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A review by oashackelford
If I Were You: A Novel by Lynn Austin
5.0
After all the difficulties of World War II, Audrey heads to America to meet her deceased husband's family only to discover her friend Eve has taken her name and her place. If I Were You is a book that flashes forwards and backwards from the events leading up to World War II, through World War II, and through the aftermath of World War II for these two women who are struggling to figure out who they are and put their lives back together after the war.
I liked this book a lot more than I thought that I would. Sometimes books about war can slow down during certain parts, but I think that the author did a wonderful job at keeping the book moving at a good pace and making the girls' stories compelling enough to want to find out what happens to them. I do wish we had an epilogue at the end of the book so that we could get a little bit more of the story, of what happens to them a few years after the book ends, but I still think it was well written and an enjoyable read.
One thing that I thought that this book did really well was that it portrayed the lives of women in different classes and how they handled the blitz in London. I thought that the books descriptions of the horrors of the bombing matched historical diary entries that can be found from survivors of the blitz and those early above ground shelters and the struggle to keep up hope and keep moving forward. I think that this kind of historical fiction is the best because it is well researched, so if you, like me, like to listen to a lot of documentaries about this time period, then the book still feels grounded and real because it fits right in with what was actually going on at the time. A very well written book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.
I liked this book a lot more than I thought that I would. Sometimes books about war can slow down during certain parts, but I think that the author did a wonderful job at keeping the book moving at a good pace and making the girls' stories compelling enough to want to find out what happens to them. I do wish we had an epilogue at the end of the book so that we could get a little bit more of the story, of what happens to them a few years after the book ends, but I still think it was well written and an enjoyable read.
One thing that I thought that this book did really well was that it portrayed the lives of women in different classes and how they handled the blitz in London. I thought that the books descriptions of the horrors of the bombing matched historical diary entries that can be found from survivors of the blitz and those early above ground shelters and the struggle to keep up hope and keep moving forward. I think that this kind of historical fiction is the best because it is well researched, so if you, like me, like to listen to a lot of documentaries about this time period, then the book still feels grounded and real because it fits right in with what was actually going on at the time. A very well written book, and I look forward to reading more from this author.