Secrets Of A Charmed Life by Susan Meissner– 416 pages
ARC from the author
Book Blurb:
Current day, Oxford, England. Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades…beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden–one that will test her convictions and her heart.
1940s, England. As Hitler wages an unprecedented war against London’s civilian population, one million children are evacuated to foster homes in the rural countryside. But even as fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming Cotswold cottage, Emmy’s burning ambition to return to the city and apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia’s profound need for her sister’s presence. Acting at cross purposes just as the Luftwaffe rains down its terrible destruction, the sisters are cruelly separated, and their lives are transformed…
My Review: 4 stars
Historical fiction, sisters, secrets and dreams come and gone are at the heart of this book. How could I not enjoy it? The Blitz, one of the most horrific times for Londoners was the backdrop and of course read as it’s own frightening character. Meissner did a wonderful job at creating a dramatic storyline that drew the reader in and kept the pages turning.
The simplistic writing style made this historical novel read like contemporary fiction so for those of you who are wary of historical novels (you know who you are), this would be a great introduction.
Many of the characters had to work through their guilt and surviving and accepting their own mistakes and misjudgments. This was a very empowering theme as of course they had to find the courage to move on and the ability to learn the secrets of a charmed life.
Quotes I liked:
It was only after time had passed that a person was able to see if she might have been able to bear the load she was sure had been too heavy.”
– But life is lived at the moment you are living it, she thought. No one but G-d in heaven has the benefit of seeing beyond today.”
-“Think of England as a very large book. The Cotswolds would be an unfussy chapter in the middle of somewhere where there is lots of limestone and even more sheep.”
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