This is told in a dual timeline
The characters were well developed and I liked some of them
This is heartwarming and heartbreaking

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️. I am a huge fan of historical fiction especially books during WWII. Unfortunately, this one it was just okay to me.

Things I liked: the cover, chapters switching between two different time periods, some of the characters (Mrs Honey, Billie and Joan), the authors writing style and I guess the ending was satisfying in a way.

Things I didn’t like:
Let’s start with the characters-
*Stevie/Dick…personally I think he should have been called Dick when he was younger rather than as an old man. The way his character changed halfway through the book repulsed me! Also, unless I missed it, there was no explanation for the name change?!
*Ruby - I liked her in the beginning but as Stevie changed, I lost respect for her character and found her to be weak and pathetic.
*Aunt Ida - cruel
*Martha & Ted - evil

I also feel like the story starts off really well and then by 50% just takes a massive turn (not for the better) and it just all started to fall apart for me. Again, I absolutely hated the direction the author went with Stevie/Dick’s character….it is the main reason for a lower rating. I sadly have to say I would not recommend this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

For other reviews I’ve left check out my Instagram and Goodreads pages:
*Instagram - bookworm_traveler808
*Goodreads - Cherihy808

I really enjoy WWII historical fiction, and I liked this one because of its past and present timelines. Finding out how Billie’s father relates to the WWII storyline was so interesting! I felt like I was transported into this story and fully enjoyed my read.

I love WWII historical fiction and was looking forward to reading my first book by Suzanne Goldring and I was not disappointed!! This book is so good. I love her writing style and the way the story flows from beginning to end. Any story with a dual timeline is a automatic plus for me and she wrote this in a magical way. The characters are richly developed and I felt all kinds of emotions throughout the book. If you are a fan of historical fiction and even if you aren't, I would add this one to your TBR list!

Great dual timeline story with Billie in the present trying to piece together a mystery of her father in the war. I loved the story and couldn't put it down, the characters were realistic as were the historical times. Emotional compelling reading

This was an engrossing and emotional read. This was my first book by Suzanne Goldring, and I absolutely loved her writing style. It just had a easy flow to it, and the story moved so smoothly as I was reading. I enjoyed the dual timeline, and did not get confused by it at all. This story will stay with me for quite some time. I look forward to reading more by this author.

WWII historical fiction books are my favorite genre and the fact this is a dual timeline book makes it even more appealing. The characters are well developed and I liked all of the women except one. You will know who I am talking about once you read the book. There are so many emotions expressed throughout the pages…from PTSD and abuse to hope, love, bravery, and relationships. This is a really well researched book and the focus was on a different aspect of WWII than I have typically read. This is definitely a book to put on your to-be-read list.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookoutre for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

A great book told through dual time lines – present and during the war. It covers the emotional, yet necessary, evacuation of children from London to either the countryside, or in some cases further afield, for their own safety. This was undoubtedly traumatic for all involved.
We see a daughter trying to piece together her Dad’s life story after he is upset following seeing some photos from the war. We then get to see how that timeline plays out for ourselves, from being a boy to him being in the forces.
We follow the story of the evacuees as they went through the war and grew into adults, having the impact of the war shadowing their lives forever.
The Girl Without a name is gripping and emotional, the writing is fantastic and will keep you engaged until the very last moment. You are there alongside the characters, feeling their pain as well as their accomplishments.

Highly recommended

This book is from Bookouture who I work for. I’ve downloaded it for checking purposes which is why there isn’t a full review here.

Loved this book. Very good solid characters who you really feel for. Ruby is a child in ww2. She and some other london kids are removed from the dangers of london life during the war. She moves to mrs honeys beautiful cottage in north England. She lives with another older girl called joan who quickly becomes like a sister to her. Joan and her brother stevie become very important characters in her life.
Sadly a bomb destroys Ruby's home in London and leaves her an orphan. Ruby's aunt comes up and takes her back to london and she lives the life of hired help over her aunts pub. It's a glimpse of life at a time after the war. We also meet Stevie in another side of the story... later in his life... and his daughter tries to figure out the reason he held Ruby's picture in his wallet for so many years. A Very good story wrapped around a true event.

The Girl Without a Name is set in a dual timeline of WW2 and more current day. A daughter discovers her dad after he has had a stroke and cannot communicate with his family. The daughter discovers some information about her dad's past that does not align with her beliefs and knowledge about her father.

Ruby and Stevie met as long children and their relationship grew as they grew. Their lives intersected at many different points and they came to rely on each other. It appeared that they had a true love. Ruby was the one person that understood what horrors Stevie had seen during the war and was able to comfort him.

