Do you know anything about tunnelers, whiskey sixes, trepanning, blind pigs or porters named George?

Do you know much about the Prohibition era in Canada and why returning soldiers were attracted to this dangerous activity? Why nurses were called ‘nursing sisters’? ‘Bluebirds’? How their service and sacrifice helped influence federal voting rights for Canadian women in 1917?

No? Then you MUST read this one - especially if you are Canadian and answered no to the above. Go ahead, pre-order it now. You won’t be disappointed. It’s our legacy and showcases women in the military who faced distinct challenges and proved their dedication and bravery.

Bluebird is a Prohibition-era love story that takes place during WW1 and tells the story of Adele Savard, a Canadian nursing sister working at the No. 1 Clearing Centre at Adinkerke, near the Belgian Front, who forms a strong bond with Corporal Jeremiah Bailey, a fellow Canadian and wounded member of the 1st Canadian Tunneling Company. After nursing him back to health, he returns to the front and their paths don’t cross again until they return home to Windsor, Ontario. Just when it looks like they have a chance to start over, Prohibition threatens to tear them apart.

Graham, a Nova Scotian author, gives readers a uniquely Canadian perspective on WW1 and the days following by setting this novel in Windsor, Ontario at the dawn of Prohibition and at a Canadian nursing center on the frontlines. I’m always amazed at what I learn about my own country’s history from Genevieve’s books. I’m saddened to think that our students don’t learn about this interesting history. I felt the author’s plea as I read; a plea to read the stories from OUR past so that we can experience the incredible history she unearths. In this story in particular, I was very aware that when it comes to the military and behind the scenes work in a conflict zone, women’s efforts often go underappreciated.

This dual timeline brings together a present-day assistant museum curator, Cassie Simmons and a home renovator, Matthew Flaherty, when a stash of bootlegger whisky is found, linking them to legendary bootleggers who ferried booze across the Detroit River from Canada.

It’s rare that I love both timelines equally well, but these stories burst with emotion, the characters are endearing and the plot is compelling. I’m going to predict that this is my favourite Canadian historical fiction book of the year and that it’s the author’s most widely received book she’s written. It has such heart, hope, and compassion within the pages.

“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.”

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for publishing and allowing me to preview such a phenomenal book about our country’s history. I commend you for facilitating the education of our citizens on topics that they wouldn’t normally discover on their own.

I was gifted this amazing advance copy by Genevieve Graham, Simon & Schuster Canada, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

You cannot go wrong with a Genevieve Graham novel and Bluebird is no exception. This author takes a little known part of Canadian history and shines a light on it in an engaging, interesting and captivating way. Written in two timelines - just before the end of WWI into the early 1920s and the present day, we learn about the courageous role of Canadian nurses on the front in Belgium, how they and soldiers endeavored to return to normal life (in Windsor, Ontario) after the trauma of war, and the impact of Prohibtion, including the rise of rum-running, and the Roaring Twenties on society.

The main characters were very likeable, the settings well described (I have a slight preference for the past timeline) and the pacing very consistent. I enjoyed reading about WWI and about Prohibition, topics that I have not read a lot about in historical fiction. There are several poignant scenes balanced nicely with tension and a mystery in the present timeline. It was a real treat to read Bluebird. Genevieve knows how to tell a great story!! Highly recommend!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had not read this author before, but I will now seek out her novels. I learned so much from this book---about the tunnelers in the Great War, the Canadian nursing sisters and the rumrunners from Canada to the US across the Detroit River. Wonderful descriptions of the times, a mystery to solve and very likeable protagonists. I could not put down this very poignant story.

I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange of a honest review. This book was absolutely fantastic! The story follows brothers John and Jerry, who are in Belgium during WWI. They’re both Tunneldiggers until Jerry gets hurt. He meets nurse, Adele and instantly falls for her. Fast forward four years, after the war is ended back in Canada, Jerry and John go into business as rumrunners. Unexpectedly, Jerry, John, and Adele all meet again - but that’s only half the story. In the present day, Cassie is a historian who gets called to a house rebuilding where old bottles filled with whiskey are found in the home’s walls. Cassie goes down a familiar path to find the mystery of the bottles. The story jumps between present day and the post-war prohibition era. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the dual time line, especially since the post-war portion takes places in Canada during prohibition. Great book and I couldn’t put it down!

