Sarah Berry and her family live in Manchester, England and have faced a series of disparaging events. Sarah lost her husband Thomas and is left with five young children. As working class in 1901, Sarah and her older children must work to make ends meet. After several more devastating events, Sarah is encouraged to start anew in Canada with her brother. After a harrowing ocean crossing, Sarah and her family settle in Winnipeg with open arms and Sarah finally decides to embrace life and the happiness that comes her way.

The Porter's Wife is a heartfelt story of perseverance in the face of adversity. The Porter's Wife covers a large portion of time for the Berry family and focuses on Sarah and oldest daughter, Margaret's points of view. I admired Sarah's ability to carry on, her practicality in all measures and most of all, her hope. It was interesting to see Sarah evolve from someone simply surviving with everything life threw her way to fully embracing the good in life. Covering such a large span of time and events, I feel like the book could have been split in two with more details of some events, but it is the first book in a series.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )