This novel is the author's American debut and it is a gem.
I was drawn to the book from the "new books" shelf at my town library because of the cover. I love the 1940s and this begins in that year and then goes back to the 1930s to tell the backstory of the main character. It also contains the years from the late 1970s-2010, when the characters are much older.
STORY SUMMARY
It is December 1940 and the German bombs have just fallen on Southampton, England. The residents there are fleeing to the smaller towns that surround Southampton: Upton, Barrow End, and others.
Ellen Parr is 21 years old and married to an older man named Selwyn. They have no children. They live in Upton village and it is there that Ellen finds a little girl, alone, and sleeping in the back of a bus that has just arrived from Southampton. No one is around to claim her.
Ellen takes her into her home and she and Selwyn begin to look for the child's parents. She is about 5 years old. They discover that her father is no where to be found, and that her mother, who had recently divorced the father, was killed at the Crown hotel when a bomb fell on it. The child's name is Pamela Pickering. They discover her name on a clothing label.
Ellen never really thought she wanted children until Pamela arrived at their home. It is then that the past is cracked open and Ellen faces some things about her own life, as well as her life with Selwyn.
As the war drags on, Ellen and Selwyn's love for Pamela grows. It grows where they least expected it and it surprises them.
And then the war ends and with it the realization that Pamela is not really theirs. She was never theirs to keep......
MY THOUGHTS
This book was excellent with setting, character development and realistic fiction.
It's a historical fiction type book but more on the fiction than actual history, other than what England was like in WWII.
Each character, and there are many, make an imprint on your heart and in your mind.
The main themes center around courage, kindness, hardship, and friendship.
It's about the people we rescue and the ways they might rescue us, too.
The book touches on how we feel about the love of children...our own children...and the power of that love to endure beyond anything we could imagine.
I don't want to ruin the story for you so I won't go into what happens when the war ends......
The book did get bogged down a little for me when the author went back in time to when Ellen grew up.....it was sad and moving and quite powerful at times, but I also felt like it kind of dragged through those parts.
The ending of the book was quite good although it kind of abruptly ended in some ways......it was very different....than what I expected.
This book is about being brave....and enduring relationships when love reigns.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 14 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 9.
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