A good read again from Lizzie Page When Elaine meets famous photographer Robert Capa during the war they embark on a relationship that has lasting memories for all concerned She has lots of family problems which she keeps to herself and when he has to go away into war torn country's with his job can she tie him down or will she make the heartbreaing disision to let him go and do the job he loves Great characters and beautifully written

This story takes place from several different points of view beginning in London 1944 and going to Spain 2016. Going back and forth between these different time spans with numerous characters became somewhat confusing to me at times. I found the characters all quite bland and unremarkable. I love historical fiction but I was disappointed in this one. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I give this book 3-1/2 stars.

Combining historical fact with fiction, Lizzie Page's The Forgotten Girls is a captivating story of life in one of the most difficult of times, of love and loss and hidden family secrets uncovered decades later.

Set in two time lines, 1943 and 2016, In London 1943 during WW11 we meet Elaine Parker who is working in a government office typing letters from prisoners of war who meets the flamboyant and renowned womanizer, Robert Capa, a war photojournalist.

73 years later, in 2016, Jen is having marital problems and decides to visit family in Spain and is shown a black and white photograph of two girls by her brother Matthew.
But who are these girls and what is their story?

Clearly a huge amount of research was done by Lizzie as the story strands all come nicely together and make an enjoyable and captivating read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture an ARC in return for my honest review.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I requested this book because I found the premise intriguing - 2 stories from different eras that are linked together by a photograph of "two lost little girls" and "looking for all the world as if they hadn't witnessed the most terrible war to ever touch England." However, the story was a little bit different than the synopsis implies - one of the girls wasn't even born before the end of the war, and while her life may have been shaped by the war, she certainly had not "witnessed" it. Even though the book claims to be "A completely heartbreaking World War 2 historical novel" I did not feel particularly moved by any of the characters, nor the story.

In the primary story, Elaine is working to transcribe letters from POWs and search for hidden codes in them during World War II. She is also trying to hold her family together, and the trials she has with her two brothers take a toll on her. Her youngest brother was not able to join the war effort due to a physical disability, and her younger brother is struggling with being in the service. Elaine has been dating a young man who is a pilot and is going off to war, when she meets the famous war photographer Robert Capa and she is swept off her feet.

In linked story set in 2016, Jen is struggling with a crumbling marriage with her cheating husband, and has gone on holiday in Spain to spend some time with her family. The family dynamics are not making her vacation terribly fun, and she discovers there is an ulterior motive for her invitation to Spain, which links to the first story.

I love to read most when I feel transported away into a different time and place - I really tried to get into this book, but it just fell flat for me. I didn't particularly find Robert Capa likeable, and I became completely distracted by the fact that just about everyone (including those closest to the photographer) seemed to always call him by his full name "Robert Capa." I appreciated that the author tired to make a distinction with Elaine, who would sometimes refer to him as "Bobby" and then as "Robert Capa" when she was trying to convey his importance to others, but I still feel like she referred to him as "Robert Capa" far too often - was there a reason that they could not have referred to him as "Robert?" There was no other Robert in the story.

In addition, I found the style of writing very difficult to read, and it really became a chore as it felt choppy to me. There were times when it was very informal and filled with sentence fragments. Then, there were other times that sentences would run on and become convoluted. One sentence in particular I noted became a paragraph in itself - it contained 58 words, 12 commas, 2 colons, and one dash. There were also more colons and semicolons than I have ever noticed in a book in my life. Some of these issues could be corrected through diligent editing, which I am hoping happens prior to the official book release.

I wanted to like this one, but unfortunately, I don't think I can give it any more than 2 stars.

I really enjoyed this book and loved the blend of fact and fiction. The dual narrative works well here and the modern aspects are to your knowledge of Robert Capa.
I loved Pinky's story and really felt sorry for her and the hand life had dealt her. It was lovely that she had happiness with Bobby among the horror of war.
A great book for fans of historical fictio. Many thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the arc

Lizzie Page's The Forgotten Girls reawakens Jen's sense of pride after discovering her Nana Elaine's mysterious past. While growing up, Jen identified Elaine as the curmudgeonly grandma with a fondness for sweets. Summoned home, she unlocks her grandma's secret and the sacrifice she made for the war effort.

While reading Page's novel, I eagerly awaited more of Elaine's story. Jen's chapters were a slow burner but once I was engrossed in the tremulous family dynamics, I eagerly awaited the truth behind Shirley and Barbara's ancestry.

R E V I E W - The Forgotten Girls

Nobody wants to be a forgotten girl but what can you do when remembering you has to be someone else's responsibility?

