This is one of the better books in the women's fiction genre that I've read: lively pace, good dialogue, genuine suspense, well-crafted sense of time and place. So within that genre, I give it four stars.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of women's fiction because the stories I've read seem hell-bent on shoehorning romance into them. The romance-related plot lines of Marie and her granddaughter took away from what I considered the primary plot points: how these three women adapted to wartime London. I also thought the present-day framing device (another trope that comes up a lot in women's fiction) was unnecessary. Tbh, if I'd known that this book used that device, I probably would not have read it. So as a historical novel, I give it three stars.

Thank you, NetGalley and Gallery Books, for giving me a free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Good job! Interesting take on WWII internments. Julia Kelly knows her research but doesn't flaunt it, which is refreshing. (And a nice romance.)

Thank you, NetGalley and Simon and Schuster, for a pre-publication copy of this book. I have never read books by this author previously but, after reading The Whispers of War, I am a fan.

I was hooked from the first page and knew this was a book I would not want to end. I was not disappointed. Author Kelly writes of the friendship of Nora, Hazel and Marie as someone who has known this depth of friendship on a personal level. The love between these three women is palatable, well written and, frankly, enviable. Set among the background of World War II, further underscores the importance of having friends and a support system one can count on.

The transition from war time London and the lives of the three friends to Samantha, the granddaughter of Marie and narrator of the story, is a not so easy accomplishment and very well done by this author. Oftentimes, this method of story telling is hard to follow and one loses the thread of the story. Author Kelly uses this technique skillfully and allows the reader to seamlessly connect the different timelines.

Lastly, Author Kelly nicely finishes telling the final chapters of the three women’s stories without leaving us to wonder what happened to them. When you like the characters you’re reading about, this is very important. Hear my contented sign as I closed the book.

Three misfits find the gift of friendship while rooming together at English boarding school. Norah, the girl from society who wanted nothing to do being a debutante, is now working at the Home Office. Hazel, whose mother was a her father's mistress, is married and works at a matrimonial agency. Marie, a German whose parents sent her to stay with an aunt and uncle, is a secretary for the German language department at a university in London. When Marie's boss leaves England rather than be arrested for spying, an investigation is opened that may put Marie in jeopardy. Marie has been classified as a "B" alien, and her friends will do anything possible to keep her out of an internment camp or from being arrested.

This is the story Marie's granddaughter, Samantha, is being told by Nora, who at 103 is the sole survivor of the group. The Whispers of War by Julia Kelly is a sweet story of friendship and courage in the midst of war. I was allowed to preview this book via NetGalley. It is scheduled to be released January 14, 2020.

This is a lovely and poignant story about three friends during wartime and the power of their friendship and devotion. I could not put this book down and will highly recommend it.

A fascinating read! I love WWII history and Britain had to fight long and hard to hold onto their country despite Hitler’s taking of France and the Blitz on London. So soon after WWI, people remembered what war meant and part of that was interment of Germans and other nationalities in camps during the long years of the war. There are many views on interment camps, but try to look at both sides. A government doing their best to protect their country in a desperate time and those who personally knew their neighbors or friends and were convinced they would bring no harm to Britain and yet the “enemy” were taken away.
This story is about three girls, from very different walks in life who become friends at a school in England while teenagers. Despite their differences, they form a strong friendship that no one can break. Not British government officials, the home office, or traitorous relatives could stop them from believing in each other and seeing their German friend to safety no matter the cost.

When I saw this new book by Julia Kelly, I knew right away that I wanted to read it. I enjoyed her previous book about the gunner-girls in the women’s branch of the British Army. This book is told in two different perspectives in WWII in the voices of Nora, Havel and Marie, and present day England and Canada through Marie’s granddaughter. Three friends who meet at boarding school as preteens form a friendship that lasts into adulthood. Hazel and Nora are both British, and Marie is German, but has lived most of her life in England at school and with her aunt and uncle. She has no wish to return to Germany and considers herself British through and through. Problems start to occur when the government starts holding tribunals to determine if Germans pose a threat and should be interned. While there were indeed Nazi sympathizers, a large part of the Germans in England had fled Germany after WWI or because of their Jewish faith. Marie is classified B which is not the highest threat level, but enough that she could be intervened if relations with Germany increase (which of course they do). It was really disturbing to read how Marie was treated as a German, and how she tried unsuccessfully to mask her accent so that she would not ‘frighten’ people. She was so worried and frightened for so much of the time, when she had done nothing wrong. I imagine it is much like the Japanese felt in our country. Nora and Hazel do every possible thing they can to help their friend, and go to an extreme that may cost them their own freedom.
I really enjoyed this book and thought that it really created the mood of England in the beginning of the war, the paranoia created from fear of the enemy and the strength of friendship. It also brought home that we don’t always know our family stories as well as we think. One line in the story mentions that we only know the people in our lives for the particular time that we have met them, somewhat like opening a book and starting it in the middle. I would like to thank the author for making this book available through NetGalley, and NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC fo this book. I would recommend this book for fans of historical fiction, I really enjoyed learning more about interment in this format.

