{"id":8134,"date":"2025-01-08T22:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/entertainment\/books\/the-long-and-winding-road-by-lesley-pearse\/"},"modified":"2025-01-08T22:12:00","modified_gmt":"2025-01-08T22:12:00","slug":"the-long-and-winding-road-by-lesley-pearse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134","title":{"rendered":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n\"The<\/a>The Long and Winding Road: the extraordinary life story of Lesley Pearse<\/a> by Lesley Pearse<\/a>
\nMy rating: 4 of 5 stars<\/a><\/p>\n

Time taken to read – 3 days (in and out as able)<\/p>\n

Pages – 351<\/p>\n

Publisher – Michael Joseph<\/p>\n

Source – ARC<\/p>\n

Blurb from Goodreads <\/p>\n

One of the world\u2019s bestselling storytellers, Lesley Pearse writes brilliantly about survivors. Why? Because she is one herself . . .<\/p>\n

Born during the Second World War, Lesley\u2019s innocence came to an abrupt end when a neighbour found her, aged 3, coatless in the snow. The mother she\u2019d been unable to wake had been dead for days. Sent to an orphanage, Lesley soon learned adults couldn\u2019t always be trusted.<\/p>\n

As a teenager in the swinging sixties, she took herself to London. Here, the second great tragedy of her life occurred. Falling pregnant, she was sent to a mother and baby home, and watched helplessly as her newborn was taken from her.<\/p>\n

But like so many of her generation, Lesley had to carry on. She was, after all, a true survivor. Marriage and children followed \u2013 and all the while she nurtured a dream: to be a writer. Yet it wasn\u2019t until at the age of 48 that her stories \u2013 of women struggling in a difficult world \u2013 found a publisher, and the bestseller lists beckoned.<\/p>\n

As heartbreaking as it is heartwarming, Lesley\u2019s story really is A Long and Winding Road with surprises and uplifting hope around every corner . . .<\/p>\n

My Review <\/p>\n

Pearse has been writing books and taking us on adventures for years, now, this is her story and my what a life it has been so far. The tale opens so sad, her and her brother are found out in the garden, cold, no jackets and in the snow. Their mum having died a few days earlier, her and her brother are split up before finally being reunited with their dad, his new wife and new sister. We then follow Lesley’s life growing up, experimenting, marriage, kids, drugs\/dabbling, jobs and through to her writing journey and pretty much present day.<\/p>\n

I think what makes this different to a lot of the other memoirs we have read is obviously Lesley’s childhood, war\/post war and growing up in such a different time. Then she has brushed shoulders with a few famous names and had quite a journey with a whole array of people\/circumstances. Good people, not so good people, the nicer and not so nice examples of humanity.<\/p>\n

There is quite a few emotive parts too, women getting pregnant back then and what happened to them with no husbands\/fathers around. Forced adoptions and abuse of those vulnerable young ladies pregnant and their family having turned their backs on them. Pearse wasn’t quite in that boat but did still find herself vulnerable and on a path that had lasting effects. <\/p>\n

Also folk taking advantage in different situations, Pearse is nobody’s fool but even she found herself on the disadvantage of circumstances. That made her push on and always come through but ooft I just wanted to reach out and hug her more than a few times. Honest, raw, emotive and so so many adventures – it is no wonder her books draw you in as she has such a wealth of experience and researches otherwise, she gives us a wee insight into her publishing journey and achievements also, 4.5\/5 for me, what a woman!<\/p>\n

\n\n<\/div>\n

View all my reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Long and Winding Road: the extraordinary life story of Lesley Pearse by Lesley Pearse My rating: 4 of 5 stars Time taken to read – 3 days (in and out as able) Pages – 351 Publisher – Michael Joseph Source – ARC Blurb from Goodreads One of the world\u2019s bestselling storytellers, Lesley Pearse writes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8137,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[101],"tags":[7047,241,7048,2683,7046],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-8134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","tag-lesley","tag-long","tag-pearse","tag-road","tag-winding"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Long and Winding Road: the extraordinary life story of Lesley Pearse by Lesley Pearse My rating: 4 of 5 stars Time taken to read – 3 days (in and out as able) Pages – 351 Publisher – Michael Joseph Source – ARC Blurb from Goodreads One of the world\u2019s bestselling storytellers, Lesley Pearse writes […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"98\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"151\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\"},\"wordCount\":583,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Lesley\",\"LONG\",\"Pearse\",\"Road\",\"Winding\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\",\"name\":\"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg\",\"width\":98,\"height\":151},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network","og_description":"The Long and Winding Road: the extraordinary life story of Lesley Pearse by Lesley Pearse My rating: 4 of 5 stars Time taken to read – 3 days (in and out as able) Pages – 351 Publisher – Michael Joseph Source – ARC Blurb from Goodreads One of the world\u2019s bestselling storytellers, Lesley Pearse writes […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":98,"height":151,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse","datePublished":"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134"},"wordCount":583,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg","keywords":["Lesley","LONG","Pearse","Road","Winding"],"articleSection":["Books"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134","name":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-01-08T22:12:00+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/AEn0k_uHMKTCNPkXGP2qV3ZmRcp6H_LKQcbwwjUwPCyOT3t_alPNNoO5spyh1uBYdotp1-lizO4Mw44_opzLItqxFoZ9iAJ4INRh.jpeg","width":98,"height":151},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=8134#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Long and Winding Road by Lesley Pearse"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8134"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8134\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/8137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=8134"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=8134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}