1946 Norfolk. German prisoners of war arrive at a local camp to the disgust of the locals. Fran gets a job in the office and her eye is caught by Thomas, but her family cannot forgive the Germans who killed her brother in the war. 1989. Tiffany travels to Berlin to see the Wall being destroyed. She ventures through the barrier to search for someone...
The English Girl is a fascinating dual timeline historical novel about love and the after effects of war. It begins with Tiffany's experience in Berlin before settling into the main part of the book beginning in 1946.
There are a number of threads in the 1940s timeline. Foremost we have Fran who is struggling to find her place in a world that has dramatically changed due to the war. We also have Martin who was unable to fight in the war on medical grounds and feels survivors' guilt. Finally we have Major Markham, who is traumatised by his wartime experience, and his unfaithful wife Viv, in love with an American officer.
I thought that the emotional sides of the characters were all well developed and I could identify with them. Fran's conflicting feelings about the Germans due to the war and the death of her brother whilst also seeing the prisoners of war as men like her brother fighting for their country. Martin's guilt and the Markhams' emotional turmoil was also very believable and the characters seemed very human.
The English Girl was an enjoyable historical novel about the aftermath of war and the enduring nature of love and hope.

A superbly written tale of forbidden love that will break your heart, Sarah Mitchell’s The English Girl is a poignant historical novel that is simply unforgettable.

When German prisoners of war are sent to a camp close to the small Norfolk village Fran calls home, the entire community is overwhelmed by grief, fear and terror. Having lost her brother during the war, Fran cannot help but look at the prisoners with disgust and disdain as she blames them entirely for his death. Yet, little does she realise that fate is about to throw her straight into the path of a man who will end up turning her entire life upside down: Thomas…

When one of the mines the Germans are clearing from the beach explodes, Fran rushes to aid the wounded and is helped by a prisoner called Thomas. Fran is shocked when she realises that Thomas has none of the traits which she had previously attributed to the mercenary Germans; he is kind, caring, altruistic and somebody whom she finds herself drawn to. Thomas is not a merciless killer, but a man forced to fight in a war he does not believe in. With each passing day, Fran begins to fall in love with Thomas – even though battle lines are being drawn across Europe and tensions in the village reach an all-time high. With the odds stacked against them, does their burgeoning love affair stand a chance of surviving? Or is their relationship doomed to fail?

Years later, the Berlin wall has just come down and Tiffany has travelled to Berlin from London. The city is jubilant and full of hope and optimism – emotions Tiffany shares having come to Germany to uncover secrets from her grandmother’s past. Secrets that could have serious repercussions for her future…

Sarah Mitchell’s The English Girl takes readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride that will hold them in thrall from start to finish. A poignant and captivating tale about dangerous passions, scandalous secrets and past sins, The English Girl is a story about high stakes, the desperate lengths people go to for their loved ones and the courage and resilience that sustains them during the darkest times of their lives that readers will find themselves completely moved by.

Brilliantly written, beautifully evocative and highly charged, Sarah Mitchell’s The English Girl is a haunting and enthralling historical novel guaranteed to sever readers’ heartstrings.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I absolutely loved this book! It was such a captivating read! I couldn’t stop reading! I loved the characters and the story! Highly recommend!

Great historical fiction story!
I was drawn into the story right away. Fran meets Thomas, a German POW. This story kept me riveted until the end.
Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Never heard of this author before but the title & book cover appealed to me and when I saw that it was historical fiction set in WW2 times which happens to be one of my fave genres, so it became an easy choice to give this book a read.

Overall I enjoyed the story, it was shocking, emotional, heart breaking and insightful in equal measures. The story really pulled me in and grabbed me tight. It was tense hard reading in places when you imagine that this is what it really could have been like in 1946 the aftermath World war 2.

As a teenager I was never one for history in school, found it dull and never held my attention, but having read book like this, of which a fair amount of the story is devoted to past history, a specific part which evolves around the aftermath of the WW2, I have learnt a lot and have thoroughly enjoyed it. It's been quite an eye opener, this tale has been.

The story was well written and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know all of the characters in 1946 of which there was many.

Great story set mainly in 1946 with a local girl falling in love with a German POW. Great storyline and characters made it an unforgettable book that I couldn't put down. Highly recommended and I will definitely look for more books by this author

I read this book a while ago as part of the blog tour, unfortunately around that time my uncle died and I wasn’t able to get my thoughts in order to post my review.

I remember really enjoying this story, it gripped me and I loved the whole new take on a spy story.

