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There are currently 38 member reviews
for The Lost English Girl
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Susan R. (Julian, NC)
Fantastic WWII novel
This is a beautifully written and well-researched novel about the human toll of Operation Pied Piper in England in 1939. The war was ramping up and the government made people in the cities send their children to assumed safety in the rural areas of England. Almost 3 million children were evacuated during the first four days of the operation and ultimately more than 3.5 million children were relocated.
The story begins in 1935 in Liverpool. Viv lives with her parents and they are very strict Catholics. The plans for her life were that she marry a Catholic man and have babies while staying in the working class area of the city. After a brief fling with a Jewish man, Joshua, Viv finds that she's pregnant. The only solution was for them to marry. He agreed but right after the marriage when Viv's mother offered him money to leave, he left for New York to try to make a living as a saxophone player in the clubs. Viv had no choice but to move back with her parents who treated her like a servant and never let her forget that she had committed a major sin by having a baby out of wedlock. Five years after her beloved daughter, Maggie was born, Viv was forced by the local Catholic priest (with pressure from her parents) to send her daughter to a family in the country for her safety. She didn't want to send her daughter away but decided that it was safer for her daughter out in the country than in an area that would surely be dangerous for her. She planned to visit her daughter frequently and saw how affluent the family was that she was living with. She decided to get a job - partially to get away from her disapproving parents and partially to save enough money to bring her daughter home at the end of the war. At the same time Joshua, now living in NYC, decides to return to England to fight in the RAF. He is finally beginning to realize what a mistake it was to leave England and his wife and baby. When Viv finds out that the safe haven where she sent her daughter isn't safe at all when German planes drop bombs on the home where her daughter is living. There were twists and turns after Viv met Joshua again and they had to re-define their relationship and Viv had to re-start her life despite her grief.
This wonderful story is told mainly from two points of view. Viv's is story of love for her daughter in the midst of condemnation from her parents. She always sees the best in people and is able to forgive some - but not all - of the wrongs that were done to her. Joshua was basically a coward when he ran to NYC and he had to learn how to forgive himself for his earlier life. Viv and Maggie were my two favorite characters, with Joshua in the middle and I absolutely loathed Viv's mother who never had a kind word for her daughter or granddaughter and treated Viv like a slave.
This was a novel about family and love, forgiveness and redemption but mostly it's a story of how one decision can change someone's entire future. My thanks to the author for creating a story and characters that I won't soon forget.
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Marion T. (Palatine, IL)
The Lost English Girl
Another great Historical Fiction about WWII from the eyes of the average British citizen living through it. I had heard about London children being sent to the country to strangers during the war for their safety but knew very little about how or why or how the parents and the foster parents felt. This is an amazing story of a mother love for her child and how one act can change so many throughout their entire lives. It is also about love, forgiveness and guilt. Could not put it down---didn't want it to end!
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Freya H. (Phoenix, AZ)
The Lost English Girl
Although I have read other books about the evacuation of young children at the beginning of World War II, this one had a resonance that compelled me to read late into the night. The author wove an epic tale, beautifully developed the characters, kept the chapters short -
all appealing components of a great book. Definitely would recommend this to Book Clubs.
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Sharon J. (Raleigh, NC)
The Lost English Girl Review
The Lost English Girl is a beautifully written story set in Liverpool around the time of WWII. The author, Julia Kelly did a wonderful job developing the characters, their complicated relationships and unfortunate family dynamics. While the story's focus was on one mother's attempt to protect her child, themes of affluence, antisemitism, and the horrors of war are woven throughout. But Vic's love for her daughter Maggie was what really drove the story. I was hooked from the beginning and couldn't put it down.
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Joyce W.
Very enjoyable read!
A beautifully written book. This is the story of the English children who were sent to the countryside during WWII to protect them from the bombing of London and other major cities. This was a unique way to keep them safe, but the consequences will never be fully known. The younger the child the more traumatized they could have been. All of them could not have been expected to understand why their parents were giving them to another couple. This is a page turner as you read and hope everything turns out happy in the end.
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Carole E. (Green Valley, AZ)
The Lost English Girl
A vivid description of life in England during the Nazi bombing in World War Two. Most men were serving in military units. For the first time, married women worked outside the home, Children, some as young as five years, were sent to rural areas for their safety.
Communication was disrupted due to so many homes and businesses being destroyed by bombs. People often lost track of friends and family, assuming they might have been killed in a bombing attack. This is the story of a single mother devoted to her child but forced to send her to a home in the country. That home is destroyed by a bomb, but the family survives unharmed. They move to another town, but the letter telling the mother does not reach her. She then begins her long search for her "lost" child amid the destruction of life and property of war. A well-written book with excellent character development.
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Gail K. (Saratoga Springs, NY)
A Most Satisfying Read
The Lost English Girl is not just another book in the long string of World War II historical fiction works. Its focus on children who were evacuated to the countryside from major cities in England in anticipation of the Blitz and the parents who agonized over their decisions to send them away makes compelling reading. The novel explores the experience of one such family with a bit of an unexpected twist.
I found the characters and dialog to be authentic and credible. I enjoyed the alternating chapters among mother, father and child and was interested to note the societal and religious tensions that served as a backdrop. The short chapters kept me turning pages quickly, and I devoured this novel in record time. I will recommend this book to my book group, who are all lovers of WW II historical fiction, and to others who are fans of taut family drama in the time of war.
