An immersive story during World War II that will make you feel like you are there as it happens. Heartache....I just couldnt imagine going through any of that.

Plot:
* inspired by true events
* WWII historical fiction
* heartbreaking yet uplifting and inspiring storyline

My Thoughts:
This was such a well-done historical fiction read! I am always thrilled when I pick up a book in this genre and learn something new, and that was precisely the case here. I hadn't heard of this event, sending the children away from their parents to Europe to keep them safe. As a mother this really hit me and was impossible to imagine. A truly poignant, thought-provoking, powerful story with wonderful characters to come alongside, this is one I won't soon forget. There really was a lot to walk away with here. I think it would be a great book for a book discussion!

Many thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the gifted e-copy!

For Those Who Are lost by Julia Bryan Thomas was a very compassionate story. Having to send your children away during war must have been so difficult.

Thank you to NetGalley for this free ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.

If you are a fan of historical fiction then I definitely recommend picking this one up. I had not heard of this particular event in history where they sent all the children to Europe without the parents to keep them safe.
The storyline was good with quite a few characters. But I never felt lost or confused. Descriptive writing made it easy to visualize what was happening. Julia Bryan Thomas did an excellent job and I’ll definitely be looking into more of her books.

This is one of those little-known stories with a huge impact. Thomas delves into the emotional strain of making the decision to send your children away and what happens after. Worth a read if you are on a WWII fiction kick.

I enjoyed learning about this part of history - involving Guernsey Island and how children were evacuated. I was interested the whole time in what choices the main character would make and what would happen. Thank you to NetGalley for the e-copy to read..

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC digital edition.

Unfortunately, I was unable to read this in the time allotted. It remains on my “to be read” list for the future.

For Those Who Are Lost appealed to me because of the unique setting and premise. At the start of WWII, people in the isolated British Isles had few options and a last minute urgency forcing them to make gut-wrenching decisions, particularly in regards to their children’s futures.

The plot covers a wide expanse of time, from just before the war to long afterward. The content is complex and thought provoking, but I felt that some parts were lingered over too long, while others were glossed over. I would’ve liked a better balance.

I loved Henry, the young boy sent away to an unknown future, but I struggled with the other characters. For some reason I can’t quite pinpoint, I felt a disconnect from the emotions.

Still, I enjoyed the story for the way it made me think about these people, fictional and real, whose lives were forever altered because of choices made in one frantic moment.

Just a heartbreaking decision upon the Nazi invasion of Guernsey. Parents having to decide to send their children to England by themselves to keep these safe. Can't even imagine making that decision. Further complicated by 2 sisters changing their plans and thus effecting all of their futures. This story really held my interest.

One of my most anticipated books of June was the World War II historical fiction novel For Those Who Are Lost by debut author, Julia Bryan Thomas. It begins on the eve of the Nazi occupation of the English Channel Island of Guernsey when the children on the island are sent to the English countryside for safekeeping from the coming war. Two children, Henry and Catherine, are entrusted to the care of his teacher who trades places with her sister, Lily. Lily is fleeing her abusive husband and is eager to leave the island behind. Once on the mainland, she makes a fateful decision to separate the children, taking Catherine with her and leaving Henry with the other refugees, and the book explores the ramifications of that decision across the decades.

This beautiful story of love, betrayal, family, and forgiveness is heartfelt and full of historical tidbits. I love how the author looks at how even good people can make bad decisions and how the repercussions from a decision can echo through families for generations. As a mother, I couldn’t imagine doing what the brave people of Guernsey had to do, send their children away for years without any word. It’s a parent’s worst nightmare but also was the only way to secure their survival. This is why I love historical fiction - it forces us to think about what we’d do in similar circumstances and empathize with people from history who faced obstacles we can’t imagine.

I read it from cover to cover in one night, staying up until 1 am because I just had to know how it ended! It’s perfect for fans of World War II fiction and anyone who loves stories about the redemptive power of love.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕋𝕙𝕠𝕤𝕖 𝕎𝕙𝕠 𝔸𝕣𝕖 𝕃𝕠𝕤𝕥
𝙹𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚊 𝙱𝚛𝚢𝚊𝚗 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚜
Historical Fiction
384 Pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs

For Those Who Are Lost tells a story about the atrocities war creates. In 1940, five-thousand children were rushed out of the island of Guernsey and taken to England with their teachers before the Nazi invasion hit them. Parents had a whopping twenty-four hours to make this decision. Teachers were young and ill equipped for this responsibility.

This story tells about a couple who chose to send their children. They were invaded days later and suffered for five years, not knowing where their children were.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale of life in the 1940s. Even though I’ve read quite a bit about this topic, there is always more to learn.

Can you imagine dealing with the rules put in place and enforced by the enemy while worrying about where your children were and if they were ok? Five years is a long time. Once the war ended, they continued to wait as so many children were sent to different places.

