Thank you to #BookishFirst, the author and the publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy.
I always enjoy historical novels and I have read my share, especially during the War in London, when some parents send their children to America for a better life until the war is over.
Beatrix, aka, Bea (which she was known in America), goes to Boston to stay with the Gregory family, William, and Gerald who are close in age (almost teenagers all of them), get along so well but Mrs. Gregory (Nancy) just doesn't know how to deal with a girl since she has two boys. They spend summers on their family home on an island in Maine too. As the kids get older they are very close and can romance be blooming between Bea and William?
One thing that was different from all the other numerous books I've read over the years and I really thought it was a good idea is that instead of chapter heading with the year it was in, they had a timeline on the bottom with the current year it was highlighted, and the other years in shadow.
All of a sudden, the war is sort of over in London, and Millie (Bea's mom) wants her to come back home. Bea does not want to since she's become so close to her second family but has no choice.
Jump to 1951 and she's back in London. It skips over a lot when she returns but you cannot put every detail into a book I know.
Then it is 1960 and she's 31 years old and an assistant director of a nursery school.
This book may have been close to 500 pages but it had short chapters about mostly every character and it was fast reading. I do wish it was a little shorter though but that's just my opinion on some longer books.
This book was rich in detail and I enjoyed every page and chapter especially about Beatrix and her life.
What's also nice is that when Bea goes back to London after all those years, The Gregory's are still in various chapters.
I think this is her debut and I am hoping for another book from her.
The book ends in 1977, 20 years from when it started. Good timeline and the epilogue was priceless.
I always enjoy historical novels and I have read my share, especially during the War in London, when some parents send their children to America for a better life until the war is over.
Beatrix, aka, Bea (which she was known in America), goes to Boston to stay with the Gregory family, William, and Gerald who are close in age (almost teenagers all of them), get along so well but Mrs. Gregory (Nancy) just doesn't know how to deal with a girl since she has two boys. They spend summers on their family home on an island in Maine too. As the kids get older they are very close and can romance be blooming between Bea and William?
One thing that was different from all the other numerous books I've read over the years and I really thought it was a good idea is that instead of chapter heading with the year it was in, they had a timeline on the bottom with the current year it was highlighted, and the other years in shadow.
All of a sudden, the war is sort of over in London, and Millie (Bea's mom) wants her to come back home. Bea does not want to since she's become so close to her second family but has no choice.
Jump to 1951 and she's back in London. It skips over a lot when she returns but you cannot put every detail into a book I know.
Then it is 1960 and she's 31 years old and an assistant director of a nursery school.
This book may have been close to 500 pages but it had short chapters about mostly every character and it was fast reading. I do wish it was a little shorter though but that's just my opinion on some longer books.
This book was rich in detail and I enjoyed every page and chapter especially about Beatrix and her life.
What's also nice is that when Bea goes back to London after all those years, The Gregory's are still in various chapters.
I think this is her debut and I am hoping for another book from her.
The book ends in 1977, 20 years from when it started. Good timeline and the epilogue was priceless.