Marcella and his partner, Juney – who are introduced to the residents as movie stars… and they are – of a sort. But, when Juney starts getting friendly with Alice and her young friends: tearaway Bobby McMullen and the sensitive Nigel Gates – memories of her deprived childhood starts to come back to her and she is prompted to leave her lifestyle of prostitution and blue movie making, behind.
Aiding her is Tom, Nigel’s brother who – when home on Army leave – always takes the opportunity to dream of what life would be like with the glamorous Juney.

Things take a horrific turn when, fuelled by jealous rage, George lays into Juney – who fights back and older resident, Mrs Mae Van de Muir, is forced to use her espionage knowledge by helping to diffuse the situation.

A widowed survivor of the Holocaust, Mae believed that life had passed her by, so she retired into a small bedsit to see out her days – but the illness of Mrs Gates means that her knowledge of life is called on again, with dramatic results.

All characters shine equally as the plot unfolds and the young, dreamy Alice finds herself at the centre of a changing world. Wanting nothing more than to be like her heroine, Doris Day, she shows maturity past her young years when she befriends Nigel – helping him to unmask his true sexuality.
Each chapter brings a new start to life for Josephine and James whose experiences show that that through their adversity can come great success.

I Want To Be Doris Day effortlessly moves from the Fifties and into the swinging Sixties – dragging the old-school values of the residents of Belmont Place with it.

Times change and so do the characters – Nigel fully comes out and his suicidal thoughts diminish, Mae realises that motherhood can come along at any time of life, Tom and Juney find that dreams do come true and Alice and Nigel realise that school crushes can blossom into the real thing.
At the heart of I Want To Be Doris Day is a story of a young girl who finds out about life the hard way and the message of the book is clear: when you are yourself - the real you - then happiness can follow.

I Want To Be Doris Day also shows that growing-up can happen at any age and, when it does happen, it can affect loved ones and adversaries alike.


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