The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly
A quick, emotional read, The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly will pull at your heart and keep you up wanting to know more. Viv, the protagonist, is a remarkably contemporary woman. She makes her way as best she can as essentially a single-mother in WWII Liverpool. The historical novel tells a fascinating, heart-wrenching story of what happened with children evacuated from cities during the war. This is an aspect of WWII I knew nothing about. In all, this is a great read, and I am eager to try more of author Julia Kelly’s historical novels!
Release Date: March 7, 2023
Available from Amazon & Bookshop.org
About the Author, Julia Kelly
Julia Kelly is an international bestselling author focusing on historical fiction and historical mystery novels. She’s worked in a variety of industries, from tv production, journalism, and marketing. Beyond her novels, Julia Kelly has a long list of fascinating articles she’s written for publications. I found The True Story of Queen Charlotte’s Debutantes in Bridgerton particularly interesting! You can learn more about Julia Kelly and her novels via her author website here.
About The Lost English Girl
The Lost English Girl tells the story of Viv Bryne Levinson, newlywed and expectant mother in 1935 Liverpool. Viv’s marriage to Joshua Levinson hits rough waters almost immediately. She is left to raise her daughter on her own in her strict Catholic family’s household. As the world moves towards WWII, Viv is coerced into sending her daughter, Maggie, away from Liverpool for her safety. The Lost English Girl follows the struggles both Viv, Maggie, and Joshua experience throughout the war.
Plot Summary
Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous Jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family.
Five years later and on the eve of World War II, Viv is faced with the impossible choice to evacuate her young daughter, Maggie, to the countryside estate of the affluent Thompson family. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force, fight for his country, and try to piece together his feelings about the family, wife, and daughter he left behind at nineteen. However, tragedy strikes when Viv learns that the countryside safe haven she sent her daughter to wasn’t immune from the horrors of war. It is only years later, with Joshua’s help, that Viv learns the secrets of their shared past and what it will take to put a family back together again.
Telling the harrowing story of England’s many evacuated children, bestselling author Julia Kelly’s The Lost English Girl explores how one simple choice can change the course of a life, and what we are willing to forgive to find a way back to the ones we love and thought lost.
My Thoughts on The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly
As I mentioned above, this novel covers the relocation of children from major target cities during WWII. Beyond the opening scenes of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I knew nothing about this phenomenon. Julia Kelly illustrates the painful realities of these situations, and the emotional coercion that went into some of the decisions to send children away.
As for the writing style, I really enjoyed the narrative. Chapters focus on one of three characters – Viv, Maggie, or Joshua. To be honest, I found Viv and Maggie’s chapters to be far more compelling than Joshua’s. By the end, though, his story comes full circle in a way that makes the earlier chapters about him compliment the story of Viv and Maggie.
Where to Buy The Lost English Girl
Julia Kelly’s The Lost English Girl will be released on March 7, 2023. It is available for pre-sale from both Amazon and Bookshop.org.
If The Lost English Girl is your kind of read, I think you’ll really enjoy
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*This novel was gifted to me as part of a review program that Cats & Coffee is a part of. I was not required to post about the novel in exchange for getting a copy to read. All thoughts and opinions are my honest own.
