DESCRIPTION:
London, 1940. When Jess Gresham arrives in the capital, she’s completely out of her depth. With bombs falling and a heartbreaking family lie about her beloved sister to get to the bottom of, can she find the help she needs at a Mayfair lodging house?
When Jess discovers the letter from her older sister Charlottetucked into an old typewriter, her world is shaken. It’s dated two days after their father, the vicar, said she died. How could he lie about that? Desperate to uncover the truth, Jess must find her sister. The London location in her sister’s letter is her only clue…
Leaving her quiet life in the country as a vicar’s daughter behind, now Jess is in the city in wartime, her gas mask slung around her shoulder. Her one refuge is her room at a Mayfair lodging house with two other girls. Wealthy Betony is all style and charm, but she’s trying to shake her aristocratic airs and graces. Irish nurse Grace with her easy smile is much more down to earth, but Jess is certain she’s keeping a secret…
With war throwing the three girls together, can Jess’s new friends help find her missing sister, despite the secrets between them? Or will they be torn apart for good?
An totally emotional and gripping historical novel, perfect for fans of Jean Grainger, Lisa Wingate and Diney Costeloe.
Set in 1940, The Vicar’s Daughter at the Lodging House opens with a startling discovery for Jess Gresham: a letter hidden inside an old typewriter, written by her twin sister, Charlotte. The shock deepens when Jess realizes the letter is dated two days after Charlotte was believed to have died. Even more unsettling is the London address mentioned in the letter. Desperate for answers, Jess leaves her father’s rural home and heads to London, determined to uncover the truth, even hoping against hope to find Charlotte.
Accustomed to a quiet life in the countryside while war rages on, Jess finds London to be overwhelming and unfamiliar. Before she can begin her search, she must secure both lodging and employment. She soon finds a room in a lodging house, where she quickly forms connections with two women, Grace and Betony, who become important figures in her new life.
As the second book in the Wartime Lodging House trilogy, this novel follows The Irish Nurse at the Lodging House, which focused on Grace’s story. Now that Jess’s journey has been told, I’m eagerly anticipating Betony’s story in the next installment.
World War II historical fiction can be emotionally demanding, with its depictions of curfews, air raids and bomb shelters. These elements naturally tug at the heartstrings, and Natalie Meg Evans handles them with care and authenticity. Having enjoyed several of her novels, I continue to admire how she brings history and personal stories together, and I very much look forward to reading more of her work.
An avid absorber of history – for her sixth birthday she got a toy Arthurian castle with plastic knights – Natalie views historical fiction as theatre for the imagination. Her novels delve behind the scenes of a prestige industry: high fashion, millinery, theatre, wine making. Rich arenas for love and conflict. Most at home in the English countryside, Natalie lives in rural Suffolk. She has one son.
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