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Title details for The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly - Available

The Lost English Girl

by Julia Kelly
Danielle Cohen
Audiobook
3 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 3 copies available
Combining "fast-paced historical fiction with a hint of suspense" (Booklist), this epic saga from Julia Kelly explores love, motherhood, and betrayal set against World War II.
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. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force and try to piece together his feelings about the family he left behind. 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, Kelly's The Lost English Girl "will hook readers from the first page" (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 7, 2023

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781797151885
      • File size: 405452 KB
      • Duration: 14:04:41

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 2, 2023
      In the enticing latest from Kelly (The Last Dance of the Debutante), the lives of two star-crossed lovers are upended during WWII. In 1930s Liverpool, 18-year-old Viv Byrne dreams of expanding her world beyond the restrictions of her Catholic parents and her job at the post office. Viv meets jazz musician Joshua Levinson at a dance hall and gets pregnant after one night with him. Though Joshua is Jewish, her parents reluctantly approve of their marriage. Then, they offer Joshua money to leave her and their unborn child, and he takes off for New York with his sax. Four years later, with Joshua’s career flailing and the war looming, he returns to England to enlist in the RAF. Meanwhile, Viv sends her daughter, Maggie, to the countryside to keep her safe, but the hosts’ house is bombed. Viv and Joshua reunite, trying find out what happened to Maggie and hoping that somehow she survived the blast. In chapters alternating from Viv’s, Joshua’s, and Maggie’s points of view, Kelly unearths her characters’ deepest secrets and emotions. Readers will fall in love with unassuming Viv in particular; when faced with heartbreaking events, she exhibits incredible courage. This will hook readers from the first page. Agent: Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect.

    • Library Journal

      June 10, 2024

      Raised in a strict Catholic family in pre-World War II Liverpool, Viv Byrne knows her life will not be easy when she becomes pregnant out of wedlock. Then, her new husband, Joshua, leaves her immediately after the wedding to pursue his life's dream of being a musician in New York City. Viv and her daughter, Maggie, now have the protection of her husband's name but little else. When the war finally comes to England, Viv must make choices to protect Maggie as the daily bombings come closer and put them all in harm's way. The story weaves through the realities of the war, the government mandates put in place to protect children, and the ethnic and religious tensions that come into play as the war drags on. Even as England joins the battle against Hitler, its citizens fight among themselves to recognize and value their own disparate cultures. Danielle Cohen and Raphael Corkhill voice Viv and Joshua believably and sympathetically, communicating their growth, courage, and convictions. VERDICT Kelly's (The Last Dance of the Debutante) latest is a poignant story of love, acceptance, determination, and duty. Share with fans of Shirley Dickson, Pam Jenoff, and Julia Kelly.--Laura Brosie

      Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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