For Those Who Are Lost bares the human heart and emotion, putting them out for all to see. Each character faced their demons in a way that got them through horrendous times. Difficult decisions were made and weren’t always the right ones. Life isn’t easy, and war always deals unfair hands.

If you like learning about this topic through historical fiction, I’d suggest this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing this ebook for me to read and review. 💕

Lily's Choice

A heartbreaking and engrossing story of one young girl and one young woman in a time of great confusion and split second choices. A story that you will remember and wonder about for long after you have finished reading it.

This is a story of the Guernsey Island just before the Nazi invasion. Parents are desperate to evacuate their children to England ahead of the Nazi's. The Simon's young children Henry nine and Catherine only four are sent with their teacher.

At the last minute the teacher's sister Lily takes her place and escorts the children instead so that she can stay with her parents and care for them during the trying times ahead. Lily makes a decision at the last minute to put Henry on the train to Manchester and travel alone with Catherine to Saint Austell a small village in Cornwall instead.

Lily's decision would change the course of life for everyone.
I enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend it.

Thanks to Julia Bryan Thomas for writing a great story, to Sourcebooks Landmark for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing with a copy to read and review.

Thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for an advanced copy of For Those Who Are Lost.

This is a beautiful debut novel about an area I didn't really know much about. I can't imagine the decision to send away my children like the families on Guernsey did prior to German occupation in 1940.

This is an interesting look at the evacuation of the children and the choices and decisions. I want to read more about the history.

I enjoyed this book, and I was excited about where the plot was going to go. This was an event that I had not heard of (sending the children to England without parents), and I was heartbroken by it. I liked the story overall, but I did struggle with the pacing. This felt like it slowed at times, and I wanted it to move a bit faster. The other issue I really struggled with was the MC. I really felt like she was so selfish for not just taking both children with her. Justifying it in any way just didn't make sense for me, and I couldn't get over it.

From what I have read about the parents from the English Islands and the decision they made to send their children away in the face of Nazi occupation this book parallels reality closely. This is a sad, sorrowful story and if you don't want to tear up don't read it.
This is the story of Lily, who running from an abusive husband makes a spur of the moment choice that will affect not only her life, but the lives of others for years to come. After making the decision to take Catherine, a 4 year old girl whose parents were sending her along with her brother to the safety of the english mainland, Lily must live with the gut wrenching guilt this moment has brought her.
Ava's story is painful also, not knowing where her children are, who they are with, the fact that her marriage didn't totally fall apart is a testament to both Ava and her husband's love and devotion to each other and their children. I cannot comprehend the pain they must have suffered, nor can I comprehend all the emotions Lily had to suffer with also. Lily's character is more complex, her motivations for her actions stem from a much deeper place. Ava's actions and motivations are simple and straight forward, her children are gone, the not knowing where they are or what is happening to them dictates all of Ava's actions.
This story was extremely emotional and complex, I couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in one day. I recommend it highly, 5 stars for sure.
Thank you to Source Books Landmark and to Net Galley for the free ARC, I am leaving my honest review in return.

For Those Who Are Lost is based on a true story. This story covers the lives of two parents that must decide whether to send their 9 year old son and 4 year old daughter away from Guernsey to England to keep them safe from WWII. The story as involves a school teacher and her sister who make decisions that will affect all the lives of everyone involved.

You can tel that Julia Bryan Thomas heavily researched the story and brought it to life for her readers. You can feel all the heart breaking and heart wrenching decision that is made and it will definitely have an impact you as the book continues. A definite must read in Historical Fiction.

Thank you to #netgalley and #SOURCEBOOKSlandmark for allowing me to read the eARC of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

It wasn't supposed to go this way when Guernsey residents Ava and Joseph Simon decided to send their nine- year- old son Henry and four-year-old daughter Catherine to England in the care of their schoolteacher prior to a German Occupation. At the last minute, the teacher's sister, Lily, took her place and escorted the children to the mainland. When she discovered what their destination was to be, Lily made a decision that would affect not just her life, but the lives of the children, their parents and the man she came to love.

Impeccably researched, readers are firmly ensconced in the story's setting and time span. The novel's premise is unusual, and the plot is carefully constructed. The author has created a cast of characters who have to deal with the unimaginable. The story follows Lily and Ava through the war years. Their stories are interwoven, and their lives are irrevocably touched by the actions of one woman. Both had difficult choices to make, but ultimately it was Ava who had to make the most difficult decision after years of heartbreak and heartache.

