AN UNUSUAL CHILDHOOD

Mixed Relations - An Unusual Childhood is the first book of a trilogy which begins in the late 19th century. A 15-year-old girl rebels against her Victorian parents and elopes with her new lover. When the marriage fails, the girl is shunned by her family. Desperately poor and hungry, she joins a traveling troupe. Within weeks she is the only remaining performer and travels with her very wealthy royal lover posing as his wife. A year later, she gives birth to an unwanted child named Evelyn.

Throughout her childhood, Evelyn knew her late father was a member of the British nobility who had left her an inheritance but knew very little about him or even the fact that she was illegitimate.

Having been conditioned by her very young, resentful mother that she was unworthy of any love or kindness, Evelyn was determined to gain an education and escape from her ever-increasingly volatile mother.

Living in London as Evelyn is nearing her 25th birthday, the year she will inherit her wealth, Evelyn looks forward to a future away from her mother’s control but will she escape or is she too conditioned in her role as her mother’s protector?

This tale of courage, tenacity, compassion and often lack thereof, is the true story of Gertrude Mueller von Deham. Written in her own hand, the text reads as authentic and heartfelt; brimming over with the colourful imagination and uncertainties of childhood. Her humility and pride shine in equal measure with self-doubt and a crowning sense of accomplishment when things come right.