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A review by carosbookcase
The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly
5.0
I barely moved for two days while I was reading this book and I spent a good amount of that time with my heart in my throat.
The book opens in Liverpool. It’s 1935. Viv Bryne is 18-years-old. It’s her wedding day and she’s miserable. She’s marrying a man she barely knows because she’s pregnant and it’s what is expected of her. Her family is working class Catholic, while her husband-to-be, Joshua Levinson is a Jewish jazz musician. The one shining light at the end of this grim tunnel is that at the end of the day she will be a married woman, able to escape her mother’s cruel judgment.
Five years later, at the start of World War II millions of children are being evacuated from city centres to the relative safety of the countryside. Facing pressure from the parish priest, her mother, and her sister, Viv makes the difficult decision to send her daughter, Maggie to stay with a wealthy couple in the country. It was supposed to be the right decision. Maggie was supposed to be safe…
The scenes with Viv and Maggie basically destroyed me. Julia Kelly has written about motherhood with such authenticity. I especially appreciated the contrast between Viv’s strained relationship with her mother and the undeniable bond between Viv and her daughter. I’m certain I will be rereading this book in the future.
Simon & Schuster Canada provided me with an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I cannot express how excited I was to get an early copy of this book.
The book opens in Liverpool. It’s 1935. Viv Bryne is 18-years-old. It’s her wedding day and she’s miserable. She’s marrying a man she barely knows because she’s pregnant and it’s what is expected of her. Her family is working class Catholic, while her husband-to-be, Joshua Levinson is a Jewish jazz musician. The one shining light at the end of this grim tunnel is that at the end of the day she will be a married woman, able to escape her mother’s cruel judgment.
Five years later, at the start of World War II millions of children are being evacuated from city centres to the relative safety of the countryside. Facing pressure from the parish priest, her mother, and her sister, Viv makes the difficult decision to send her daughter, Maggie to stay with a wealthy couple in the country. It was supposed to be the right decision. Maggie was supposed to be safe…
The scenes with Viv and Maggie basically destroyed me. Julia Kelly has written about motherhood with such authenticity. I especially appreciated the contrast between Viv’s strained relationship with her mother and the undeniable bond between Viv and her daughter. I’m certain I will be rereading this book in the future.
Simon & Schuster Canada provided me with an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I cannot express how excited I was to get an early copy of this book.