What a timely and amazing book! Set during the Spanish Influenza this book echoes many of our concerns and fear during theCovid-19 pandemic.. The main characters are two sisters Helen and Lutie. Helen is a nurse so she is on the front line of the pandemic. Together they deal with sickness, depravity, death and of course love. They take in a little girl Dorothy after the death of her mother and forge an unbreakable bond of sisters.. This book is full of courage and love. The reader will feel the full range of emotions from sadness and shock to happiness and hope. I have been on a reading lull but once I started this book I just could not put it down. I HIGHLY recommend it

Although I was a little nervous about reading about a pandemic (the "Spanish" Influenza of 1918) while also living through one, the contexts were different enough for me to relate without reliving. To be sure, there are vast differences that set 1918 apart from 2020 (and 2021, and 2022...).

Once again I find the "official" book description on Goodreads and elsewhere far too detailed for my taste. Luckily, I didn't read the description prior to reading the book and got to enjoy discovering Helen, Letie, Dorothy, and the rest of the characters on my own. If for some reason you are reading my review prior to reading the full description, I encourage you to skip it as well!

The events the characters endure are jarring and complex, but Dallas is a skilled writer who doesn't let her readers fall into despair. I did think the beginning could have used some more proficient editing; the jumping around in the timeline did not serve the story well.

The historical aspects of 1918-9 (in addition to Meatless Mondays, there were Gas-Free Sundays and other WWI efforts) helped center the story's setting and time.

I appreciated the ARC from NetGalley!

This book has a lot of demons. From child abuse, incest, and a lot of death…it’s loaded with hard themes to read. I applaud the author for bringing those to light and handling them in a tasteful way. Regardless of the deep themes, I feel like the book didn’t have a lot of depth itself. It read like Lutie narrating her life to me as an outsider rather than drawing me in. Which I guess fits with the historical fiction genre, but it just didn’t work for me. I loved how historically correct the author was, and her deep research showed.

Overall, this is a read that fits with the times and will shine a light on a time period that gets overshadowed at times. It was a good read.

I kept picking up this book and putting it down, mostly because I wasn't keen on reading a story that reads like a hallmark movie. However, after having read so many gruesome detective novels lately, I was glad to have a "light" book to turn to, and I'm glad I did.

The suspense that appears about a third of the way through, which involves the welfare of a young girl in the early 1900s, caught my full attention. The Great War and the Spanish Flu took a back seat to that rather harrowing tale. Still, I did not really find any of it "gripping," as advertised, but I enjoyed being transported to my grandmother's time.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced copy, due to be published April of 2022.

5 stars
Not at all what I expected. I do feel there is a audience for this book. It is not for me. Thanks for the ARC of this book.

I enjoyed reading Little Souls by Sandra Dallas. Amazing characters - treat yourself to this story.
Happy Reading!
I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher ~ Thank you ~ !! This is my honest and personal review.

This novel was such a continuing surprise in so many ways, set in Spanish flu-WWI-era Denver. I would not have envisioned bootlegging as so much a part of life, nor that bootleggers used children as part of their business, even kidnapping them. Nor had I read much about the Spanish flu epidemic, symptoms of those afflicted, or the limited treatments available.

The characters of the sisters Helen and Lutie, their fiances Gil and Peter, were well-drawn and the closeness of the sisters heartwarming. The sisters take care of Dorothy, their tenants’ small daughter, after her mother passes and her criminal father disappears, and consider her their third sister. But when her underworld father turns up dead in the sisters’ kitchen, the reader is led to postulate one perpetrator, then another and another, in a clever unveiling of the truth.

There was a fair amount of tragedy early in the book and I began to wonder if the tale would be unremitting sadness, but I had been drawn into the story by then, and the goodness of not only the sisters but also the Howells. This was a very good read indeed, gave me a better understanding of the Spanish flu and WWI era generally, and entwined me in a cleverly-plotted mystery of who killed Mr. Streeter.

My thanks to #netgalley for an advance copy of this book.

I enjoyed this historical story. This is my first book by this author which I enjoyed from beginning to end. This is a well written story that takes place during WW1 and gives meaning to sisterhood. I enjoyed how the characters pulled you into the story as well as how relateable they were. This is a story about protecting your family and how far you will go to do that. The growth of this plot was great throughout the story. It is a faster paced story that was hard to put down. It is an emotional story in parts that you don't want to miss. I highly recommend this book.

"You care about me and you care about the soldiers and the women you help and all those little souls you encounter."

"Little souls?"

"Oh, it's something I heard Judge Howell say. It comes from some Roman emperor. It means the poor, the helpless, the common people nobody ever notices. In truth, it applies to all of us. We're all lost souls in our way."


The above dialog from Little Souls resonates throughout this engaging novel set in Denver during the influenza epidemic on the coat tails of World War I. Loves are found and lost, remade into something new.. Bonds of sisterhood are stronger than blood ties, and a mystery will be solved.

