Can an ‘ordinary life’ become incredible and unforgettable? Yes, if Amanda Prowse creates it and writes a beautifully compelling story about it. Author Prowse gifts us real characters, and writes about them with such vivid language, that the book you are holding will fade away, and you will see- right in front of you- characters seated in comfortable arm chairs by a fire, chatting and drinking tea out of china cups. Thanks to the marvelous storytelling, I spent a few days with Molly and her family and I laughed with them, cried plenty, and found peace with them.

The first chapter begins with Molly, age 94, appearing to be at the end of her life. Chapter 2 takes us back to 1943, London, where 18-year-old Molly is working for the war effort as a translator. She meets a handsome young naval man and her life changes forever. Chapter by chapter, we are with Molly as she struggles through the war and her young adult years, then reaches a plateau of peace in her middle and elderly years. Only her sister Joyce really knows what Molly has endured. And no one knows about her heroism during World War II.

“The Light in the Hallway” is another favorite book of mine by Ms. Prowse. And we all do need “a light in the hallway”, a talisman, a promise of hope. We see this metaphor in “An Ordinary Life”. Joyce tells Molly that a united and loving family stands with her. Family becomes Molly’s anchor; family, and a shiny button from a naval uniform. Molly learns to live a contented, ordinary life, and she learns that this is a success to be proud of. (The only thing Molly was wrong about is that telephones in homes did catch on.)

In addition to living, breathing, lovable, sometimes unlovable, and nuanced characters, the descriptions and actions all enhance the story and move it forward. This book is a superb example of masterful storytelling. Because it will grab your soul, you may cry and feel sorrow while you are reading. Some of the story was very moving and shredded me.

I highly recommend “An Ordinary Life” and I thank Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

At 94, Molly is lying in the hospital after having suffered a stroke and injuries sustained in a fall. Unable to speak she realizes she has not been able to fulfill a promise made long ago. As she lies in bed we are taken on the journey with her as she reminisces about all she has experienced in life and where her choices have taken her. Beginning in war torn London we are taken through the lasting effects of war, decades of societal changes, and the bravery of a woman who considers herself to be ordinary. Pushing the limits of social expectations, overcoming challenges and brokenness, Molly continually does whatever is necessary to protect those she loves. Her ordinary life is actually quite extraordinary. This is a great book that I fully enjoyed reading #netgalley #goodreads #anordinarylife #amazon

An Ordinary Life was a welcome read with Amanda in her top form. Her research is woven into a gripping story with rich characters that you get to know so that you really feel part of their lives. Molly’s story is well told and I felt her isolation, living at home with her cold and bitter mother. Her lovely sister Joyce and brother David brought the love and life which enabled her to be a better mother in the most unconventional way. Glimpses into war experiences are so insightful and leave such a lasting impression. May we never go there again! I’m always left knowing and understanding a bit more about whatever situation and times are depicted in Amanda’s books and also feel the loss of good people when I’ve finished the book. A five star read equally suited to the beach, the fireside or a bedtime alternative to the many rubbish TV programmes that currently abound.

An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse is both a sweet love story set in WWII England and a heart wrenching tale of some of life’s choices. It begins when the main character Molly, has a serious fall at age 94 and then takes a look back at her life. I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it. Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the early copy.

This book is a WW2 story. It begins in 2019 with 94 year-old Molly, but then quickly transitions to the 1940's and Molly's life in London, helping with the war efforts. She is swept off of her feet by a man in a whirlwind romance. The war intensifies and tragedies are all around. Molly is forced to make some of the hardest decisions of her life. The book follows Molly through the war and in the years later as she deals with the aftermath of her war memories and the secrets that she hides.

The novel opens with 94 year old Molly Collway in her beloved cottage reflecting back on her life and finally planning to write a long promised letter to someone very important to her. A letter she never gets to finish. Her life hasn't always been easy, especially as a young woman, but her later years have been filled with love and family. It's her early years, as an 18 year old working as a translator in the Ministry of Information during WW2 that she recalls most strongly. Where her best friend Geer introduced her to her handsome brother Johan, a navy officer and they fell head over heels in love. For many young women, WW2 was an extraordinary time when they not only had to go out to work but also had to make choices they never would have been free to make before. The consequences of Molly's choices would set her life on the path that it took for the rest of her life.

Molly's story made for an enjoyable read, but lacked that something extra needed to lift Molly's life out of the ordinary after the war. However, it will likely appeal to readers who love family dramas.