It’s definitely one I would recommend

This book had easily one of the most thrilling openings I have ever read. I think maybe because it is one of the first times that at least part of the historical events in the book took place in a time that I actually remember. After the opening, the reader is catapulted back to England in October 1946. And it takes a very long time to get around to what the two time periods have in common. That’s no complaint, because the storyline set in 1946 was absolutely fascinating. I don’t want to give away details, but it was an extremely compelling read. There was a lot of depth here, as the author puts forth some thought-provoking questions via the characters’ actions, but it was never preachy or overdone. Excellent book! For a full review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital copy of the book.

'The English Girl' is an absolutely breathtaking book from start to finish. I was enthralled throughout and I couldn't put it down. It has everything you could want in a book: drama, suspense, authentic characters, love, hurt, heartache, hope and more.

Beautiful story of a wartime romance which wasn't supposed to happen.
The war is over, but there are still German prisoners in England and no one knows how to behave around them.
Are they the enemy? Are they the ones who killed? Or are they victims like everyone else, forced into a life they didn't want.
The relationship with the prisoners is the most interesting theme of the book (aside from the obvious love story). It makes you rethink the difference between a regime and the individual soldiers, the reality the young boys were faced with, and the fact that in every country there were prisoners far away from their families, just waiting to be allowed home.

A truly engrossing novel. I loved every page of it. Very evocative. Excellent characters and plot line. Real page turner. Couldn’t put it down

A Beautiful World War II Dual Timeline Story.

Set in Norfolk, England, Fran is the main character who finds herself work at a nearby camp for German pow's. The siting of the camp causes much anger among the locals, for obvious reasons. Most if not all have suffered loss of some kind. Even Fran's family disagree with it, but when Fran meets German pow Thomas, she falls in love.

It's a poignant, heart-wrenching read, well written with interesting characters and vivid imagery. Set just after the war, the reader is given a look at life in a post-war town.

The present story begins in 1989. Fran's granddaughter, Tiffany goes to Berlin to find someone from the past. The novel touches on multiple themes including forbidden love, family, war and ptsd.
Can recommend.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review.

The main story is set just after World War 2 and centers on the protagonist, who falls in love with a German prisoner of war at the camp where she works on the Norfolk coast. This was a gripping and emotional story that takes the reader on the after affects of war. Love and forgiveness overcomes all. Highly recommended. Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting look at life for soldiers after the war. Help for those with PTSD was slim to no existent during that time period and Tobi’s story was a prime example. Commander of a German POW camp Tobi seems to be coming to work less and less and ever silent when he is home. He is suffering in silence…..

Meanwhile Fran begins working in the office at the POW camp and falls for one of the German prisoners. Although the war in long over the POW’s are unable to return to their own country and have been tasked to clean up all the mines on the towns beaches. It must have been difficult being a POW stuck in a camp long after the war ceased. Not being allowed to go home meanwhile living in close proximity to people that would rather you were dead.

There are many other plots happening in this story and while some parts of the story seemed a little drawn out for me the loveable characters kept my attention and interest as I was anxious to see what would happen in the end.

Thanks to Net Galley and Bookouture for the advanced copy.

Past and present, love and hate, hope and despair. All of these play a role in this book. It is an interesting take on WW2 fiction in that the present presents itself on the day of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Learn how the downing of the wall that separated Germany can combine the past and present to help shape the future of these girls.

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

The English Girl by Sarah Mitchell is a post-WWII story about German prisoners being held in England. They were in Norfolk, on the beach, and one of the jobs they were assigned was to clear the beach of landmines planted there to kills Germans if they came ashore. No one is town is happy to have them there but they grow used to it after a while. Fran, especially. She accepted a job working in the office at the camp, but rethought it after a few hours. Her brother had died on the beach at Normandy and maybe it was not right to work so close to them. The commander of the camp hadn't shown up for work that day, for several more days, so by the time she was able to tell him she was quitting, she was enjoying her job and stayed on. The problems started when she met a particular German prisoner: Thomas. Forty-two years later, Fran's granddaughter went to East Germany to see if she could find Thomas, for her grandmother.

This is was well-plotted book full of hate, and deceit, and even love. Prejudice against Germans was hatched by the way and all the damage that was done. Most people were not willing to accept that it had not been these boys, but the politicians who were at fault. And they hated these boys that wanted nothing more than to go home to their families. The commander of the came was stricken with "war fatigue" a malady that was little known at the time. Much of the story revolved around him and his very damaged family. It was eye opening, and sad. Mitchell did a lovely job of portraying the angst of the time, as well as of individual people in the story. So much damage was done, and not all in concentration camps. A very sad time, but a good read.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The English Girl by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #theenglishgirl

After the excitement of the Berlin Wall coming down, the story goes back to the harsh winter of 1946/47, to a small village on the coast of Norfolk where the locals have gathered to watch German prisoners of war march to the nearby camp. Their presence rouses anger and hatred, and the grief still felt over the loss of loved ones.

