All That We Are - Hardcover

Elizabeth Lord was born in the East End of London but has lived in Essex most of her life. She has a son and two daughters. Ruth Rendell describes her as a natural storyteller .

Conflict between siblings often arises in large families, which is the case with Jack and Moira Taylor and their six children in the East End of London. Maggie, 18, has fallen in love with an older man, Robert, who has a young son. After asking Maggie to marry him, Robert meets Maggie's older sister Nora, and transfers his affections to her. Maggie refuses to have anything to do with Nora, causing a family divide that lasts through WWI and the influenza outbreak. Nora and Robert have six children of their own as Charlie, the oldest, and his brothers go into the scrap metal business with their father. As their father ages, the boys have problems relating to work ethics and, later, their inheritances, that once again fray family ties. As Lord indicates in the novel's dedication, she is fictionalizing the story of her late husband Charlie and his family through the decades until he, a childless widower, meets the author, a widow with two children. A loving tribute readers will cherish. -- Booklist, 15th of September, 2010