I understand that the horrors of war and conflict can change people. The impact can be devastating and this was no different for Ruby and Stevie's relationship.

This is a big disconnect for me between Stevie's pronounced love and adoration for Ruby and his total dismissal and lack of anguish at her perceived death. He just walked away. I understand it was a different time and affairs and divorce were hush hushed. But he just left. He didn't even try to find her or find out if she survived. I get there was a perceived assumption she was dead. This was the final act that made me come to dislike Stevie with a great passion.

And don't get me started on Aunt Ida. She was a horrid person.

While this books description pointed to things during the war the reality wasn’t the case. Though parts of the book took place during the war the main storyline of between Ruby & Stevie didn’t. I think I was expecting more (during the war)because of the description, but the great story made up for this. I loved the mousey character of Ruby, she just pulled on your heartstrings and you wanted such good things for her. And that shocker of an ending! Wow!

This was a really,really good book! Suzanne Goldring is a fantastic read,heartwarming and a love story of what went wrong. Grab a few tissues,just in case,I did! Learn what happens when you cover up a secret ,it so eats at you and it takes over your life. Sad and true but there's a surprise at the end but not for all. The characters, Ruby,Stevie,Joan,Billie and some others find out what happens to them during the war in England,must not forget Miss Honey who took in children in the country to escape the bombing in London. Another different way to live in the country compared to the city. See how do many children escaped the bombing and country people took them in. Some who really cared,some not so much,but who you going to tell? Follow Ruby and Stevie's lives as young teens and see how their adult life turns out some for the good and some for not so good.. It takes a heart a long time to heal when it's hurt,especially at that age,do you really get over it. Watch as this story unfolds for you and draws you in where you have to keep reading!! Received from Net Gallery thank you!!

Keeps you guessing until the end…
Written in a classically English Suspense style (think Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier), The Girl Without a Name by Suzanne Goldring is a literary labyrinth that will surprise you, turn after turn, and lead you to a totally unexpected conclusion. Told as two concurrently unfolding stories that begin with Billie’s discovery of a worn, black and white snap shot of a young girl in her widowed and retired father’s wallet after a stroke leaves him hospitalized and repeatedly saying, what sounds like “Ruby”. The story then jumps back to England in the 1940s when children from larger cities were sent to the countryside and subsidized to live with rural families as a way to escape the near constant German bombings during WWII. Ruby and Stevie are two of those children, schoolmates who develop a deep friendship and affection away from London. Their experiences in these evacuee homes differ drastically and are the catalysts to many of their views and actions after the war. When circumstances beyond their control push them back to London, they lose contact until an unexpected meeting, as young adults, ignites into a tragic romance.



Suzanne Goldring has spun an entrancing and captivating drama that catches the essence and nuances of Ruby’s adolescent mind during the great war and her subsequent development into a young lady, whose heart has loyally belonged to Stevie all those years. Their significantly different experiences during the war and after, one sheltered and one exposed to great trauma and horrors, greatly impacts their outlooks and behaviors going forward, leading to a ripple effect that will eventually tear them apart. I was fascinated by Suzanne’s ability to deftly blur the lines between good and bad in establishing who the ultimate victim ended up being. You cannot help but vacillate your support between Ruby and Stevie the more you come to know each character and what they have experienced.

The Girl Without a Name is a fabulously thought out and written drama that will keep you in suspense until the very end. Suzanne’s writing style and attention to detail makes the story flow effortlessly from page to page and between the two past and present perspectives. The historical details give the story great authenticity and the experiences of Ruby and Stevie, and its impact on their lives and relationship, personalize the mystery. While there is not the happily ever ending, in the traditional sense, there is a definite sense of closure and poetic justice meted out in the end.

This was a gripping, emotional read. I highly recommend.
Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I'm a big fan of historical fiction/women's fiction so when I saw this book was available on Netgalley I knew I had to read it. The plot sounded so good I knew I would enjoy every second of this. The characters are well rounded and the story so well constructed. I definitely can't wait to read more by this author.

I LOVED Burning Island by Suzanne Goldring, so I was THRILLED to read her new book! This book is an excellent look into the effects of adverse childhood trauma as a person becomes an adult. There were fabulous twists in the story. I felt every emotion throughout this book! Great novel!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Book Description:

September 1940. As the bombs of the Blitz fall on London, Ruby and Stevie are falling in love. United by a shocking experience when they were evacuees, Ruby believes that she understands Stevie like nobody else can. But then Stevie is sent abroad into danger and as Ruby waits, desperately, for letters with foreign stamps that never come, she begins to fear that he is lost forever.