Fran Taylor works in the office at the camp. Her interaction with the prisoners, especially with Thomas who speaks English, changes her views of the Germans. Instead of blaming them for her brother's death, she sees them as young men like her brother, forced into the war but not liking it. Christmas becomes a time of attempted reconciliation between the villagers and the Germans, but Fran and Thomas must still keep their relationship secret. The new year brings promise of change, but also news that forces Thomas to make a heartbreaking decision.

Apart from the main plot involving Fran and Thomas's relationship and anti-German sentiment, there are a number of subplots that enrich the story and highlight other consequences of the war. Shell shock, a war-time love affair and the unforeseen ramifications of a mother's selfish act infuse drama and heartache into an already emotionally charged tale.

World War II fiction is one of my favourite war novel genres, especially novels that showcase life on the home front at that time. In The English Girl, Sarah Mitchell skillfully weaves a moving love story into a world struggling with the after effects of the war. It engaged me from the intriguing start to the heart-warming conclusion. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Favorite Quotes:

At the time everyone had said the agony of not knowing, the uncertainty, must be the worst thing of all, but it hadn’t been. Uncertainty had meant hope, seconds, sometimes even whole minutes of time when they had convinced themselves he was still alive. The worst thing had been when the letter finally came, hearing the wild sobs of her mother behind her bedroom door, a racking, animal-like keening that sounded unlike anything Fran had ever heard before.

Her husband has become a stranger. A silent stranger. Some days she hardly speaks to anyone apart from Alice. It’s like being less and less present in her own life, as if she’s been reduced to a chalk drawing on a blackboard to which someone has taken a duster, and finger by finger, toe by toe, is slowly obliterating.

It’s like… it’s like I’m staring at the sun. I can’t see anything but him.


My Review:


My first exposure to Sarah Mitchell’s agile storytelling and she took me right into their homes, offices, and lives. I was sucked right into their vortex and beside the various characters in an alley while breaking up a fight, in their kitchens during family meals, in their car when it slid off the road into a snowbank. I felt the bitter chill of their winter as well as their poignant heartbreaks, hopes, and soaring spirits. The woman has mad skills and I look forward to another time slip by delving into her words again and again. More, please!

Loved it!! It opened with Tiffany in Germany as the Wall falls. She's searching for someone living in East Germany. From there, Fran's story starts. There were so many secrets. What would have happened if Fran knew the truth from the start, instead of finding the letter so many years later? June would never have allowed it and would have caused problems. I don't think Martin or Daisy thought about their actions or how it might hurt the people involved. I know Martin was dealing with a lot, after learning what his mother had been hiding from him. I loved Fran's story. The book was heartbreaking and emotional. Thomas was the perfect man. It was a different take on the usual WWII historical fiction books. It focused on German prisoners of war living in a camp in a small village in Norfolk, England. The war is over, but not all the villagers like having Germans living so close. Viv and Toby's story was incredible sad. It just showed how much help soldiers need that they don't get. It could have ended so much worse.

Definitely recommend the book. I loved the characters, story and writing style. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bookouture through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It’s been three years since Sarah’s Mitchell’s last historical fiction book The Lost Letters and now she has returned with The English Girl. Looking back on my thoughts on that first book, I said that it was a promising start from the author but I sensed there was much more to come from her in the future. Well she has certainly delivered with this new story. It’s very well written with such descriptive phrases detailing the Norfolk landscape and the great snow of 1947 which only add to the heightened atmosphere of tension, unease and danger. Honestly, it’s a much better book than what I had read previously from this author. Yes, perhaps the pace slowed somewhat in the middle, but I didn’t think there was any rambling on therefore not moving the plot on overall. I found myself totally caught up in Fran’s story and she turned out to be a remarkable character. There is a good solid plot throughout with well developed characters you come to care for and you really want that perfect ending but reading of all the developments you are fearful that it cannot be at all possible.

The book opens as Tiffany arrives in West Berlin just as the wall is coming down. She is in search of something in East Berlin. Recent news has come to light that has sent her on a quest that she is desperate to fulfil. The people’s tide is turning Germany on its head. There will be no more boarders, only one Berlin with freedom at its centre. Tiffany crosses the boarder in search of answers. Initially, I thought oh no I had in the last few weeks read a book about the wall coming down and delving back into the past and did I really want to read more or less the same story. But thankfully, Tiffany, although her role is an important one, just features at the beginning and the end.

