What a brilliant, captivating read this was that took control of me from the very first page to the very end. It is told in a dual timeline with various narrators beginning in the present day when Museum Curator Cassie Simmons has a visit from a man who brings in an old bottle of whisky with a Bailey Brothers' Best label on it. He inquires as to the origin of it and wonders about the history behind it.

Flashback to 1918 in a field hospital in Belgium during the Great War when a nurse Adele Savard, from Windsor Canada, is treating wounded. Corporal Jeremiah Bailey who was brought in by his brother, John. The Baileys are members of the 1st Canadian Tunneling Co. and it is their job to dig tunnels under the enemy bunkers. Jeremiah suffered multiple facial lacerations and broken ribs and Adele sews him up. John is not hurt so he goes back to his tunneling while Jeremiah is admitted and will be a patient there for a while. After the war is over, everyone returns home to Windsor and to Post War Prohibition. This is such a fantastic read which covers so many different emotions you will not be able to put it down.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the ARC of this page-turner that was very well researched and very well written.

I almost passed on this novel because I have read so many stories set during war, but I am really glad I read it! It is set in both Europe and Canada, and there are two timelines: 1918 and present day. The 1918 timeline is riveting and was my favorite part, and the present day timeline is interesting as well.

The present day timeline has Cassie, a museum curator in Canada, approached by a man who has bought a house in the area. He had knocked down a wall and found a hidden room full of 100-year-old liquor that has a small bluebird on the label. The house happens to be the house that Cassie grew up in and she wants to find out why the liquor was hidden in the wall. There's a mystery here to be solved.

The 1918 timeline is dramatic. Adele Savard, a brave woman has volunteered as a nurse and ends up in Belgium working in a hospital taking care of soldiers who are sick and injured during World War I. These nurses, mostly nuns, are called "Bluebirds" by the soldiers because of their blue uniforms. While there Adele meets Jerry Bailey, a fellow Canadian, whose face was badly injured while he was working as one of the men digging tunnels under enemy lines and planting explosives. Adele and Jerry are very attracted to each other, but after and extended recovery, Jerry was sent back to digging tunnels. After the war Adele returns to Canada. She thinks about Jerry, but doesn't know if he made it out alive. However, they cross paths later and get together. Jerry had returned from the war with his brother, John, to find their parents both dead from the Spanish flu. Jerry and John become part of the lucrative, illegal rumrunning business during Prohibition, running liquor from Canada to the United States. (I didn't know Canada had Prohibition too!)

This was a page-turner and I found it exciting and filled with action. The writing was delightful! I'm definitely going to read some of Graham's previous books.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster Canada through Netgalley for an advance copy. This book will be published on April 5, 2022.

This book by the Canadian Queen of Historical Fiction did not disappoint! The book is set during and immediately following WWI. The main character is Adele Savard, who has enlisted as one of Canada's nursing "sisters." With their blue gowns and white caps, these nurses were dubbed "Bluebirds" by the soldiers they cared for. Jeremiah Bailey is one of these soldiers, and he and Adele form a strong relationship as he comes under her care. But the war must go on, and the two are separated, hoping to see each other again in Windsor, Ontario after the war is finally over, if they both survive.

In present day, Cassie Simmons, a museum curator, is thrilled with the discovery of a stash of bottles of whiskey in a prewar home in Windsor that is undergoing renovations. She's always been interested in the Prohibition years, and these bottles of Bailey Brother's Best Whiskey are a clue to a long-unsolved mystery. Also, Cassie has a secret about why she's particularly interested in these bottles and this house.

The best part of the book is the story of Jeremiah and Adele. The present-day is almost an afterthought, and I was slightly annoyed when the older story was interrupted. Perhaps if there was more to the characters in Cassie's story, I would have been more invested.

The character development in this story is extraordinary, and one can't help but be drawn in by Jeremiah and Adele. The factual details are so interesting, and I can't imagine how much work must have gone into the research! This is an important and eventful era in Canadian history, and I know and care more about it after reading this story. Love the women's rights issues that are stirring throughout the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Shuster Canada for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. And thanks to Genevieve Graham for continuing to write Canadian historical fiction - please don't stop!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC. An interesting historical fiction set around WWI and present day. I found the story about bootlegging and prohibition very interesting. This author has a bright future ahead of her!

