Letters of Love
This is a story of war time and of romance. It is also a story of a top secret invention that saved so many lives during the war. The men and women that invented it and those that perfected it and used it to keep others out of harm's way.

Most of all it is a story of feelings, of loved ones lost, of courage to go on and of patriotism for one's country. The story of family and friends all sticking together to survive in war times.

It is a story of acceptance, diversity and a feeling of belonging, of being a part of something larger than yourself. Diplomacy and communication. Working together for a common goal. Long nights, exhausting work, and a bit of romance. The fear of loss, the bombing, the planes, the whole of war as seen from a few brave men and women. Those behind the scenes helping to keep those in battle safe.
The story of a love found and lost because of missed communication. A young woman, a scientist, and the dream of a future. The ending is great, I loved it. There was a twist I never expected but in a good sort of way.

I loved the characters, the book was engaging and very well written. I recommend it.

Thanks to Liz Trenow, Bookouture, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advance copy of the book for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. Kath is working along side her mom in a small town on the easternmost side of England. The military is secretly taking over the biggest manor in town and working on secrets for the impending war. One of those scientists is Vic. Kath and Vic’s path cross but what happens next with their different jobs in the war? Pretty good read. #ourlastletter #liztrenow #feb2020

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was my first book by Liz Trenow and I don't believe it will be my last. Ms. Trenow has written an engaging book about hope, love and loss during the Second World War. There are two main characters, the first one being Kathleen (Kath) Motts, who lives in Felixstowe with her mother Maggie and her father Bob. The other is Vikram (Vic or Mac) Mackenzie who is of mixed heritage - his father being Scottish from Edinburgh and his mother from India.

The story takes place in two time periods - starting in July 1936 and ending in December 1973. This story is part fiction and part non-fiction. For the most part it takes place in Bawdsey Manor. In 1873 William Cuthbert Quilter bought the land and built his Victorian home to which over the years he added towers. His wife Lady Quilter concentrated on the beautiful formal gardens. In 1936 the Air Ministry purchased the Manor from the Quilters.

Sir Robert Watson-Watt and his team of scientists took up residence. They worked in absolute secrecy to develop a new radio direction finding technology as they feared that an outbreak of war was inevitable. RAF Bawdsey became the very first fully operational radar station in the world. It was Sir Watson-Watt's mother who convinced her son that they should be hiring women to train as radar operators as she felt that they had better concentration, more patience and delicate touches with the sensitive instruments than the men had. This was how the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) was founded.

Vik was one of these brilliant scientists that worked on developing the radar and Kath went from working in a restaurant, to working in the kitchen at Bawdsey Manor to training and becoming a member of the WAAF as a radar operator. When they were not stationed in the same place they wrote to each other and kept in touch over the years. However, the war time postal service, not being very dependable ...... led to some misunderstandings, a loss of hope but in the end love does triumph.

This book was absolutely engaging and very difficult to put down. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a lovely story with historical backgrounds.

Thank you net galley for the advance reader copy of this novel. This was a historical WWII fiction set in Britain and dealt with the people involved with radar creation and use. Vikram, the male main character, is half British and half Indian is a brilliant scholar put to work on developing the technology. Kathleen, female main character, is a local who signs up for training to be on the radar crew. The two have their paths cross and fall in love then get stationed far apart. Their letters never find their way to each other and they move on with life only to be reunited at the very end of the novel. I wanted to love this book. The book was slow to develop the relationship between Vik and Kathleen in a painful way and gave them hardly any time actually together. There was a lot research done with the radar development but then the author didn't put how much was factual at the end as in almost every other historical fiction. The novels start was confusing with the present time period and mention of people that later come to the story. Overall a good read but was too forced at some points.

Vikram Mackensie is half Indian, half Scottish and utterly brilliant in maths and sciences, but less so with people. Feeling more than a bit adrift after his wife of 20 years has passed, the newspaper reveals a story that a friend and boss of his during the war had passed, and he’s gripped by a sudden desire to ‘return’ to where everything began to pay his respects, and perhaps find the woman from the little Suffolk seaside village that he mislaid some 30 years back.

Kathleen Motts has always thought that she was meant for ‘more’, even if she’d allowed herself to be distracted by a boy and then later the changes at Bawdsey Manor just a ferry-ride away from the center of town. With the war looming, and secrets coming at her left and right, she’s soon helping her mother at the Manor as a kitchen assistant – where she meets and unusual and rather shy Vik.

Oh this story was lovely: from their war work separating them by miles and for weeks to their own missteps and miscues as both are ‘novices’ at the romance game: we get to know Vik and his struggles, Kath and hers – and get a peek inside the very important use of Vik’s brain in developing a system to identify and track airplanes using simple radio waves. But the story really isn’t in the connection of Vik’s invention to both provide Kath work and save many UK and US pilots (and targets for German bombs) during the war – but a story of the two finding one another, love and ultimately losing one another for many years. And the pure fate, or coincidence, that shows these two, who we’ve come to appreciate and cheer for, never really forgot each other and the “what if”. A lovely story that unfolds in two perspectives, full of the struggles and losses in a life (or two), particularly during wartime or separations, and the simple persistence due to a ‘mistake’ that brought them both back together once again. Each book that I’ve read from Liz Trenow brings complex characters, history and emotion to the forefront – and this is no exception.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aCO /”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

This book is beautifully written, and the story is absolutely captivating. It makes you not want to put it down and stop reading, even long after the book is over. Loved it!

I really wanted to get into this book. The summary pulled me in but as I sat down to read, the book just didn’t pull me in. I’m disappointed that this didn’t latch on to me and I didn’t finish reading it.