Meet Elaine; a typist who transcribes letters from POW. She is a strong, young woman who has had to take on the role of caring for her family. A family who she tries hard to keep hidden from her friends.

In the present, we meet Jess. A woman who is hurting deeply and needs her family more than ever.

An old, forgotten photograph connects these women. But how? Will these women find the love and happiness they deserve and desire?

The Forgotten Girls is a beautiful piece of romantic historical fiction that takes place during the war The characters come to life through Lizzie Page's writing and I found myself with a very clear picture of what I imagined them all to look like. Throughout the book, I felt the frustrations and desperation that Jess felt and the wheel of emotions that Elaine felt. In fact, I was so invested in the characters that at one point I got really annoyed at Elaine and wished I could jump into the book to knock some sense into her.

Towards the end, I really began to think about how much I really know about the people who aren't here anymore and if I had made enough effort to get to know them and get to know their past.

3.8 Stars
A book is always judged by its cover. The cover is at once adorable and disturbing. The two little girls have mud on their legs and high up in the sky are two planes whose forms reveal the setting of this novel. However, the subtitle packs quite a punch as it declares my heart will not just be broken but ‘completely’ broken.
Quibbles about cover aside, I find the pace of my rather enjoyable reading upset by the all too frequent breaks which could be very well be reduced without taking away from the narration. Harry burst upon the scene quite suddenly and it took me a while to find out who he was. At times, Page is caught between the tenses, confusing the reader too.
And yet, this is a great book sprinkled with burst of hilarity such as ‘wriggle in peace’ when Robert Capa and Elaine Parker are together. Elaine is a wonderful character, riddled with conflicting traits. A subdued beauty, she’s insecure and jealous with an underlying core of steel. No one else could have broken up with Justin with such honesty and courage. And then she does it again with Bobby! Only this time it is to prevent her heart from breaking way down in the future. Marty’s transformation from a disagreeable character into a man worthy of Elaine is a surprising twist. What does Elaine see in him? Page has a way with words and even though my heart was not ‘completely’ broken, it did crack.

I absolutely loved The Forgotten Girls. It is a beautiful, compelling read, set in a dual timeline: London during WWII and modern day, ex-pat Spain. The links between the two story lines become clear during the course of the novel. Lizzie Page writes like a dream, with a narrative voice which pulls you into the vivid, perfectly drawn worlds she creates. This novel weaves a story around the real characters of Robert Capa, the famous war photographer and his girlfriend, Elaine. The author has brought them to life in a captivating love story which echoes down the years into the present day. I will be recommending this book to everyone I know.

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 at 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.

Oh, how I loved this book! Another WW2 story, but with such a clever narrative. I smiled, cried, my heart raced and I marvelled at the storytelling.
There is a dual timeline, a popular device in war novels, and I enjoyed reading the past story more – I felt I was there, in the midst of the bombings and danger, in the passions stirred by the feeling that there might not be a tomorrow. Despite the tragic background, there is lots of wry humour. I laughed out loud more than once – throwaway sentences, which captured the times with a stoical smile, like: “Self-denial is how the war will be won. Which was fair enough when dealing with a butter-less baked potato.” A time when there was “spam pie, spam stew, curried spam…”.
It is no wonder that a girl looks around for more. Our heroine, Elaine, has a lot on her plate (no spoilers), including a boring boyfriend, and so, when (the real life) war photographer, Robert Capa, comes along – (“everyone opened up to Robert Capa like blooming oysters…”) Elaine slowly opens up and falls head over heels. “His camera was round his neck as usual, the way other men wore ties…”. There is lots of passion, but it’s all so cleverly, subtly portrayed – the time they spend in bed, in the bath and dancing (“dancing was the perfect antidote.., twirling, whirling, obliterating this silly, silly, never-ending war…”) – none of it is spoiled with graphic detail and that makes it even more passionate.
Elaine doesn’t have a whole lot of respect for herself. She can never quite allow herself to believe in this beautiful wartime romance. “Robert Capa was an escape,” she told herself, but in her own life there was “grim reality” that she couldn’t, shouldn’t deny. (Again, no spoilers). At the same time, she wants to be in Heaven, when Hell is around her. “Don’t fall in love with anyone else, Elaine told the kettle and the stove…”. When she receives notes from her lover, “Even the writing on his note had her enthralled. The loops of the first Ys felt like a sexual innuendo.”. Page captures brilliantly “a woman from behind the scenes” and I really liked Elaine. I wanted to put my arms around her and tell her how blooming amazing she was. (But she probably wouldn’t have liked that).
For me, that love story between famous Robert Capa and a girl who felt very ordinary, never believing she was up to his level, who was even insecure in her work (which was very important to the war machine – deciphering, looking for clues, reading behind the lines of correspondence from pows) was the most compelling part of this book. The other threads that spin from this central love story are important – the modern-day story of Elaine’s family two generations later, fascinating in the way that it shows how much is lost (or deviated) of the stories of war as time goes by. The way that women still put themselves second is another strong thread – Elaine’s granddaughter, on holiday in Spain with her family, separated from her husband, Paul, whose eyes are bigger than his marriage, needs “a sprinkling of special” in her life. Don’t we all…
This is rather a long review and I feel I haven’t written half of what I wanted to say. It’s a great book and I thank NetGalley for allowing me to read it in exchange for an honest review. If you are interested in the Second World War and family wars, then this book is for you. Wonderful!