August 2004. Billie has rushed to her father Dick’s hospital bedside. A terrible stroke has robbed him of his speech, and he is a shell of the man he was before. But when Billie finds a crumpled black and white photo in his wallet of a smiling, dark-haired girl she doesn’t recognise, Dick frantically tries to talk. Billie knows that he is trying to tell her something important, and she must ask the questions her father cannot. All she has to go on is the name he is just able to mumble. Ruby.

Billie tracks down Ruby’s aunt, her only surviving relative, and learns that Ruby’s life contained great love, but also great tragedy. Billie is determined to find out what happened to this brave woman, last seen leaving her home for a secret weekend away. Why did nobody miss her? And how is she connected to Billie’s beloved father? Can Billie lay the ghosts of the past to rest, even if it means revealing the darkest secrets of her father’s life and breaking her own heart?

A completely compelling and heartbreaking read, this is the story of the courage of a young woman in wartime and another woman’s quest to right the injustices of history. Fans of The Letter and The Nightingale will be hooked on The Girl Without a Name.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Girl Without A Name' by Suzanne Goldring.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 5th November 2020

This is the first book that I have read by this author.

I was originally drawn to this book by its eye catching cover and intriguing synopsis. I was looking for a different genre to my usual crime and this one definitely caught my eye. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 63 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in the UK 🇬🇧 . I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture the scenes.

This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Billy, Stevie and Ruby. The positives of third person perspectives with several protagonists are it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

This novel is very well written with a beautiful cover that compliments the storyline well. The descriptions were vivid and it is obvious that the author has done her research. There's nothing worse than reading a historical novel which is littered with mistakes about that era.

I loved how the storyline weaved between the past and the present smoothly and at the correct timings not too give too much away. I also enjoyed the fact that there wasn't many gaps in time lines so you didn't feel you were missing bug chunks out. I really enjoyed reading how the characters grew from children to young adults and all the changes in their lives. It had me completely hooked and I really felt that I was going into the past with them. The only thing I will say is that i do think it may have read better in first person perspective during some parts to get a better grasp on what was going through their minds. I absolutely LOVED and did not expect that final chapter which left me gob smacked but also was very thought provoking. It left me with lots of questions about whether I think some people did the right thing and if they deserved it. I can't say more than that as I don't want to spoil anything for future readers.

THE characters were a large mix of personalities and my feelings towards the characters definitely changed throughout the book. There were parts where I really felt for Stevie but then afterwards I thought he was horrid and really did deserve what he got. I adored Mrs Honey and thought her name suited her perfectly. I really couldn't abide Ida and I had mixed feelings with Ruby throughout the book. The Barfords were horrid people but I also know that many people took evacuees for their own gain and without a care to the children.

I am looking forward to reading more books from this talented author and would love to see this turned into a movie!!

Overall an eye opening, gripping, emotion filled novel with an unexpected twist that will stay with you for a long time after you finished the book.

Genres covered in this novel include Romance Novel, Historical Fiction and Historical Romance amongst others.

I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as well as anyone looking for a gripping historical fiction

334 pages.

This book is £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I loved it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

Feel free to add me on Goodreads or follow me on my website or Facebook for more reviews

#TheGirlWithoutAName #Bookouture #SuzanneGoldring #NetGalley #BookReview #BlogTour #BooksOnTour
@SuzanneGoldring @Bookouture @Bookworm1986 @bookworm86

https://kcmw86.wixsite.com/bookworm86

https://m.facebook.com/Bookworm1986/?ref=bookmarks

https://m.facebook.com/Bookwork86/?__tn__=%2As-R

Author Bio:

Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Whether she is working in her thatched cottage in Hampshire or her seaside home in North Cornwall, Suzanne finds inspiration in the secrets hidden by everyday life.

https://suzannegoldring.wordpress.com/
https://twitter.com/suzannegoldring

Buy Links:

Amazon: https://bit.ly/3kGjTKJ
Apple: https://apple.co/2ZE3rCo
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2WxpvwS
Google: https://bit.ly/32sA5cg

I loved this book! I am always captured by books with a past and present link, especially ones of WW2 era in Europe. I could hardly believe the story as it unfolded before my eyes. As Intriguing and compelling as I have read in awhile.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book for an honest review.

Set over 2 timelines, this book seemed interesting but, I must admit, I was a little disappointed.

I really enjoyed the first half of this book, learning about Ruby's childhood. The second half though was totally different. The story redeemed itself at the end but not enough for me to give it a higher rating.