<I>With thanks to Amazon UK Publishing and Netgalley for a digital copy to read</I>

What a lovely story. I don't usually read historical fiction, but I'm glad I had a chance to read this novel. Molly, the protagonist, is a wonderful character. She's so full of life and determination, no matter what circumstances she finds herself in. Her family members are also fully realized characters. The trip through time, from the middle of WWII when Molly is 18, until the age of 94, is an interesting take on each time period. Throughout the book, it becomes obvious that everybody has moments of extraordinary in an otherwise "ordinary life."

"Christmas Eve, 2019. Ninety-four-year-old Molly lies in her hospital bed. A stroke and a fall may have broken her body—but her mind is alive with memories.

London, 1940s. Molly is a bright young woman, determined to help the war effort and keep her head up despite it all. Life becomes brighter when she meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance. But then war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice, and when she’s brought to her knees by a daring undercover mission with the French Resistance, only her sister knows the secret weighing heavily on Molly’s heart.

Now, lying in her hospital bed, Molly can’t escape the memories of what she lost all those years ago. But she is not as alone as she thinks.

Will she be able to find peace—and finally understand that what seemed to be an ordinary life was anything but?"

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Historical fiction of a life during and after WWII. It is hard to read in places.If you let yourself think of the position people were in during those times,(especially women and children and the people of Great Britain) it is disturbing. Without giving any spoilers, there's not much to tell. I rather enjoyed the book but mainly felt sorry for this extraordinary/ deemed ordinary life.While dramatic, I did not like the ending.But the author definitely will evoke a variety of emotions from you as you read. Enjoy.
I was provided an advanced reader copy of this book and was under no obligation to provide a review. The opinions expressed are my own.
Thanks to the author. publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This is a wonderful book and it’s certainly not about an ordinary life. It does underscore, however, how one person’s journey can have a resounding effect on those around them, and how each experience adds yet another layer to the character of a person we become, until at the last, we are fully developed.

Beautifully written prose with words so perfectly chosen like these....”These were boys who she knew had not lived through the war, or they would know that a few upturned drawers was nothing compared to the sight of a flattened house with all its belongings lying splintered for all the world to see.” That simple sentence conveying the most awfulness of war trumps everything.

We meet Molly Collway as a young working girl in London doing her best to survive the Blitz, enjoying what simple pleasures she and her friends can find during wartime. She meets a young solder, falls in love and at this moment the reader decides the story will be very predictable. And for a few chapters it is, being very much saved by the emotional writing of the talented Amanda Prowse. It’s only predictable for a very short while before the reader is engaged in a relationship with a most remarkable cast of characters who will be remembered long after the last page is read. Don’t pass up this book.

A well written, well-told story of love and sacrifice. When Molly's life plans changed due to love and loss, she kept her determination to live the life she wanted. She didn't think that societal pressure that existed in the 1940's would force her to make decisions she would have never made if her mother and society would mind their own business. Her one decision to love changed her entire life. What happened next in her life, and all the next's provided anything but an ordinary life.

What an amazing, heartbreaking story. An emotional read and happy I had tissues near by as tears fell.
Story of Molly from a young girl to a young mother during the war to a woman who had to make hard decisions to survive and the impact on her life as the years went on.
M is for Marvelous

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the opportunity to read this book.

I laughed, I cried, I gasped, and cringed...all due to the uncanny ability Amanda Prowse has to make you indentify with the amazing characters that she so easily brings to life. Molly is a very real woman who has not, in my opinion lived an ordinary life. She fell in love and lost her love, Johan, -a casualty of the war. She overcame so many obstacles and lost so much in her attempt to keep her dream a reality. The passages with her mother were so achingly heartbreaking to me, as were those with her sister, her husband and Joe. The tension during her activities with the French Resistance were palpable and felt so realistic. Loved Molly, especially her seeming acceptance and understanding of her emotional breakdowns. She endured so much heartbreak in her life, especially with Joe. The symbolism of the button was very touching throughout the story and very poignant when Joe found it. Hoping he finds her letter to him as well. Such an amazing read once again from Amanda Prowse, one of my favorite authors.many many thanks to Amanda Prowse, Kindle Edition, and NetGalley for affording me the honor of reading an arc of this soon to be published emotional story.

I loved this book. Poor Molly, has had a lonely life, but makes the best of it. Her choices in life have allowed her to support herself and live on her own. Her sister Joyce, and Molly are very close and share the bond of Joe.
Lovely book. I miss Molly already.....

