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nannykaren's review against another edition
5.0
Wow, what a powerful novel! During WWII, women stepped up to take the place of men all around the world, and America was no different! This Ella Carey love story has some twists in that I didn't expect yet loved. Lily is a wonderful young woman who asks her grandmother and despair of hey mother. A brilliant book which shows women empowering women even in 1945-6!
_marycappiello3's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Grief, Sexism, and Misogyny
Minor: Death
bookswritingandmore's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this story from the moment that I picked it up. I'm not sure if it was the setting; wartime New York, or the storyline itself that first grabbed me. Either way, it was the characters, particularly Lily Rose, our heroine, who becomes a chef during the war that had me turning pages. Her parents didn't approve and they make her chose between her family and inheritance or her job she desperately loves. Definitely recommend this book.
kdurham2's review against another edition
5.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
World War II. New York City. Lily Rose comes from a family of wealth that has certain expectations on her for how her future will unfold, but this isn't what she dreams for herself. She enters a NYC restaurant and is happily working when the men started getting drafted and a large promotion comes her way, but what will happen with the men come home from war? And especially a certain man that Lily Rose is pining for.
I really enjoyed this book as it took a unique look at NYC during World War II. Most books set in this time take place across the pond and the impacts that war had in the countries where the war was being fought, but as the United States became involved, it is interesting to see how home life changed and evolved while men of a certain age left to help fight the fight.
World War II. New York City. Lily Rose comes from a family of wealth that has certain expectations on her for how her future will unfold, but this isn't what she dreams for herself. She enters a NYC restaurant and is happily working when the men started getting drafted and a large promotion comes her way, but what will happen with the men come home from war? And especially a certain man that Lily Rose is pining for.
I really enjoyed this book as it took a unique look at NYC during World War II. Most books set in this time take place across the pond and the impacts that war had in the countries where the war was being fought, but as the United States became involved, it is interesting to see how home life changed and evolved while men of a certain age left to help fight the fight.
heidirgorecki's review against another edition
3.0
A New York Secret is a beautiful story of a girl borne into high society life working and dreaming as a Chef in New York City during WW2, showing class differences, cultural differences, and maybe above all, gender difficulties for women during that time period.
The author did an amazing job describing the scenes and giving life to being in a restaurant, the food and limitations that were placed on the city during the war. She portrayed the struggle of women working in a male-ruled world where, just because of your gender you had less opportunities, and were discriminated against before, during and immediately after the war. She also did a great job at pulling you in to the story and keeping you invested in the story and the characters.
The main reason for my lesser rating is that, while scenes and emotions were given great dimension in the story, the dialogue often felt one-dimensional. There was so much culture in NY and in the story that felt stripped and without character. There was almost no sense of what should have been a thick Italian accent or at least language and grammar threaded into many characters’ English being direct immigrants. It felt like they were normal multi-generational NYers and the richness was not present. At times the French in Vianne was there but none from the Morelli’s or any of the others we encounter. It was also odd when there was very old-fashioned conversation you’d expect from the 1800’s or early 1900’s (eg: “Dearest Nathanial”) from high society individuals and then extremely informal addressing of “mom” or “dad” from both those same people and from a direct Italian. It just wasn’t consistent or real for the period or culture.
Also on a lesser note it seemed like sometimes the characters flipped opinions and position really quickly after being so invested and described opposite. It felt a little jolting and abrupt.
Beyond that, I enjoyed the book and thought the content was terrific. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.
The author did an amazing job describing the scenes and giving life to being in a restaurant, the food and limitations that were placed on the city during the war. She portrayed the struggle of women working in a male-ruled world where, just because of your gender you had less opportunities, and were discriminated against before, during and immediately after the war. She also did a great job at pulling you in to the story and keeping you invested in the story and the characters.
The main reason for my lesser rating is that, while scenes and emotions were given great dimension in the story, the dialogue often felt one-dimensional. There was so much culture in NY and in the story that felt stripped and without character. There was almost no sense of what should have been a thick Italian accent or at least language and grammar threaded into many characters’ English being direct immigrants. It felt like they were normal multi-generational NYers and the richness was not present. At times the French in Vianne was there but none from the Morelli’s or any of the others we encounter. It was also odd when there was very old-fashioned conversation you’d expect from the 1800’s or early 1900’s (eg: “Dearest Nathanial”) from high society individuals and then extremely informal addressing of “mom” or “dad” from both those same people and from a direct Italian. It just wasn’t consistent or real for the period or culture.
Also on a lesser note it seemed like sometimes the characters flipped opinions and position really quickly after being so invested and described opposite. It felt a little jolting and abrupt.
Beyond that, I enjoyed the book and thought the content was terrific. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my review.
lagadema's review against another edition
4.0
From time to time I love to read stories about war. This is one of those stories that kept me until I finished reading it. The story is about people, women that stayed back home and doing jobs that were previously held by men. During that time, they are proving that they can do it perfectly. All of that is sprinkled with dash of love, friendship and sense of pride and validity.
I loved to read about Lily’s strength and her life story during this period in history. All the characters in it, have a special role that gives this story depth and purpose and it is more reach with them. It was so fun to read about the restaurant kitchen life and its culture.
I will definitely read other books by Ella Carey because I like her way of telling her stories.
4,5/5
I loved to read about Lily’s strength and her life story during this period in history. All the characters in it, have a special role that gives this story depth and purpose and it is more reach with them. It was so fun to read about the restaurant kitchen life and its culture.
I will definitely read other books by Ella Carey because I like her way of telling her stories.
4,5/5
lovely_bookshelf's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
coffeebooksandescape's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 • 𝙰 𝙽𝚎𝚠 𝚈𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚂𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚝
𝐀𝐃-𝐏𝐑 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭
~ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮ ✮
~ @ellacarey_author
~ historical romance
“𝘛𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴.”
𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬 ➡️
𝙴𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝:
🔫 𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚕𝚍 𝚆𝚊𝚛 𝚃𝚠𝚘
💒 𝙰𝚗 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚊𝚐𝚎
❤️ 𝙰 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚕 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚛
💍 𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚊𝚕𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢
🧑🏼🍳 𝚆𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚜
Those of you that know me well, know I am a foodie. Big time. This book was set in a New York restaurant during World War II, I’m not even over exaggerating when I say most of these pages were mouthwatering! Not only is this the story of passion for food, but the story of a young woman rebelling in every form possible.
Lily Rose rebels against her classism, raised as upper class but wanting to be working class. She rebels against the marriage that was prearranged for her to give her the best future, and instead chooses someone lower on the class chain. She wanted a life full of passion, not to become an upper class housewife and mother.
It was a really moving story and had me in tears a lot. I loved Tom, but I also had a soft spot for Nathaniel who truly was in love with Lily. The characters were built brilliantly, and this will really give you all the feels.
thebooktrail88's review against another edition
4.0
Visit the locations in the novel
First in a trilogy and set in the glamourous city of New York. The city and its food are well evoked and you might not want to read this when you are hungry!
Great and unique depiction of the role of women in the work place during war time and how status, family pressure and the pressure of war affects choices and possibilities.