This is really a 3.5 star book for me. The main character was Adele who was a nurse during the First World War. She was a member of the Bluebirds that I had never heard of and knew nothing about. The main male character was Jerry Bailey and really his brother John. They were tunnelers during the war. I also know nothing about that duty. I learned a lot about both duties and I read a lot about Adele and Jerry but I don’t feel like I really know them. I have found, that for me, a great book is one where I can relate at some point with at least one of the characters. With this book, I just know of them. This is the first book I have read from this author. I will recommend it and I would read another one. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy for my honest review.

This was a quick and easy read. Canadian author, Genevieve Graham writes wonderful historical fiction incorporating, often times, less known facts and incidents. This time she did a super job illustrating through fiction the role of the "Bluebirds" of the Canadian Army Medical Corps during the World Wars. These dedicated nurses courageously tended to the injured soldiers, convalescents, prisoners of war, and even civilians.

The Bluebirds were stationed at faraway locales including Britain coastal regions, France, Belgium, the Mediterranean and even Africa. Some don veils even though they were not catholic nuns as they heed the call for nurses. The bluebirds are so called because of their very appealing robin blue dresses and white veils which contrast with the more bland grey apparel of the nursing sisters of the Red Cross and the Imperial divisions.

I like how Adele Savard, the bluebird protagonist in this novel is portrayed to capture a glimpse of the life of the nursing sisters from that era. The novel comprises short chapters featuring individual characters for whom each title is named. I was drawn to this book being a bit of a history buff who makes the effort to visit far flung war sites such as Gallipoli, El Alamein, Normandy regions, Vimy Ridge etc.
.
The novel is essentially a love story. Nurse Savard, despite her resolve to not get emotionally attached to the patients under her care, finds a spark with Corporal Jeremiah Bailey (Jerry for short). Once Bailey healed he is returned to the fighting front and Nurse Savard is left with nothing but hope that he survives the war.
Once the war ended, veterans and medical personnel return to a different world and they themselves have changed because of their lived experiences. Graham also did a good job highlighting the male chauvinistic tendencies towards women with a career or wanting a career. As Graham navigates the family history of each character and their childhoods, personalities emerge.

Parallel to this early 19th C story is a modern story of an assistant museum curator and a very old house to which she is closely linked. A burgeoning romance with the handsome construction guy working on the renovation of the house is explored. To add to the exciting milieu are bootleggers/rumrunners, the prohibition era, the devastating Spanish flu, and information about tunneling activities as part of warfare. There is mention of the Temperance movement which associates drinking alcohol with crime and unhealthy and immoral behaviours.

The other appeal for me is the border town of Windsor, Ontario where most of the story is based and a town with which I am very familiar. Both of my sons lived on beautiful Riverside Drive for the three years they spent there for their JD Degrees. Needless to say I was a frequent visitor plus I travelled there on many occasions on work assignments.

I enjoyed many walks along the beautiful promenade by the Detroit River with splendid views - both Canadian and American. The Hiram Walker Whisky Legacy is still very apparent and the story of the Windsor-Detroit "Funnel" which transported whisky to thirsty Americans is not unknown (75% of illegal liquor to the US originated in Detroit). Many colourful stories abound about turf wars, gangs, and characters with links to Al Capone.

I have had many great meals in Windsor but I couldn't remember dining at The Dominion House; I recall a trip to Detroit for an evening at Cliff Bell's where the mahogany bar is a testament to a long ago time. I was fascinated to learn that it was Clifford Bells who introduced bar stools to his taverns. I am very aware of speakeasies but have never heard of the concept of "blind pigs" before.

While I find some sections of the book slow, for example a detailed wedding scene including the vows expressed, I am bumping this rating to 5 stars. My favourite line is "one thing the war has shown me is how short life can be. And I don't want to live my life depriving myself of the things I want" . My personal motto too so I slather my warm bread with copious butter. Looking forward to Graham's next book. I always enjoy her works. Keep them coming!!!

Genevieve Graham is such a fantastic story teller. This was a beautiful story of history and romance. I really enjoyed characters and learning about their lives! The time frames were wonderfully developed, and I enjoyed the descriptions! Another great book from her!

This book is a must read in my humble opinion,. Once I started it, I could not put it down. It's a novel, a history lesson, a love story and so much more.

The characters are well developed and the story line just makes you want to keep turning the pages. I loved reading about the history of the times, John and Jerimiah Bailey, Adele, Cassie and Matthew Flaherty stories just keep your attention focused on what was happening.

