Friday, February 14, 2020

BLOG TOUR - The Forgotten Girls



Today is my stop on the blog tour for The Forgotten Girls by Lizzie Page. 

DESCRIPTION:

Elaine was typing out letters from POWs and reminding herself that she would not cry. Poor Sam in Burma doubted whether he would ever see his children again. ‘Tell them they mean the world to me.’ Come on, Sam. Elaine wanted to reach out into the letter, hold his hand. Hang in there. If only he knew that she was half a world away, reading, listening…

London, 1943.
German bombs rain down on London, but Elaine Parker knows her job transcribing letters from far-away prisoners of war is more important than her own safety. As she pores over each tearful letter from a soldier to his family far away, she’s not only making sure the notes reach their destinations, but also looking for secret messages hidden between the lines to help the allies win the war.

At home, Elaine’s life isn’t so simple. What the other clerical girls don’t know is that Elaine’s family isn’t respectable, and with her parents long dead, it’s up to Elaine to make ends meet. But with one brother increasingly in trouble with the law, and the other suffering a violent breakdown, it doesn’t leave Elaine much time to consider her own future hopes and dreams.

And then Elaine meets dark-haired and passionate Bobby – a wartime photographer on the dangerous front line – and her world shifts. The uncertainties of war feel more personal than ever. Will Elaine be forced to choose between her difficult family and her growing passion for Bobby? And how do you let yourself love someone with your whole heart when each moment could be their last?

A heartbreaking World War Two novel – emotional and unforgettable. Perfect for fans of Orphan Train, Sold on a Monday and Before We Were Yours.


BUY LINKS:
AMZ: https://geni.us/B081JTJ8SPSocial
Apple Books: https://buff.ly/35hyBPZ
Kobo: https://buff.ly/2KyLhKt
Google Play: https://buff.ly/35bO0kR

MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   The Forgotten Girls
Author:  Lizzie Page
Genre:   Historical Fiction
Publisher:  Bookouture
Format:  Kindle ARC
No. of Pages:   375
Date of Publication:   February 13, 2020
My Rating:   5 Stars

1943. 2016. Two stories that meld into one. As far as the first story, we meet the energetic Elaine Parker. As a clerical assistant, she had the job of transcribing letters from POWs to their families. The enemies were hoping to find hidden messages. Anything to further the war effort. As dark as the days were, however, people still had time to have fun. At one such time, during a dance held behind blackout curtains Elaine met Robert Capa.

Robert Capa was her Bobby. She was his Pinky. He was a war photographer and there was no limit of the places he would go to to get the perfect photograph. Any time they were in the same place, their relationship was intense. Meanwhile, Elaine's skills became noticed and her job, her life, became very dangerous.

Modern times. 2016. Jen is unhappy and her marriage is failing. While feeling like she has no direction in life, her brother asks her to investigate a very old photograph of two girls. Who are these girls and what do they have to do with Jen and her brother? Jen begins to dig into their family history and starts discovering startling facts that go as far back as World War II.

Elaine and Jen obviously are connected in some way. As the book progresses, going back and forth between the past and the present. The Forgotten Girls turns into a mesmerizing examination of how the past can connect to our present and future. Jen learns this in an amazing way.

I was pulled into the story, especially with Elaine's and got yet another perspective of that terrible time in history. Lizzie Page has done a remarkable job in writing this story and I truly was enthralled. What really pulled all of this together in my mind as one of the best historical fiction books I have read to date is that Robert Capa and Elaine Parker were real, and that Robert Capa wrote a book, and there are still many photographs about that time. It is when an author provides additional details like this in their Author Notes that ratchets up my respect and attention to an already well-written book.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Lizzie loves reading ALL the books and has always loved reading the adventures of women in the past so it seemed natural to her to write historical fiction.

She lives with her family by the sea in South East England. And with her dog. She enjoys traveling and lived in Japan for several years. Lizzie has had lots of different jobs from waitressing and teaching to admin and bingo-calling - but being a writer is her absolute favourite.

She'd love to hear what you think of her books - feel free to send her a message on twitter @LizziePagewrite or on FB or leave a review on amazon.


7 comments:

  1. I’m glad you enjoyed this! Great review!

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  2. I've heard great things about this one. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  3. Amazing review Robin, I am really glad you fully enjoyed reading this book. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.

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  4. Amazing review, Robin. You are so brave, this one would have gutted me!

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  5. Great review. When my grandad died a few years back we found a shoe box with letter he had sent home during the war. It was fun trying to decipher some as some has sections cut out where obviously it contained sensitive info he couldn't share in case they go into enemy hands.

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  6. Glad you enjoyed this book. Historical Fiction isn'y my thing but I'm glad it works for you.

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  7. Great review. This sounds like an amazing read!

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