What a fabulous trip to the prohibition era!

This was a fantastic story that was told in dual timelines.

Present day: Cassie works at a local museum in Windsor, Ontario. One day a man named Matthew enters the museum to inquire about some bottles of alcohol he found hidden in a wall while remodelling a home he had recently purchased. Cassie is immediately intrigued and offers to research them.

1914-1921: John and Jerry Bailey are assigned as tunnellers during the first world war. Jerry is wounded and taken to a hospital where he is tended by Adele, a woman working as a nurse. Jerry and Adele realize they grew up near one another and have an immediate connection. Once Jerry is healed, he returns to war hoping he will meet up with Adele when the war is over.

After the war, John and Jerry return home to find their lives are forever chance. They decide to start a rumrunning business. Alcohol is prohibited and there is good money in smuggling it to the States. It is a dangerous business and not for the faint of heart. Jerry inquires about Adele but does not immediately find her. When he does, he is forced to reevaluate his life and the risks he takes.

This was such an exciting story! I have always been interested in the time of prohibition and Genevieve Graham brought the time period to life! She has the wonderful ability to have you become so invested in the characters, the story, and the setting that you can smell the whisky and feel the adrenaline coursing through your veins!

If you enjoy historical fiction, I cannot recommend Genevieve Graham enough! Bluebird has it all - romance, action, mystery and adventure. It will without a doubt be one of my top reads of 2022!

Bluebird blew me away.

Genevieve Graham is one of my favourite Canadian authors and has made a name for herself with her engaging stories set around often lesser-known aspects of Canadian history. In this new novel, she sets her sights on (and pulls no punches) with her story that centres around WWI and post-war Prohibition in Windsor, Ontario.

Bluebird is set in two timelines and is told by three POVs - Adele Savard, one of Canada's 'Bluebird' nurses who works in a field hospital where she meets Corporal Jerry Bailey, a tunneller in the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company. The third voice comes from Cassie, a museum curator in present day Windsor, Ontario whose link to Adele and Jerry develops into an intriguing mystery.

When Adele and Jerry return home after the war to the Windsor area, they see how much their hometowns have changed. The Spanish Flu has invaded, Prohibition has taken over, rumrunning is a booming business and they witness firsthand how war veterans and nurses don't receive respect after risking their lives overseas. Adele and Jerry adjust to this new life and through them, Graham tells a riveting and emotional story that brings parts of Canadian history to life, particularly what life was like during Prohibition and the dangerous (but oh-so-exciting) lives of Canadian rumrunners.

This is a fantastic and fascinating story that will sweep readers away to battlefields, speakeasies (and Blind Pigs) that balances a sweet romance, a modern mystery and a look into the dangerous lives and long-held grudges of Windsor rumrunners. If you're in the mood for some history, mystery, with a splash of true love and just one helluva good story, make sure to pick up a copy (or preorder now) of Bluebird for its April 5th release.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Simon and Schuster Canada for my advanced digital copy provided in exchange for my honest review.

Part love story, part modern day mystery, part historical crime thriller . . . completely enthralling! Genevieve Graham has created a world that had me feeling like I was part of the Prohibition and all its excitement and mayhem. I found myself getting claustrophobic reading about the tunnellers in WWI and cannot imagine what hell they went through along with the Bluebirds. Such important pieces of Canada's history brought to life in these pages. The Bailey Brothers and Adele (and many of the supporting characters) are so wonderfully complex, and I enjoyed their connection to Cassie in the present. A well-researched and page-turning read! Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for the e-galley.

Bluebird by Genevieve Graham is a beautiful dual timeline book set during WWI on the battlefields, postwar Prohibition in Windsor, Ontario and present day. In present day Ontario, Cassie Simmons is a museum curator, who is advised about a cache of whisky labelled ‘Bailey Brothers’s Best,’ that turns up during a local home renovation. The mystery unravels of who the Bailey Brothers were, why a cache of whisky was hidden in a home and Cassie’s connection to the story.

