I’m writing this review, drying the tears from my eyes. Such a wonderful book that pulls on all the emotions.
Set during the Second World War, Molly falls deeply in love with Johan from the moment she sees him, but unbeknownst to them, their time together is short.
Molly discovers she is pregnant and not being married, she has to hide it. She’s not very close to her mother and can’t bring herself to tell her, so the first she knows is when Molly gives birth in their home.
Molly loved Joe so much but everything is put in her way to stop her from bringing him up on her own.
Molly has to make a heart wrenching decision and it’s one she never really gets over.
At the beginning of the book we meet Molly, aged 94 and the letter she is trying to write becomes more poignant as the story goes on.
I laughed and I cried whilst reading this book but the main feeling it’s left me with is love, as Molly knew it’s true meaning.
This is a wonderful book that will stay with me for a long time.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

This book was such an emotional rollercoaster! Molly's life was anything but 'An ordinary life' and actually a story with plenty of heart break and drama.
Molly meets the love of her life during WW2 . But it is a bittersweet love story and soon after meeting her love ,Molly's life changes in so many ways.
Living through WW2 was hard, harder still for Molly and the sacrifices and decisions that she had to make. Tissues recommended when reading!
I really enjoyed this book, and the ending was fitting I'd say.

A beautiful story set over 80 plus years. We first meet Molly in present day times and then are taken back to Molly in the midst of World War Two.

We follow her life and her choices over the years. We see the difficult decisions she had to make that were determined by the social norms of those years.

I found how Molly's story was laid out very beautiful. I also loved the family dynamics of her family.

I will admit to not 100% loving the ending. I loved half of it - the full circle coming together again, but part of the ending I found myself yelling at Joe: "Just open the damn book. Or drop it per accident so something falls out."

But after some reflection, I concede that perhaps the ending was fitting - to the story and the title. To the reader, outsiders in the story and even Molly's family, she lived by all accounts an ordinary life.
This also ties in with the theme of the book. Molly has wonderful bravery, strength and courage but all of it is carefully hidden away so that to all intents and purposes she lives this ordinary life. Never revealing to everyone how extraordinary her life really was. These strong female characters are what I especially love about Ms Prowse's books. She gives us women to admire.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Oh, I loved this book. Made me cry & made me smile, such an emotional roller coaster. I always enjoy Amanda Prowse books & to me this was one of her best. Set during the war & later, Molly meets & falls in love with Johan. Her life becomes a turmoil because of the result of the war. So much happens to her. I may have to re-read this book as I enjoyed it so much!

Always excellent books by Amanda Prowse, this one kept me enthralled from first to last page about the life of Molly starting in hospital at 90 with a fall down the stairs and then going back on her life from when she met a man she fell in love with. Recommend to anyone who loves a good book.

I’m not sure why I picked up this title... I’m not a fan of this sorrowful story. I’ve never read anything by this author and so a publisher must have suggested it.

What did I like? War stories are not my forte... but somehow this was on my list. It’s a gripping story with lost love, spies, and the damage of war. I read for pleasure and this ripped me open rather than be enjoyable.

Would I buy or recommend? I read for pleasure but really this story brought me none. If you like war stories that rip you apart you can enjoy this one.

I received a complimentary copy to read and voluntarily left a review.

When we first meet Molly, she is in her 90s and needing to write a letter to Joe to explain things. Then she has a nasty fall and a stroke and we are transported back in time to young Molly who is an independent young woman, working and living at home with her widowed and overbearing mother. Through her best fried Geer, she meets and falls madly in love with Johan who is soon killed in a military exercise. Molly then finds out she is pregnant and tries to keep it a secret until she gives birth. Molly makes a heartbreaking choice for the good of her child which impacts her for the rest of her life. I really enjoyed reading about Molly and her life and family and found it to be a very easy read.

This is the sometimes bitter-sweet story of Molly, a now 94-year old woman lying in her hospital bed following a fall and a stroke. Unable to communicate she instead thinks about her life and the important letter she had written just before the fall and which she is now afraid will never be sent or seen.

As the book goes back in time to 1943 London, we meet a young Molly full of drive and ambition. Unforeseen events mean her intended career ambitions are pushed aside, but instead this strong woman finds new opportunities to feel useful and important even while having to make some heartbreaking decisions.

As the book progresses we see that, despite Molly's life appearing to be very ordinary to those who think they know her, in fact her life has been filled with extraordinary moments. There are some strong themes running through the book of the different forms that love can take. I particularly loved how strong and honest the relationship was between Molly and her sister. Another strong theme is about how quickly things can change and to never take anything for granted.

And what of the letter? You'll have to read it and find out for yourself 😉

An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse is anything but an ordinary book. To say it is extraordinary is not enough. It is magical, first page to last page. With many, many tissues in between. What a love story – love between Johan and Molly, Molly and Joe, Molly and Joyce.