Genevieve Graham has done a masterful job of putting together a story that spans the years, the changing times, and the families history in a most enjoyable way.

This is a great read!
I received a copy of this book from #netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was an intriguing book about a man and his devoted brother serving as tunnelers in WWI and their relationship with a nurse, Adele, who is assigned to treat one of the brothers during the war. Adele is following the advice of the head matron by providing excellent care to her patients while remaining emotionally detached, until she meets Jerry. It is clear they both share feelings for one another and learn they are from the same area in Canada. When Jerry returns to the front, Adele focuses on her responsibilities thinking she will never see him again.

When they return home after the war, both Adele and Jerry try to find purpose in their return to their old lives. But, many things have changed. Each wonders if the other made it home. In a bit of fate, they are reunited again and are instantly drawn to one another. The love story that develops is tender and romantic. I wish the book focused solely on this era and the developments of this family.

An additional aspect of the book was the interjection of a second story line 100 years in the future with an ancestor of Jerry and Adele. I found this to be distracting and underdeveloped. A look back in time would have been more interesting if it contributed in a meaningful way to the character development. Instead I felt like unnecessary bits were sprinkled on top of a wonderfully written story.

Overall, this was a delightful read that I would recommend.

Can I tell you why I love @genevievegraham novels? Because I’m addition to being entertaining, I learn something integral and important about Canadian history in each one. Not in a school marmy, talking down to you sort of way either. She elegantly weaves the history into the story so that it IS the story itself.

Take this one. Bluebird starts with our two main characters overseas during world war 1, one a soldier and, the other, a nurse. Their paths cross and they learn they are both from the Windsor, Ontario area. Right from the beginning, we are introduced to bits of Canadian history in the form of the Canadian women who served as nurses, the Nursing Sisters known as Bluebirds, the only position available for women to serve overseas.

Then we fast forward to post war Windsor where the prohibition and rum running is in full swing. See? I had no idea that that part of Canada played such a key role in the prohibition on both sides of the border. No idea.

Of course it’s not all a history lesson. There is family connection and a beautiful romance. There is a long standing feud and a man absorbed by the need for vengeance.

Highly recommend

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Another hit from my most admired Canadian author! Genevieve Graham is my unofficial Canadian history teacher, which I have learned so much from.

This is dual timeline ancestry, with multiple points through Canadian history; WW1 - tunnelers and the Bluebird nurses; prohibition - rumrunners and the whisky trade. Wowee! Genevieve writes these characters with grace and passion, as she does in all her stories. I always feel so connected to the book and characters in Genevieve's stories. I wanted to keep reading and learning more and more and just did not want this book to end. Canadian history is so colorful and we have Genevieve to thank for continuing to bring the history back to us in her fabulous works! Looking forward to many more from this very talented and thoughtful author. Well done!

Many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, as well as the fabulous Genevieve Graham for this early digital copy!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.
I really liked this book. It was a different story about events that took place during the First World War. I learned a lot about rum running as well as Canadian Nurses and their role in the war. Even though this story begins in the present time, it goes back and tells a really interesting story about one of the nurses and a soldier she met in the hospital. I highly recommend this book if you like historical fiction. It is an interesting story that captured my interest right from the beginning.

Book Review
Bluebird by Genevieve Graham


The war has ended, prohibition is in effect and the roaring 20s are in full swing. Told in multiple POV from both past and present, Genevieve provides a glimpse into the window of Canadian history. Her latest captures a Love story between a soldier and a nurse - not uncommon for the time- layered with the intrigue and danger of the roaring Twenties.

I found the love story between Adele and Jerry to be at the forefront of this story. This book felt/read like a historical romance, and I was completely invested in seeing them reconnect after the war that brought them together.

The finer details stood out (as they always do with Genevieves writing) Adele’s sister being a member of the Canadian temperance movement, the ongoing fight for women to continue in work force now that men were back, the secret passages and trick shelves used to hide liquor, all the little things that were included and defined the times, made this book authentic.

This book has easily become
my favourite from Genevieve Graham. I want to step back in time and hang out at a speakeasy and know these characters. It
speaks to Genevieve’s talent that she can write, so eloquently about the past, so much so, that the reader connects so easily to the experiences of people from years past. The scenes are so vivid, the reader is instantly transported to another time and place. Reading this book was a pure pleasure.

Raise a glass of whiskey - a toast- Congrats Genevieve on yet another phenomenal book.

Thank you to @simonandschuster for my gifted copy in return for an honest review.