The Whispers of War gives us a look at what it was like to be German in England during WWII. There are tribunals to see if they need to go to internment camps for Germans. It is aldo a story of friendships and abit of romance. It was a very interesting historical fiction. I liked that it was about a subject of the war I haven't read about before. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

I read this book in one day.Could not put it down.Set at the beginning of World War II it shows the other end of the coin.Germans living in England.Normal,law abiding citizens who had to face tribunals who decided if they were to go to internment camps.
The power of lasting female friendships,the kind that is stronger than familial ties is played out in this story.
A wonderful blend of war and romance and history.
Thankyou to Netgalley,the author and publishers for this ARC.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I've previously read books by Julia Kelly that were fantastically entertaining and this book did not disappoint. Ms. Kelly has a strong understanding of England during WWII and the events that transpired and she proves that in this book. This was a wonderful story about 3 friends who look out for each other in the best ways possible and how that friendship can save lives and last a lifetime.

Friends for life

This story is one of friendship. A story of three schoolgirls that became friends and that friendship extended across the ages.

Marie is born in Germany but sent to Britain to school and to live with her aunt and uncle. On her first day at boarding school she meets two other girls Hazel and Nora. These three would become friends for life. They even had a motto between them "We will always be, just us three."

The story told within the pages of this book is the story of these three girls. When the war happened life changed for them all. When Marie is in danger of being sent to an interment camp the girls rally around her. They hide her and then get her on a ship to Canada on a forged passport.

Years later when Marie dies at the age of one hundred and three her will sends her granddaughter to London to rake a gift to Nora. It is to Samantha that Nora tells her story.

You will be transported to an earlier time and told the story of unbelievable friendship. The trials, triumphs, and through it all heartbreak, romances, fear and accomplishments these three stand together as friends even when separated by war.

You will find the book inspiring and delightful. The author catches the essence of the period and the deep feelings of those affected. You will not want to miss a minute of the book and will not want to put it down until you are finished.

Thanks to the publisher, the author and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of the book.

This book is extremely relevant now, as totalitarian regimes have sprung up quickly and more people are being openly, spitefully cruel to immigrants and anyone else they can fix blame on. It's also a fascinating, quick-moving story of several generations of the families of three women who had to hold on to their humanity as well as their very lives during the Second World War. The suspense builds as the familiar historical events take place, adding a new dimension to familiar facts. We may be familiar with how Germans were interned in the UK, but The Whispers of War shows the human experience related to it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a digital ARC!

This book was received as an ARC from Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

These Historical Fiction novels are packed with so much drama that the common theme for all of it is making choices between family and government and The Whispers of War fits that concept. Best Friends Nora, Hazel and Marie are all different nonetheless with different jobs serving different roles in the government but without knowing who is involved is where the choices come in and where the drama starts. You cheer them on and wonder who will come out victorious but at the same time you get attached to the girls and hope that the bond they have will survive anything thrown at them including fighting for their government. I love Historical Fiction where I learn new facts unknown before and The Whispers of War did do that for me.

We will consider adding this title to our Historical Fiction collection at the library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Reading this novel was both enjoyable and educational. The story of three devoted friends in WWII London and their trials and hardships during those turbulent years. Marie, Nora and Hazel are faced with the issues of being women during a time when women were considered inferior and incompetent.

Coupled with this was the extraordinary way in which German aliens were treated during the war. I had no idea that England had internment camps, similar to Japanese internment camps here in America. The fact that Marie was German drove the plot of the novel. The author has stirred together women’s issues, wartime politics, friendship and romance to create a very engaging novel.

I was totally immersed in the story, and I have spent some time researching the concept of internment camps. What could be more timely today than learning about people locked up for no reason except an accident of birth?

I think this book will be a perfect read for book groups and seminars in woman’s studies, WWII social history and will lead to discussions about the treatment of immigrants and aliens by our government.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book and go on an unexpected journey.