Really she could have been left out completely and the story would have worked just perfectly. I get that she was the one who linked things together but perhaps it could have been done in a different way. Saying that, once we began to delve into Fran’s story I completely forgot that Tiffany had even been mentioned. I became completely caught up in all the various storylines for there were several that fed into the main overall plot and this story showing the power of hope in the face of war amidst the legacy of a terrible choice was riveting.

It’s October 1946 and war has been over for a year but its affects are still being felt. Rationing is worse than ever and mines and barbed wire still litter the nearby beaches. Fran and her sister June and her parents are mourning the loss of their brother Robbie. But anger abounds amongst the villagers as a group of German prisoners of war are being brought to a newly established camp in the village. They will work clearing the mines. Given so many young men from the village were lost and overall what Germany as a country did to so many rightly so the villagers are filled with anger and hatred. It’s a natural reaction and they wish that their village had never been selected to house said prisoners.

From the off, the big question for the reader to ponder is can we be friends/form relationships with those that caused so much death, hurt and devastation? Are we not to forgive all people? Forgiving and forgetting is not all that easy, and events linger on long in the minds of those deeply affected. You try as a reader to try and put yourself in that position and think could I really welcome prisoners with open arms? But then as with Fran who showed a remarkable positive stance you think as did she that the prisoners didn’t start the war, that most were just ordinary men following rules in fear of the repercussions if they did not.

Fran was a very open minded person compared to her sister June who was eaten up by hatred due to the loss of her brother. I could see where June was coming from just as much as I could see Fran was willing to be more open to understanding and trying to forge forward. Really the characters were caught between a rock and a hard place given the differing opinions they had, and you couldn’t blame them for feeling this way. Fran gets a job in the offices of the camp working alongside Daisy. Major Toby Markham runs the camp but he is hardly ever there and Fran finds him strange. When she sees a man being set upon in an alleyway and enlists the help of a passing truck carrying prisoners this is where she meets Thomas face to face. Fran feels an instant connection to him and anyone who saw this would tell her that it was wrong especially June. The way their relationship develops was not full of passionate love and full on devotion to each other yet it was there lurking and would have fully bloomed in the wide open if allowed to do so. It couldn’t have happened this way given Fran was putting herself in a dangerous and precarious situation given Thomas’ status as a prisoner.

Instead it’s more subtle and moments are snatched together when they think no one will discover them. There’s is an unspeakable, private connection that cannot be exposed to the wider world. Yes, she is puting herself in the firing line. If discovered the consequences would be disastrous for everyone but Fran sees something in Thomas that she has searched for all her life. Her heart and mind are working as one and she sees the kindness and empathy in his eyes. Forbidden love is not easy to navigate and even more so in the circumstances in which this has come to pass. What can Fran do when love is seemingly impossible in a relationship that will have such far reaching consequences? Not to mention the other strands of the story she becomes entangled in through no fault of her own.

Viv is married to Toby. It’s a marriage that she views as being sterile and desperate. Her actions during the war still are being felt and she is on her own path desperate to break free but guilt does eat away at her. For the ultimate decision she makes could possibly have the most disastrous of consequences. I found Viv to be cold and selfish and far too caught up in her own little world to see what was happening around her. She was on a road with only one destination in mind and couldn’t see that in fact the end pale was possibly not going to turn out the way she wished it. She was being played but her emotions were fogging her decision making process. If she had had more of a clear mind she would have seen how much pain Toby was enduring and that emotions and tensions were running high. The effects of war were having the most detrimental, adverse and disturbing effects on her husband and she was too caught up in her own little circle of emotion to see that. I thought this strand of the story was so well written and you could just imagine placing yourself in their situation and asking yourself how you would deal with it?.

The last character that has a subplot is Martin, brother of Daisy. I did think why was he getting such prominence? But over the course of the story I came to realise the author was dealing with many issues that arose at the time following the conclusion of the war. That yes, he needed to be there. Martin never went away to war having not received a clean bill of health. Heart trouble kept him at a desk job during the war years and he is eaten up by guilt that he couldn’t fight for his country. He is full of shame and anxiety that never seems to fade. Who will love him giving he was one who never left to do their bit on the battlefields for their country? Martin was a complex character given the emotions he was grappling with but I came to appreciate his inclusion as he was essential to the overall story.

I am so glad I read The English Girl. I admit to feeling slightly hesitant given how I had felt about the previous book I had read by this author. But it just goes to show you should always give an author another try as this was an engrossing, informative read that was full of love, hope, acceptance and it is well worth a read.