Having heard great things about Genevieve Graham's books, I had high expectations for this one. Alas, perhaps they were too high because this book didn't hit with me. For a story involving WWI and a prohibition gang war, the book was surprisingly slow. Characters and subplots were introduced only to fade away without a point. The backstory between the Bailey Brothers and their rival could have made for a great story, but Graham chose to focus on the romance instead. Oh and the second timeline served absolutely no purpose and could have been eliminated.

Why then did I give free stars? Because of Graham's writing style. The woman knows how to craft a sentence. Her descriptions were wonderful. Too bad the plot do justice to her language skills.

How did the book make me feel/think?

Destined to be a Best Seller!

I dive in, tunnelling my way through the First World War in Belgium.

I’m taken aback. The timing of this release is eerie.

What’s the point of war (any war)? Soldiers decide who to kill because of the fabric on their uniforms (deep in the darkness). Seriously.

Is the point to satiate the egos of evil?

Passion is found in horror.

Time shifts.

A discovery is made in present day.

Emotions run strong with every discovery made.

I’m in. The pages speed up.

Genevieve Graham drops us onto the pages. Readers become part of the story as it sweeps us back and forth, past to present to past. Love blossoms. The horrible truths of war become glaringly apparent as soldiers return, all of them damaged, mentally, physically—many amputees. How do returning soldiers exist in a world they fought so gallantly for its very existence?

Shunned. Damaged. Lost.

Bluebird is an exhilarating ride, twisting + turning; it left me craving more pages as I cheered for love to blossom, as I tunnelled through the trenches, and as I rode shotgun with the rumrunners of Windsor Ontario during prohibition.

Whether it was in the mind-blowing passages in the past or the enlightening, heart-wrenching discoveries of the present. Bluebird delivered the rarest of combinations: An education of a world I never knew existed, and warmth only found in the comforts of love discovered in the unlikeliest of places.

WRITTEN: 14 March 2022

I enjoyed this book, it gave a different perspective on the First World War and the role played by Canadian Nurses. then it brought us back to Canada to find out what happened to the soldiers who fought so valiantly, and the Nurses who cared for them.

Bluebird is a historical romance that takes place during two different time periods. But unlike other novels that employ this format, Bluebird doesn’t jump back and forth in alternating chapters. The bulk of the story takes place during WWI and the early 1920s during Prohibition. It’s divided in four parts, and each part starts with present day Cassie’s story wherein she reflects on her family’s past history. Then we read about her ancestors: her great grandparents, how they met and subsequently found each other again years later. It is a well-constructed story that captured my interest and kept it throughout. There is plenty of tension (the dangers of the battlefields of WWI and the risks involved in producing and selling whiskey during Prohibition) but it is also a charming love story between Adele and Jerry. This is the third novel I have read by this author. Her stories are engaging, based on actual historical events that are lesser known parts of Canada’s history. At the end of the novel, the author provides more information and facts about the history behind her novel. A great read!

This is a remarkable story stretching from 1915 and WWI, through Prohibition and the years of rum-runners. It also reaches into present day to include the story of a family home that holds answers to years old mysteries.

Adele Savard is a Canadian nurse who joins the Canadian military nurses, or “Bluebirds” stationed in Belgium. She helps an injured soldier, Jeremiah Bailey, and their relationship begins to develop. There is a good amount of tension and good vs evil. Another important part is played by the Bailey’s family home in the present, which reveals important answers to mysteries from long ago.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for my honest voluntary review. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and equally enjoyed the author’s extensive notes at the end of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this period or just a good love story.

Where to start …… I loved this story, the subject matter, the characters, the history , the fictional love story all intertwined weaving a beautiful book to escape in.

Genevieve Graham writes beautiful historical fictions based on history in Canada and then adds characters that seem to come to life while reading, they always stay with me for awhile after reading. This book takes on prohibition and rumrunners, the bluebird nurses from wartimes and the soldiers who fought and were injured. I always love how she includes notes at the end of her story letting us know where she found the historical aspects and what ones are actual history in the book and the parts of the story she embellished on or added her own imagination to them.

I received a free advanced copy from NetGalley and all opinions are my own

I would highly recommend this book to my friends and family and I’m hopeful my book club will also use it as a monthly read.

I enjoyed this dual time novel that gave us a WWI story which isn't something that you see in historical fiction that much. As most seems to be set during WWII so that was a nice change. I look forward to more books by this author.