I wasn’t sure about this book when I began to read. Cassie and Noah (mother and son) are camped out in a caravan in March 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, and their reasons for being there become clear as you read. With dual timelines of 2020 and 1940, the entire book is made-up of letters and diary entries (1940) and letters, texts and emails (2020). By the middle of the second part of the book, (there are seven), I was well and truly hooked!
Dive in and find out for yourselves just how all the characters link up. I can honestly say that it wasn’t until Ruby - a ninety-six-year-old woman - explains the achievements in her life - that I worked out how everything interlinked!
Sarah Mitchell is just so expressive in her writing and she has made me want to find out more about cloud formations and telling the weather from them (wouldn’t you just love to be having a drink with me in a pub)!!!
My favourite quote from the book is an old Maori proverb "Turn your face towards the sun and the shadows fall behind you".
Recommended for anyone who has a love of historical fiction, particularly that which is set in WWII. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review Letters to a Stranger by Sarah Mitchell.
Book Description
England, 1940. Dearest Ruby, you must have heard the news by now. The very worst has happened. Our countries are at war. What can I do? How can I stop this nightmare from happening? One day soon we’ll be together again. I swear. I love you. E. x
Present day. Ruby Summers has lived an extraordinary life. Now, at ninety-six years old and living in a quiet countryside retirement home, Ruby may be an elderly lady, but her memory remains perfect.
She remembers the summer in rural Norfolk eighty years ago when she fell in love with Edmondo, and the stolen moments spent in the orchard dreaming of their future. But tears fill her green eyes when she also remembers the September morning they embraced as they listened to war being declared on the wireless. As her village turned against Edmondo and his Italian family, Ruby knew she would be forced to make an impossible choice – one that would lead to a betrayal her heart never recovered from, and an earth-shattering secret she has never shared…
But when lonely Ruby decides to take part in a letter-writing scheme for the elderly, and single mother Cassie replies, she realises this could be her chance. Her last chance. By revisiting her past, can she finally share the secret that has haunted her for all these years? And will her unexpected connection with Cassie unearth truths even Ruby never knew were hidden – or will it tear both their lives apart?
This totally gripping and irresistible story of wartime love and heartbreak will captivate readers who love Lorna Cook, Fiona Valpy and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Author Bio
Sarah Mitchell grew up in Norfolk and studied law at Cambridge University. She practised as a barrister in London for nearly 20 years before turning to writing. Sarah and her husband now live in beautiful North Norfolk with three almost-grown-up children, an extremely affectionate dog and a horse called Joey. Her debut novel, THE LOST LETTERS, was inspired by her parents' experiences in the Second World War and her desire to explore the heart-breaking impact of the war on women and children. By contrast, THE COUPLE is a dark psychological thriller that twins themes of right and wrong with the age-old complication of an all-consuming past love. Her third novel, THE ENGLISH GIRL is a story inspired by an incredible true love story, a beautiful, sweeping tale of hope, courage and heart-breaking choices. Now, her fourth novel, LETTERS TO A STRANGER, explores themes of love, betrayal and redemption, through the eyes of young Ruby Summers who is forced to make an impossible decision when Italy joins the Second World War and her village turns against the love of her life.
England, 1940. Dearest Ruby, you must have heard the news by now. The very worst has happened. Our countries are at war. What can I do? How can I stop this nightmare from happening? One day soon we’ll be together again. I swear. I love you. E. x
Present day. Ruby Summers has lived an extraordinary life. Now, at ninety-six years old and living in a quiet countryside retirement home, Ruby may be an elderly lady, but her memory remains perfect.
She remembers the summer in rural Norfolk eighty years ago when she fell in love with Edmondo, and the stolen moments spent in the orchard dreaming of their future. But tears fill her green eyes when she also remembers the September morning they embraced as they listened to war being declared on the wireless. As her village turned against Edmondo and his Italian family, Ruby knew she would be forced to make an impossible choice – one that would lead to a betrayal her heart never recovered from, and an earth-shattering secret she has never shared…
But when lonely Ruby decides to take part in a letter-writing scheme for the elderly, and single mother Cassie replies, she realises this could be her chance. Her last chance. By revisiting her past, can she finally share the secret that has haunted her for all these years? And will her unexpected connection with Cassie unearth truths even Ruby never knew were hidden – or will it tear both their lives apart?
This totally gripping and irresistible story of wartime love and heartbreak will captivate readers who love Lorna Cook, Fiona Valpy and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Author Bio
Sarah Mitchell grew up in Norfolk and studied law at Cambridge University. She practised as a barrister in London for nearly 20 years before turning to writing. Sarah and her husband now live in beautiful North Norfolk with three almost-grown-up children, an extremely affectionate dog and a horse called Joey. Her debut novel, THE LOST LETTERS, was inspired by her parents' experiences in the Second World War and her desire to explore the heart-breaking impact of the war on women and children. By contrast, THE COUPLE is a dark psychological thriller that twins themes of right and wrong with the age-old complication of an all-consuming past love. Her third novel, THE ENGLISH GIRL is a story inspired by an incredible true love story, a beautiful, sweeping tale of hope, courage and heart-breaking choices. Now, her fourth novel, LETTERS TO A STRANGER, explores themes of love, betrayal and redemption, through the eyes of young Ruby Summers who is forced to make an impossible decision when Italy joins the Second World War and her village turns against the love of her life.
0 comments:
Post a Comment