Author: Helen Bryan
4.5 out of 5 Stars
Plot Background:
(Taken directly from Amazon.com. Their description fits every plot point in perfectly. Also I apologize that it is a bit lengthy, but all points made here were crucial to the story and to understanding the review.)
Alice Osbourne, the stolid daughter of the late vicar, is reeling from the news that Richard Fairfax broke their engagement to marry Evangeline Fontaine, an American girl from the Deep South. Evangeline’s arrival causes a stir in the village—but not the chaos that would ensue if they knew her motives for being there. Scrappy Elsie Pigeon is among the poor of London who see the evacuations as a chance to escape a life of destitution. Another new arrival is Tanni Zayman, a young Jewish girl who fled the horrors of Europe and now waits with her newborn son, certain that the rest of her family is safe and bound to show up any day. And then there’s Frances Falconleigh, a madcap, fearless debutante whose father is determined to keep her in the countryside and out of the papers.
As the war and its relentless hardships intensify around them, the same struggles that threaten to rip apart their lives also bring the five closer together. They draw strength from one another to defeat formidable enemies—hunger, falling bombs, the looming threat of a Nazi invasion, and a traitor in their midst—and find remarkable strength within themselves to help their friends. Theirs is a war-forged loyalty that will outlast the fiercest battle and endure years and distance.
When four of the women return to Crowmarsh Priors for a VE Day celebration fifty years later, television cameras focus on the heartwarming story of these old women as war brides of a bygone age, but miss the more newsworthy angle. The women’s mission is not to commemorate or remember—they’ve returned to settle a score and avenge one of their own.
My thoughts:
This is a book that really packed an unexpected punch. I am not saying this because I am a fan of books about war (yes, I have an odd fascination with learning about times that the whole world went crazy), but this book really took me by surprise. There were quite a few positives, and although it goes against my normal format, I will name the one negative thing first.
The thing I had trouble with about this book, is the sheer magnitude of characters. There were times that I would become a little confused about who was speaking, or what relationship certain people were to one another. There were five main characters: Tanni, Elsie, Frances, Alice, and Evangeline. With those five main characters were maybe ten more characters in each individual woman's life. Lili, Klara, Frau Zayman, Bruno, Laurent, Richard, Mrs. Osborne, the Vicar, Albert, Hugo de Balfort and his father, Mr. Falconleigh, members of the Home Guard--- the list could go on. They were all characters that enhanced the story, but there were so many it was easy to get mixed up.
Having gotten my one negative point out of the way I will dive into the sea of positives about this book. The first thing I loved about the book, was really just the spirit of the women. In a time where they had so little to be happy about, they still were able to bond and even though the bulk of the story takes place in wartime, I felt a sense of calm in the ladies friendships. Frances always made me a little nervous with her ambitions to help the Auxis but in general, the women helped keep the story at a level where they maintained some normalcy.
That leads me to my next positive, which may sound like it counteracts my one negative but hear me out. I loved the characters. I loved Elsie and her crude accent (I found myself reading it aloud for the full effect). I felt complex emotions toward Evangeline, because at first I felt she was selfish and how dare she steal Richard from Alice, but by the end I truly respected and understood her decisions. I loved Tanni, and even though she broke down, she was still a strong person. I loved Alice, her rule-following and by the book mannerisms kept the rest of the girls down to earth. And I loved Frances in all her wild frivolity. The characters were all so well written and they all changed so much through the course of the book-- even the de Balforts whom I loved to hate.
Another thing I loved about the book, was just the writing style. The point of views easily shifted from one character to another, almost like a camera in a movie slides from one conversation to the next. The way that the author wrote different dialects of language were fun to read as well, when Elsie and Bernie spoke, their voices were clear and different from when Tanni or Alice spoke. I just felt that the author really added a lot of minor details that, left out of the book, would not have majorly effected the story, but that enhanced it so much by being in there.
The last good thing I would like to mention, and I promise not to give a spoiler, is the ending. I thought that the book was winding down, I was at the 96% mark on my Kindle and thinking, 'Okay, this is nice but everything was resolved so why are we still here?'. At 97%, my jaw hit the floor. At 99% (the epilogue) my eyes were brimming with tears. This is one that you should not stop reading until the very last word on the very last page (or screen, which for some of you who are like me means reading to the 'tweet/share that you read this book' screen).
Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone. If you want something light, there are some very heartwarming funny moments, if you want a more serious read-- its about war, you cant get more serious than that.
Here is a link to the Kindle edition of the book:
Happy Reading and HAPPY NEW YEAR!