It starts out just an average (well, actually marvelous - it is Amanda Prowse, after all) story, until Molly and Johan meet. Now I’m swooning, sighing, wanting to read straight through but afraid at the same time because I know there will be tears, lots and lots of tears, ahead. What an amazing writer to always hook me so strongly so early. An Ordinary Life is one of the best historicals I have ever read, and it doesn’t stop there. It’s an historical but at the same time it’s a riveting, bittersweet journey through Molly’s life.

We meet Molly on Christmas Eve, 2019. She’s ninety-four years old and has just had a stroke and a very bad fall. She’s in the hospital, unable to speak, but not unable to think and remember. And as she remembers we are privileged to take this fascinating trip down memory lane with her.

Molly’s young life was not easy, especially after her father died. Her sister Joyce is warm and caring, but her mother is distant and cruel to her. And then Molly meets Johan. Their love is so intense, so perfect, it nearly jumps off the page. It feels so, so right. But it’s wartime London, and people have to make sacrifices. Some more than others. Much more.

Molly’s memories take us through dangerous work for the war effort, sacrifice, loss, secrets, career, friendships and disappointments – and love. The only constant in her life is her close relationship with her sister. It seems that Molly is destined to have a life of “almost” - every time opportunity seems right there, hers for the taking, something intervenes and she remains in what she considers her ordinary life. She regrets not having what might have been, but she doesn’t regret the choices she’s made. And as she lies in the hospital bed, an old woman unable to communicate with others, she realizes her life wasn’t so ordinary after all.

I can’t say enough good things about An Ordinary Life. It drew me in after just a few pages and held my interest – and my heart – for every single page. Everything author Amanda Prowse writes is beautiful, and this book is no exception. Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance copy for my reading pleasure and honest review. I recommend this wonderful book without hesitation. All opinions are my own.

Amanda Prowse did it again with a beautifully written story of a woman that lived through WWII and how her life evolved until she was 94. Decisions she made and how each era she lived through, shaped those decisions. I can’t say I agreed with her choices or believed the part she played in the war, but I was still engrossed in her story. I would’ve liked a different ending. Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC of An Ordinary Life.

💔Bittersweet love & sacrifice: bring out the tissues😢

Apart from some minor issues, this story had me all-in. Molly, the main character, is such a tragically heroic figure, ready to sacrifice again and again for her son and the family she holds so dear. Her ill-fated romance is just so poignant and stirring, every time her beloved Johan came up I felt her powerful sense of love and loss. Author Amanda Prowse really knows how to write her characters so that you identify with their emotions. This is the fourth of her works I've read in the past few years and probably the best.

Molly's relationships with the women in her life are perhaps just as important as her love story. Her workmates and her sister Joyce especially provide the compassion and support to help her through so much grief and turmoil. I thought Telsie's story was somewhat incomplete as we never learn where she came from, but her sadness and loneliness behind the laughter made her character, though a minor one, just as emotionally wrenching as Molly's.

I, frankly, found the part of the story set in France bogged down a bit with too much description that was extraneous to the drama. But, in general, the novel is extremely well written and provides fascinating glimpses over almost an eighty year period of a strong woman whose life and its setbacks seems anything but "ordinary." Have tissues at the ready for the final scenes but expect to be moved throughout her story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this powerful, emotional novel and can't wait to see what new tales Prowse has in store.

Thanks to Lake Union publishers and NetGalley for providing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review.

Amanda Prowse never disappoints! Another gets you right in the feels book! This is a beautiful historic novel set in London during WWII and the aftermath and chaos those that survived had to endure. She does a wonderful job describing what today is known as PTSD but not much was talked about in the 1940’s & 50’s. The journey that the main character Molly takes the reader from her late teens onward. A tissue box is appropriate to have next to wherever you might be reading. I could not stop reading this book once I started! I didn’t know what to expect but once again Amanda Prowse delivered a bestseller!

I adore historical books and I enjoy Amanda Prowse novels, so I was looking forward to this one to take me away from the reality of life. We follow Molly's life that unlike the title isn't actually that ordinary! The day Molly meets her friend's brother for a date her life changes very dramatically. But Molly is both resilient, strong, and resourceful and we follow her life and adventures right up to the present day. This beautifully written and I adored the character of Molly and her strength. There are many grab the tissue moments but it is a beautiful read.