Masterfully told, this is a story of courage, remorse and love. It is well worth reading. Highly recommended.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are my own

Lots of very strange things happened – both tragic and heroic – during WWII. Families trying to escape left their homes, and sometimes families got separated, leaving some behind. So, the premise of this novel about two young children sent away from Guernsey by their parents before the Nazi invasion is very plausible. In fact, while reading this novel, I got the distinct feeling that this was a fictional telling of the author’s own family. Now, that can be both a positive and a negative, especially for historical fiction. The positives are almost always connected to the personal vested interest of the author to make a story that people will love. Obviously, in that case, the author wants to take family legend and make it sound compelling by filling in the gaps that relatives were/are unable to fill, but leaving some things out might feel disrespectful to these people. Sometimes that means that conflicting information needs to be weeded out, or the story won’t make sense.

However, I don’t think that was too much of a problem here, since aside from Thomas ignoring (or perhaps not knowing about) the available channels of communication, the rest of the story fit together nicely. Following these two children and their two different paths during the war was fascinating. Mind you, there were a couple things that didn’t sit totally right with me, the most prominent being why Lily didn’t say she had left Guernsey and said she was from Kent. Her other falsehoods made perfect sense, but surely someone would have been able to do a bit more checking about her status if she was from inside the country. That said, a little fact checking shows that the Red Cross helped people of the island and was able to get some communications between there and England despite the occupation. This doesn’t come up at all in this book, and I was surprised about that.

Now, one thing that I feel is absolutely necessary for a good historical fiction novel is the author’s ability for me to feel sympathy for the protagonist(s); I need to like them, identify with them, and care deeply about what happens to them. This is hard enough to achieve when you have one main protagonist, but when you have three, that’s even more difficult. It was probably because of this that I got the feeling that Thomas wanted to tell too many sides of this story, and that made some parts feel ignored at times. This diluted my ability to fully connect with any of the three, and I didn’t really fall in love with any of them. Now, I liked all the protagonists, and I did care what happened to them, but I’m not sure I was able to really identify with them all that much. However, Thomas did get me to choke up a touch at the end, and that’s to her credit (and it earned her another half a star, because of it).

Now, don’t get me wrong. My regular readers will know that I’m not in the least adverse to quitting on a book and tossing it onto my DNF pile if there’s too much that feels wrong. So, you must know that there was enough here to keep me reading through to the very end. First of all, I really liked Thomas’ style and while it needed a bit of polish here or there, I believe she’s got talent, and a unique voice; I’m certain continued writing will improve this even more. Thomas also seems to know how to develop a concept, approach a story, and think through a well-structured timeline, with some twists along the way to keep our interest. So, yes, there is much to commend with this book, and I’d very much like to read more by her. For all this, I think my most honest rating for this novel would be to recommend it with four out of five stars.

This was an interesting story about the lives affected by a desperate woman's selfish decision. It has multiple points of view, allowing the reader to see just how far reaching the effects of that decision were.

For the most part, Ava was easy to sympathize with since she obviously wanted what was best for her children. Henry was even easier since he was a child feeling alone and frightened but who still managed to be a decent, caring person. Lily was more complicated and confusing. She obviously didn't care about money. She enjoyed helping people and providing emotional support, but that selfish decision was hard to overlook. Finally, we got to hear from the person who was most affected by the decision, and she tied thing together.

This was a bittersweet but worthwhile read, and I recommend it to those who enjoy historical fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early read.

4.5* An outstanding view of the decisions made before the Nazis invaded Guernsey. Parents were given hours to decide whether their children should board a bus with their teacher to the mainland of England during WWII. If they decide to send them, it may be years before they are reunited and the war is over.
Ava and Joseph are hard working people on a farm with two small children to care for in that heart-wrenching decision for their safety they entrusted Henry 9 yrs old and Catherine 4 years old in their teacher's care. Later they will learn that 5,000 children were sent to schools elsewhere to be protected from the tragedies of war.
"We can never go back again, that much is certain." ~Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

Helen is one of the teachers that decided to go with her students until her sister Lily takes her place to escape an abusive husband and leave Helen to take care of their aging parents.
Lily not only leaves her wealthy husband and comfortable mansion, but takes her husband's hidden cash as well. When she takes Henry and Catherine under her charge, she falls instantly for the beauty of Catherine. In one split of a decision, she sends Henry on the train and takes Catherine in a different direction to claim as her own. This decision will have ramifications later overpowering the hidden motive and consequences she had not thought of.

The German troops moved into Guernsey and the rationing of food and constant surveillance began. Cutoff from the news, but finding strength as well as guilt that her children were safe Ava held on with resilience, strength and sacrifices.

Told in several POVs, Henry's story is about his courage and guilt as a small child told to look after his little sister. He suffers bullying and abuse by other older boys and eventually is moved again. Lily's story is the most interesting with her new found daughter in tow, new love and her marriage to Peter. Peter is oblivious to Lily's plot.

We know so much about the horror's of concentration camps and the Nazi invasion, but this is about the ones who suffered the ramifications of war, and the ones that were lost. It is a story of forgiveness and incredible sacrifices made for the ones we love. This is a heart-wrenching historical fiction that can easily be read in a day until you find out what happens to all the characters.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC in exchange for my review.