Was disappointed in this book. I kept waiting for it to .take off but it never did- in fact I couldn’t wait to get to the end - it never really went anywhere- disappointing.

Yet another wonderful book from Lizzie Page - I just love the deft and thrilling blend of fact and fiction, and the way she brings characters from the past back to life. I am such a huge fan of her work.

It's an orginal story spread over two time lines about Elaine towards the end of WW2 and her granddaughter Jen. It's a story of love and loss and how the two main characters deal with it. It was my first time reading anything by this author and I would like to read more. I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the book to review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own views and are completely unbiased

A story that I enjoyed because it had drama, suspense and hope . This book kept me interested as it had a good storyline and interesting characters. I do recommend that you read this intriguing book.

I really fell in love with this book, The Forgotten Girls. It's a beautifully written tale of two different time periods, two different women and a common story connecting them from decades past. This is a story about the strength of friendship, the pain of lost love and hope for something better. Beautifully done, the imagery is well written and I found myself picturing the scenes and living them out in my mind's eye. Well done!

A beautifully written love story in the backdrop of WW2. The courage lacking in the previous generation is brought out in a nice way in the present generation. If it brings tears to your eyes, it means the author has succeeded.

Imagine for just a brief moment in time, you might possibly be related to a famous war photographer. Would that spark your interest, would it awaken new ideas for you, would it bring some family secrets that had long since been buried back to the surface? For Jen, a woman who is trying to come to terms with her placement in a complicated family, a teenage son who needs her less and less and a husband in the middle of an “identity crisis” that involves him cheating on her. When Jen is summoned to her brothers house, she is clueless as to the occasion. Only moments after her arrival, her brother drops the bomb that their grandmother had ties to famous photographer, Robert Capa and there’s a possibility that he might actually be the father of Jens mother and aunt.

As a result of the news, the story jumps back to 1943 and Elaine Parker’s involvement with the famous photographer. Her friends warned her that he was the type of guy who had a girl in every port but that didn’t stop her from falling in love anyway. He was known for being involved with well known women and for him to fall in love with her was completely unexpected. Over the course of WWII, he was sent to cover DDay and other aspects of the war all over Europe. While they wined and dined at night, Elaine has some difficult brothers to deal with. Though he insisted he would give up the work, Elaine couldn’t let him do it for her so she abruptly ended things. Her story of strength and hope helped Jen in ways she never imagined.

Based on real people, The Forgotten Girls is a gripping read from start to finish. I grappled with the title being appropriate for the story from the beginning but once I finished it and read the authors notes...it totally makes sense so be sure to read the authors notes. This is a multigenerational story and it’s beautifully woven together. Once I found out that Elaine Parker and Robert Capa were real, I took to google to find out more. I love it when books do that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture and Lizzie Page for the privilege of reading this story before its release date. As the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII approaches, I’m compelled to read as much as I can from as many perspectives as possible and with WWII...it’s a vast field. It’s always a great pleasure to read one from the perspective of women, whose roles during the war were often unacknowledged and forgotten.

Another wonderful book from the pen of Lizzie Page,excellent story with very likable characters and a book i can highly recommend.5*

I loved this book and didn’t want it to end!

Apart from the great storylines, the thing I love most about Lizzie Page books are the strong female characters who are clearly women of their time but who are dealing with issues that are just as relevant today. The Forgotten Girls is no exception and - In both timelines - Elaine and Jen are women I could identify with and root for. There are moments in this story which are heartbreaking and I wanted to shout at the characters not to make certain choices – it really brought home the sacrifices that women made during the war.

What I also find fascinating is the way in which the author weaves real historical characters into the story. The description of life in wartime London was also evocative and transported me there. I would love to see this book made into a film!