Mary Walton is the apple of her father's eye; his only comfort during the dark years of the Depression when he is faced with both unemployment & a nagging, ambitious wife. His great hope is that Mary will one day find a way to escape the grinding povertyof the Tyneside slums. But when a shocking secret is revealed the dreams of the Walton family must change forever... Spanning Mary's life from the 1930s to the 1970s, Pure as the Lily is a spellbinding, unforgettable tale from one of Britain's most cherished novelists.