I always enjoy sitting down with a novel by Amanda Prowse; I enjoy the rollercoaster ride and ensure I have tissues to hand. Molly’s life was anything but ordinary and Amanda Prowse has cleverly weaved together a story of fictional history, memoir and love. Molly had to make some tough decisions and along the way she made some very special friends and work colleagues, and watched her small family grow. The thing that all these people had in common was that they all loved Molly.

Thank you to Amanda Prowse for another 5-star entertaining read. I adored Molly and didn’t want her extraordinary story to end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of An Ordinary Life.

What an absolutely beautiful and poignant telling of British life during and after World War II. The story is told through the memory of a woman 94 years old beginning in 1943 when Molly, our protagonist, is 18.

The descriptions are vivid to the point that I almost covered my ears while reading about the blitz. The development of the characters is excellent.

Thankfully, the storyline is straight forward carrying the reader through all the decades of Molly’s life, ending in 2019. There is no flip-flopping, back and forth (which has become so popular with writers and so irritating to readers) just a retelling of 75 years of life, death, loss and forgiveness.

In this era of such affluence we’re in, it’s good to read about those caught up in the ravages of war, having to make decisions they’d never choose in a stable time, but doing whatever they must to survive and provide stability for those they love.

I also very much appreciate the fact that each chapter was headed with the place, the date and the age Molly had achieved.

This novel gets 5* all around! I will look forward to others by Amanda Prowse. I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, Lake Union Publishing, in exchange for an unbiased review.

I’m sorry but I just couldn’t get into this book. I won’t post a negative review on my blog or any social sites because I don’t want to hurt the author.

I’m a great fan of Amada Prowse and have loved everything she’s ever written. It was no surprise, therefore, that I loved this wonderful book and enjoyed every minute spent within its pages. The book spans a very long time period from the second world war until the present day. Starting with the lead character, Molly, a 94-year-old who has suffered a bad fall and is unable to communicate with people although she has written a letter for her son that she is determined he should read. The story then goes back to Molly’s life as a 20-year-old. From thereon her story is told chronologically which is something I was especially happy about. No skipping back and forth – just a beginning, middle and end which made her fascinating life story so much easier to follow. She falls in love with Johan but their time together is short as the war forces them apart and what happens at that point changes many lives completely. Here is a story of love, loss, great sacrifice and at its heart is a remarkably strong woman. I loved the characters in this book. There are so many kind, courageous and lovable people all with their own stories to tell. This book highlights the fact that what we perceive about a person may be a million miles away from the truth. While Molly appears to be an ordinary woman, (and which is also the way she would describe herself), she is far, far more than that. Her extraordinary life, the horrors she goes through, the choices she makes, make this lady very extraordinary. This book had my heart breaking, my spirits lifting and my tears falling. Beautifully written as always by this eloquent author, it’s a book I’d recommend one hundred percent. My thanks to the publishers and to Netgalley for a pre release copy in return for my honest opinion.

I loved this book. I would give it 5+ stars. I liked the historical storyline., and felt my heart hurt and rejoiced for Molly and the choices she chose to make over her life. What an inspiring character she is!!

My rating:

Plot: 5 out of 5 stars
Writing: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Character development: 4 out of 5 stars
Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

Women’s Fiction
Historical Fiction



Review:

An ordinary life starts of when Molly who at age 94 lies immobile in a hospital bed after a stroke and a fall. This book tells the beautiful story about a kind strong woman who has experienced it all, love and loss and hast a few skeletons in her closet. Her remarkable story starts as a young girl during the war determined to do her bit until the present day in her hospital back reflecting back on her life. The book is beautifully written, highly emotional and very touching. The plot is nicely paced and flows well. The main characters are kind and strong people they have real human traits and their actions were well explained. This made them realistic

Overall:

An interesting story about a woman’s life that is far from ordinary. The writing is vivid and highly emotional. The characters were nice and feel realistic. This is great book that grabs you and holds you captivated till the end.

Wonderful, wonderful story, another winner from Amanda Prowse. It's a heartbreaking story of a love taken too soon and a young life altered forever by WWII. It made you wonder how much sadness and pain one person could handle in a lifetime. Can one ever forget the ugliness of the war and the horrible losses it inflicted on the families of the young men lost to them forever? The story is about 94 year old Molly who lived anything but an ordinary life. How much do we actually know about our elders and the secrets they kept because they were seemed as being shameful. I loved this book, it kept you guessing until the very end as well. Just perfect, I loved every bit of it.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publishers for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review