Corporal Jeremiah Bailey of the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company was badly wounded in an explosion and is brought by his brother to the Belgian field hospital where he is looked after by Adele Savard, a Canadian nursing sister, nickname “Bluebirds.” Jerry and Adele grow close and realize they grew up just 10 minutes from each other. After Jerry recovers he gets sent back to the front and both hope they will see each other again.

After the war, both Jerry and Adele return home to Canada, taking their scars, both physical and emotional, with them. They quickly learn that home is not the same place that they left behind, with the Spanish flu having taken loved ones and Prohibition in place.

The book was well researched and touched on historical topics and details I knew little about. The characters were well developed and each added to the storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As a Canadian, I love reading about the history of this country and I am especially fond of books that take places around/during WW1. This was a sweet love story and I adored the characters but what really got me was the depictions of Prohibition Era Windsor. I didn't know anything about what it was like in that city in the 1920's and who doesn't love a book that teaches them something new!

Wow! Another stunning book by Genevieve Graham. This is my third book by this author and I have yet to be disappointed.

This book focuses a bit on WWI, but mostly about the roaring 20's during prohibition in Windsor, Ontario. Genevieve's gift of weaving a love story into Canadian history is second to none. I feel like I learn more from her books then from history class. My favourite part about this book was the cross between present day and the 1920's. It somehow left me wondering if I was a relative of the Bailey Brothers, or if any of my relatives were involved in prohibition. There's so much I don't know about my own family history.

My thanks to NetGalley for the advance reader copy. I have already pre-ordered my own copy of this book!

Genevieve Graham has done it again. She has found something in Canadian history that is not so well known and weaved an intricate and evocative tale around the perils of prohibition. Told in a dual timeline, there are themes of love, loss, ptsd, the importance of family, finding purpose, forgiveness and survival.

I knew nothing about tunnelling, the origins of the War Amps, the hospital ship Llandovery Castle, Bluebirds and very little about prohibition in Canada.

The characters are rich with emotion and come alive when reading about them. You can’t help but feel for the Bailey Brothers, Adele and Cassie and you turn the pages. There are some excellent secondary characters as well. There will be tears.

Thank you NetGalley and Simon Schuster Canada for the opportunity to read this book prior to its publication.

I love everything that Genevieve Graham writes, and this is no exception - a delightful, charming story - lots of Canadian historic tidbits thrown in - the characters are lovely, and it flows between time periods beautifully. I loved it!!

Genevieve Graham has outdone herself yet again! One of my favorite Canadian historical fiction authors, she is the sweetest, friendliest and most generous with her time. This latest book was full of rich historical detail and so many aspects of Canadian history that will be new to many readers!

As someone with a Masters degree in Canadian history I always love reading her books and am constantly amazed at her ability to unearth details I'd never heard about. Just a few of the many things this book covers include:

- The WWI Canadian Nursing Sisters (aka "Bluebirds)
- The WWI Tunnellers
- The Spanish Flu
- The Temperance movement
- The Black sleeping car porters who were all called "George"
- The origins of the modern day War Amps
- Rumrunning and bootlegging in Windsor/Detroit
- Great descriptions of actual Speakeasies and "Blind pigs"

Ostensibly a love story between a nurse and a soldier, this book is so much more, spanning the years from the Great war to the roaring 20s. You will fall in love with Adele and Jeremiah and their families. The dual timeline narrative was perfectly paced alternating between the past and the present. I loved how Genevieve tied these two storylines together in the most clever of ways! Such a beautiful story with a beautiful cover to match!

I can't recommend this book more, especially for fans of Jennifer Robson, Kate Quinn and Susannah Kearsley. This book would make an excellent book club pick, with a great reader's guide included and a detailed author's note. Much thanks to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Canada for my gifted copy in exchange for my honest review! I sped through this book as soon as I got it and can't wait for my pre-order to arrive. This is a must read for Canadian history lovers!