Sandra Dallas has it all in this compelling historical fiction portrayal of lives lived to the fullest.

A fairly quick read set during 1918 and the Spanish Flu might not be the best book to read when the world is a again in the middle of of global pandemic. But it was till page turning book.

AMAZING BOOK! A story about two sisters who are making it on their own as single working women in the early 1900’s. A sister bond stronger than anything. It is war time with a new focus on the Spanish Influenza at its peak. So timely after the past few years of Covid. This story allows us to focus on what really matters, family. The family we were given and the family we choose. The blessing of adults taking in a young girl and providing her with love and security. We are all ‘Little Souls’. Looking out for one another and trying our best to get through life’s challenges. Historical Denver is the perfect backdrop. I loved this story and you will too. Sandra Dallas at her best.
Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martins Press, and Sandra Dallas for this Advanced Readers Copy.

To be candid I had a hard time reading this book mostly due to the current circumstances we are in. With a little distance I think I'd love to be able to reas it with a fresh eye and healed heart and give it the review that it truly deserves.

This is a tale of love lost and love gained, of making something good out the most awful situations. It is a look at WWI and 1918 influenza Denver and the difficult events that surround times like those. It is about family both the one you are born into and the one you create.

I like all of the Sandra Dallas books. This one reminds me of The Persian Pickle Club, possibly just because it is less about frontier spirit than the others. Of course, it features an independent helpful female main character who makes her way through challenging times by building alliances.These are the qualities that readers count on from this author. The plot is a quick and satisfying escape into life a hundred years ago-- similar in many ways to our current time, but filled with challenges that no longer exist in our era. I will recommend it to readers seeking comfort and diversion.

Little Souls takes place in 1918 Denver, but it could just as easily be 2020 as the Spanish Flu Epidemic restricts public movements. Roots of the "Me Too" movement are here, along with women's rights but all take a backseat to hardships of life during war years.

This was my first book by Sandra Dallas. I will definitely look for more. Her well-researched historical fiction features strong women who survive through adversity with intelligence, fortitude and community. Well-developed characters present multiple aspects of complex issues without author bias, including religion, prohibition, medical treatments (benefits of isolation and mask-wearing), and prostitution and rape.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC copy. It's a timely read. Four and half stars.

As usual Sandra Dallas has written an enjoyable book! She always has a good story to tell and she does her research.

A heart wrenching, topical story set in Denver during the Spanish Influenza.

Dorothy has become an orphan who is living with Lute and Helen. Lute's boyfriend, Peter, goes off to war and dies. Helen succumbs to the Spanish Influenza, like Dorothy's mother, Maud. Lute and Helen were in the process of adopting Dorothy when Helen became sick. Lute must marry Helen's boyfriend in order to save Dorothy's fate of going to live in an orphan's home.

An interesting read set in the time of the Spanish Influenza and how it affected many people.

4.5 stars.
This was a great book. The characters and setting were well developed. The story takes place in Colorado during WWI and the Spanish Flu epidemic. The Spanish Flu is a fascinating and timely topic. As a reader, I was interested in the similarities between 1918 and now.
Romantic storylines featured prominently in this novel. Two sisters, both in love and engaged, decide to adopt an abused girl. There is a bit of mystery surrounding the death of the child's abusive father which provided some interesting plot twists. One of the sisters died of the flu and the other sister's fiance died in the war. What happens can easily be predicted. I was a little disappointed in how it happened, but the end result was satisfying.
I would read this author again. If the author decided to write a series based on this novel, I would be happy to read it. I would enjoy following the ongoing story of these characters.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I had an ARC. This book was odd. I loved the fact that it was set among the great influenza. I loved that it was in Denver- I’ve never read a book set in Denver. The two lead characters- strong females who were sisters and career women in that time was great, but it had these weird undertones. Lots of sexual assault mentioned, incest and children being used in an ill manner. That was weird. I mean some books allude to sinister undertones, but this book came right out and said it. It made me think Denver back in the day was some kind of perverse place. There was mentioning of bootlegging and that was believable and still criminal, but the whole topic of children being abused really put me off. It was too much.

Little Souls from Sandra Dallas in set in Colorado during the Spanish Influenza. Two sisters in their 20's are living on their own in the house they bought when their parents passed. They rent the basement out to a couple with a daughter. Helen is the oldest and a nurse and "Lutie" is younger, looking for direction to see what she would like to do. The renters are Maude and Mr Streeter and the young daughter is Dorothy. Mr Streeter is a evil man and the sisters are fearful of him. Mr Streeter disappears and no one knows to where. Then Maude passes from the influenza so the sisters take in Dorothy and tell her she will be there sister. I was not aware that this novel would have so much grief for "Lutie" but by the end all the bits came together. I enjoyed the new information I gathered by reading this story.