An Ordinary Life by Amanda Prowse is a story of one woman’s life as she lives through World War II and settles into life after. The story opens on Christmas Eve, 2019, Ninety-four year old Molly sets to write an important letter, a letter she has put off for far too long. She wakes up in the hospital, having suffered a stroke. While she has lost the ability to speak, her mind is still active and alive with her memories. The story then transports us to London, 1940s, as a young, nineteen year old Molly tries to find an excuse not to go out with friends. Little does she know that this night will change her life forever. She meets and falls in love with a man who makes her forget everything with one dance and all is right with the world. But the realities of war forces her to make an unforgettable sacrifice and she finds herself going undercover for the French Resistance and other dangerous activities, all in the name of the war effort. As the war comes to an end and life returns to normal, Molly finds herself witnessing the ever-changing world with a heavy secret on her heart, a secret that only her sister knows. Witness a life of courage, strength and unbelievable love of a life that is anything but ordinary.
With a title like An Ordinary Life, you know you are on a roller coaster of a life which is not so ordinary. From the opening prologue to the closing epilogue, Molly’s story is one of heartache and sacrifice as she must find a way to survive. At one part, a character tells Molly that war changes everything as time is compressed and stolen. It is so true as the rest of her story is one of compressed and stolen time. Despite the passage of time, her memories are vivid as if the events were yesterday. I loved Molly’s spunk and determination. She wanted a life more than was expected of her and boy, did she live it. An Ordinary Life is a beautiful story of courage, strength and love. A story of finding the love of your life and doing your best to fit a lifetime of love in the time you have because with war, you never know if you’ll get any more. Despite the loss and heartache she experiences, Molly is able to fill her life with love, family and experiences that anyone would consider an extraordinary life. Ms. Prowse does not disappoint for a story of high emotions, personal sacrifice and life lessons learned. I highly recommend An Ordinary Life.

An Ordinary Life is available in paperback, eBook and audiobook.

Molly’s life was anything but ordinary! Heartwarming and heartbreaking, this is a beautifully told story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Very well written with great descriptions. A lovely story of 94 year old Molly looking back on her life during world war 2 and how women were treated at that time.
I found this book exciting and interesting and loved reading about Molly’s life.
There was laughter, sadness, tears, joy and drama. Everything you would want from a book!

I love all Amanda Prowse’s books and this one did not disappoint.

Molly is in her 90’s and has had a fall while she thinks about her life there is a story she wanted to tell.

The book goes between current day and back over Mollys life when she was younger. We learn about the person she really was.

You have to love Molly she is adorable not always had things easy but it’s made her who she is.

A wonderful story.

I received a free electronic copy of this historical novel from Netgalley, Amanda Prowse, and Amazon Publishing UK - Lake Union. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read An Ordinary Life of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. Amanda Prowse writes a subtle tale with a real kick. After a steady, ordinary climb, we see that the life of Mary "Molly" Collway was anything but ordinary.

We start at the end - Molly is in Chelmsford, Essex on Christmas Even 2019, and 94 years old. She has tasked herself with sharing the family information known only to herself and her sister, now deceased. Information that she and her sister Joyce promised each other to share with Molly's nephew Joe only after the death of either one of the sisters. Information that is important to Joe and his offspring...

And then we go back, back, back. This a story that begins on Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London, on December 15th, 1943, when Molly is 18-years-old and the world is at war. Fluent in several languages, Molly works in the translation department of the Ministry of Information along with her best mate Geertruida 'Geer' de Fries. Her work is classified, and she and her friend Marjorie are senior translators, with an impressive security clearance. Molly is pleased with her life as is and has no interest in pursuing a romantic match and marriage as her mother insists she must. She wants a career, to see the world. After the war, she hopes to qualify for a diplomatic posting. Men are not in her immediate plans. Then she meets Johan, Geer's big brother, and a soldier. And all bets are off...

The story begins in the present day with 94-year old Molly writing a letter to her son. After landing in the hospital from a fall, we are flashed back to her earlier years in life beginning with WWII all the way through to today. I was captivated by the love story, heart break and family connections described throughout the book. At first I was worried this might be a predictible war story that we've all read before but there were plenty of twists to the plot that kept me reading and made this book stand out from others. It was a little long and slow in parts but I found myself completely reengaged for the last half. Fans of WWII fiction will love this book. // "And an idea, something utterly unimaginable, like grief, like loss, like war...had slowly become normal because she had lived with it. What indeed was the alternative?

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Amanda Prowse writes books where she carefully defines the characters in ways that bring them to life as we read their stories. Sometimes we like them and sometimes we don't, but that's what makes them realistic. In this book we begin with 94 year old Molly desperately trying to word a letter to her sister's son Joe, knowing that her time is running out and that a promise must be kept. An accident keeps her from finishing that letter, but as she lays in the hospital, we are taken along with her thoughts to young Molly, age 18, and in London during WWII. Her story progresses from there through friendships, heartache, heroism and life-changing decisions. At the heart of all of this is the man she fell in love with, Johan, her sister Joyce, brother David, and her mother. Her life's secrets and sacrifices and her intent to keep them to herself, make for a sometimes difficult life for Molly. However, Molly is not an old-fashioned girl and has no problem making her own decisions and following through. She and her sister have a remarkable relationship, and it is a promise to her that she is attempting to fulfill. I must say the ending of the book did not happen the way that I thought it would...and it was refreshing to have it done that way. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity. #NetGalley #AnOrdinaryLife #LakeUnionPublishing