Mary's twins, both as different as chalk and cheese are embarking on new starts in their lives. Victoria is the wild child of the family and causes her family no amount of drama and heartache. But her naivety and desire to find freedom from her mundane life in Wales and to be no longer living in the shadow of her brother who it seems can do no wrong, have serious consequences for her. Her brother Richard desperately wants to be a doctor like their father. His new life begins with a baptism of fire when he is rescued from a yob by a beautiful girl. In a rockers and Mods world it seems that Richard's face just does not fit. Father impeded by wearing hearing aids, Richard is not as confident in comparison to his wayward sister. The 60's is still a world of prejudices and suspicion and it seems there really is no such thing as free love! It comes with consequences and a price.

I absolutely adore books that follow a family through generations. Judith Barrow has surpassed herself in writing this great family saga. Whilst Living in the Shadows can be read as a standalone novel its definitely worth reading the other two books in the series first. There is such a wealth of fantastic characters to fall in love with and ones to hate! It was wonderful following Mary and Peter's journey too. A love story that defied all the odds. I feel this book is crying to be made into a mini series for tv and would work wonderfully! I'd highly recommend this book along with the other two books.