A book taking place a few years after WWII. I didn’t realise that German prisoners were set to work after the war so it was interesting to read about this subject.

It is a book about forbidden love but it also addresses the trauma soldiers coming back from the war are dealing with and how it affects the people around them.

Frances is a likeable character dealing with so many emotions and being pulled in different directions and it shows people aren’t all good or bad.

It is a wonderful read.

THE ENGLISH GIRL by SARAH MITCHELL is the sensitively written story of a love affair between an English girl and a German prisoner of war.
It is 1946. the war is over, but it is not over for the German prisoners of war in a camp in Norfolk who are employed in disabling mines on the coast. It is interesting to see the reactions of various locals towards these men. Having lost their own loved ones during the war, they tend to blame the prisoners just because they are German. Fran's sister June is bitter towards these people who she sees as responsible for her beloved brother Robbie's death., and when she sees Fran and Thomas together she is horrified. Others feel that it is time to be reconciled to the young men, most of whom did not want to fight any more than their own sons and fathers did. But feelings are high and fraternization with the enemy is a crime. There are also strong feelings against draft dodgers, such as Daisy's brother Martin, who stayed at home due to having been diagnosed with a bad heart.
It is sad to see how the war has affected Major Markham's marriage and family life.
In 1989, when the Berlin Wall comes down, Fran's granddaughter Tiffany, armed with an old letter, goes to East Berlin to see if she can find Thomas.
It is an exciting and even inspirational read and one I can highly recommend to anyone who enjoys historical romance novels, especially those about WW11.
I was given a free copy of the book by NetGalley from Bookouture. The opinions in this review are completely my own.

November 1989, Tiffany has travelled to East Berlin just as the barrier between East and West is torn down. She has a purpose in mind and only a name and address with no idea what she may find.
1946/47 in a coastal area of North Norfolk Fran and her sister June go to meet the German POW's who have been posted to a nearby army camp to defuse beach mines. The POW's are not well received as many men from the village died during the war. However Fran sets eyes on Thomas and cannot get him out of her mind.
I've read many books of this like that cover PTSD and trauma that the soldiers suffered but Sarah covers it from an Officers point of view. Also the impact that an "unfit for duty" certificate can have.
This a lovely historical fiction novel loosely based on a true story
I received this ARC from Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review, my opinions are my own

The English Girl by Sarah Mitchell is a heart breaking story of forbidden live. Set in the winter of 1946/47 when camp opens for German prisoners in Norfolk France meets Thomas. Although it is illegal to fraternise with German prisoners, she can't help herself.

When the book began in Berlin the day the wall comes down in 1989, I thought this was a book that would flip between the then and now. Telling the story of love in 1946 while also telling the story of Frank grand-daughter Tiffany as she hunts for Thomas and pieces the love story together. I was wrong as Tiffany doesn't get mentioned again till the end leaving me (until then) wondering what the point of mentioning her was.

I loved the book though, I was fully invested in France. Some of the plot seemed a little far-fetched, but what am I to know? The pace was good, there were lots of tears and ahhh moments. And more than a little suspense, especially around Toby and Viv Markham.

I am assuming the story is based around fact, if so I learned a lot. I had never been aware of this part of post-war Britain, and the lives of German prisoners. I didn't even realise that not all German soldiers were Nazi's!!!

Overall, a great book and highly recommended!!!

A fresh perspective on WW2 historical fiction! WooOoo HooOoo!

You’ll read about German POWs in a work camp in Norfolk, England. One of the office girls falls in love with one of the POWs and risks everything. I was shocked to learn that they used the POWs to clear mines from the local beaches and that the POWs seemed to be out and about in the community.

Mitchell highlights the effects of war not only on the soldiers, but also on those in command. I’ve never read about this before in a historical fiction novel. PTSD not only affected the men, but their wives and children. The war was difficult on the whole family unit.

She also sheds light on what it was like for those with health concerns who were denied a chance to fight. We read about how others treated them and how they themselves viewed their worthiness. Again, a unique perspective.

Another true event added to Mitchell’s plot was that local people invited German POWs to enjoy Christmas with them in their homes and with their families. This shocked me the most and had me Googling to verify.
I loved everything about this book and can’t wait to share it with others!

Mitchell doesn’t spoon feed readers, they’ve got to work for connections and comprehension and this made me happy. I felt like I was waiting for the chairlift on a ski hill and if I wanted to enjoy the ride, I had to be willing to hop on when the empty seat came my way and go where it took me before I could enjoy skiing. This will be a contender for my second favourite historical fiction read of 2021.

Publishes June 18, 2021
I was gifted this advance copy by Sarah Mitchell, Bookouture and NetGally and was under no obligation to provide a review.

