Snow on the Cobbles by Maggie Sullivan

Author:Maggie Sullivan [Sullivan, Maggie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780008354756
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2019-11-13T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

Summer 1945

After all the excitement that had surrounded the end of the war and the thrilling prospect that the world had changed, for most of the residents of Coronation Street life after VE day settled back into old familiar patterns and the euphoria of victory wore off much sooner than anyone might have expected.

‘I thought we were all going to have such a bright future, but look at us now, we’re in exactly the same place,’ Cora moaned to Elsie Tanner one particularly warm evening as the two were sharing a cigarette sitting on the front doorstep.

‘I know what you mean,’ Elsie said. ‘There’s really not much to get excited about, is there?’

‘I do my best for the kids,’ Cora said, ‘but it’s not easy on my own and there’s no fun in it.’ She hesitated and gave a short laugh. ‘Listen to me complaining to you, when you’re in exactly the same boat!’

‘The only difference is that I never want that bugger Arnold back under my roof under any circumstances.’ She gave a throaty chuckle.

Cora sighed. ‘Life’s as tough now as ever it was before the war.’

‘True enough,’ said Elsie, ‘and I can’t help thinking that after all we’ve been through, we deserve better.’

‘I’ll tell you something for nothing,’ Cora said. ‘All this rationing doesn’t help the situation. You’d have thought they could have stopped it by now, but I think it’s getting worse.’

Elsie agreed. ‘It seems to me that every time I go into the corner shop something else is missing from the shelves with no notion of when we might be seeing it again. Honestly, sometimes I can even forget that the war’s actually over.’

‘I feel like I’ve nothing to look forward to any more,’ Cora said.

‘Just more bloody misery on the horizon,’ Elsie said glumly.

‘I’m not that old,’ Cora said, ‘and yet I feel washed-up already. What kind of a world are we creating for our kids to inherit?’ She took a long drag on the cigarette before passing it back to Elsie.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes then Cora said, ‘I thank God I’ve got Lizzie’s wages coming in, such as they are, but by the end of the week it’s still hard to make ends meet.’ She sighed. ‘I’d love to get some new clothes for myself, but I’ve no idea how I’m going to manage that. Not when I’ve the kids to see to first. I’ve been pretty good about making do and mending, even if I do say so myself, but I honestly don’t think there’s much more I can do to this lot.’ Cora looked down ruefully at her well-darned jumper and put her hands over the patch in her skirt where she’d used embroidery stitches to cover up the areas that were becoming threadbare. Elsie didn’t say anything, but Cora didn’t expect her to, for her neighbour did have the reputation for being better off than most. There were always boxes of chocolates, bottles of booze

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