The English Girl by Sarah Mitchell is a wonderful story. Anyone who has an old love they still think about will appreciate the depth in Ms. Mitchell's book. Feelings that don't fade and the circumstances that get in the way. I highly recommend it.

A tale of forbidden love set against the backdrop of a post WWII village in England makes for a great weekend read for a fan of historical fiction.

Fran is a young English girl who is hired to work in the office of a German POW camp that has set up shop in her village on the English coast. She befriends and falls in love with a prisoner, Thomas, who was just a young German man who had a gun shoved in his hand regardless of his true feelings about nazism and the war. In that time and place, very few people could tell the difference between a German and a Nazi, making their feelings for each other forbidden. When the two of them decide to forgo everyone else’s feelings on the matter, Thomas suddenly disappears...returning to Germany without a word to Fran.

What I loved about this book, which is inspired by a true story, is that there were people post WWII that could tell the difference between a German and a Nazi. They were few and far between but they recognized the fact that not all Germans fought in the war because they wanted to. Many were forced into the German army and despite their true feelings, were treated as equally guilty as those who willingly followed the ideals of the German political party trying to overtake the world. Fran could see that Thomas was a good man but she could not convince the other villagers of that. Their village was devastated by the war, having lost many of their own young men so they were grieving and angry which was understandable.

The characters were easy to engage with and at times the story kept me on the edge of my seat wondering what happened next. It flows extremely well which makes it an excellent weekend or rainy day read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Sarah Mitchell for early access to this story!

Brandenburg Gate 1989: In Berlin to see the Berlin Wall come down, Tiffany came with a purpose to find someone special to her family. As she experiences history firsthand and celebrates with a united Germany, she meets Ralp who offers to help her reach her destination and resolve a mystery from the past.

England 1946: In a small English town, Fran and her sister, June watch German prisoners of war troop into town to work to remove mines from the beach and barbed wire. As they pass by, her eyes meet the electric blue eyes of one of the POWs. Soon, Fran finds herself working as an office clerk at the camp and finds out her blue eyes man has a name, Thomas. Despite the challenges of their country of origin and the tragedy that Fran’s brother was killed on the beaches of Normandy, they fall in love.

Interwoven with the stories of Martin, Fran’s co-worker’s brother who was not sent to war after being diagnosed with “a weak heart” and Vivian, the wife of the major in charge of the camp who had an affair with an American GI stationed in England while her husband was off fighting the war, this quick paced story with ensnarl you and not let go until the end.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#netgalley #theenglishgirl

I love a good war time forbidden love story! We follow Frances, Fran, as she works for the prisoner of war camp hosting German soldiers in her British village in the wake of WW2's end. There she meets the handsome Thomas, a prisoner that speaks English and steals her heart. She also meets Martin, a man who was medically excused from the war and has immense guilt about it, and he and Fran build a friendship which could develop into more. With the war right behind the world can Fran be with the man she loves or will a safer choice rule out?

Great storytelling and weaving of real events with the fiction of the love triangle. I can't wait to get a physical copy!

This is the third book I’ve read from this author and again, I just couldn't put it down. The writing is so beautifully poetic and richly descriptive. Set just after WW11 the novel is about forbidden love and heart-wrenching choices made during the terrible winter of 1946/1947. But it’s also so much more than that. I feel the title, front cover and ‘blurb’ don’t do this book justice, that they lead you to think this is a simple romance. It’s not. Mitchell writes an impelling story that draws the reader in. You feel the bitterness of the snow and wind, the concern about the mines on the beach, lack of fuel, the mental effects of fighting, or not, in a war. You see the small mindedness of the residents of a village, you learn about the politics and wrangling of the way prisoners of war were treated and you wait to see how things will turn out. Although you have a fair idea, you can never be quite sure with this author and are still left thinking about the characters long after you’ve finished the story.

I received The English Girl as part of a NetGalley giveaway.

A year after World War II, a camp of German prisoners of war are brought to a work camp in Norfolk, England. There, Fran, one of the young office workers, is captivated by a prisoner named Thomas, despite losing her brother in the conflict. Yet the war is not long past, and the community is wary of their former enemies being so close at hand. Meanwhile. other members of the village struggle in the aftermath of the war, with the traumas that it caused and secrets that altered the course of lives forever.

I thought it was fairly clear where the story was headed, broadly speaking, but still was eager to see how the details played out. In terms of criticism, I felt that Fran's sister Joan was a bit one-dimensional and almost cartoonishly antagonistic. I would have liked to see her character either developed a bit more or simply dropped since ultimately she didn't particularly affect the story, and her objections could have been absorbed into the community at large. This was a nice story, a twist on the World War II mania that's currently so hot in historical fiction in that it deals with the aftermath of the conflict and the scars that it left on soldiers and civilians alike.