Captivating and gripping!

You have no idea how much I loved this story, it was breathtakingly beautiful. This is my first book from this author, I have no idea why, but good thing I can rear from her backlist. All the stars to this one!

Thank you Lake Union Authors for this gifted copy.

https://www.instagram.com/booksandcoffeemx/

World War II London, bombs are falling and Josie is left homeless. Not in contact with her husband, Josie finds herself in the English countryside, in the home of Miss Harcourt who has opened her house to WWII survivors. Opening a tea shop let's Josie make her effort towards the war as well as to her own heart.

I had a difficult time getting into this book. It had potential, but was very slow paced in my opinion. Maybe I'll give a second go sometime later.

Heart warming plot which was crafted well and I loved it!! One of the best WW2 novels I have read in a while. The novel takes pace with a great picture of the WW2 in London 1940. Josie Banks worked at a shop just past the Mile End tube station near Thames outside the front door where a discreet sign read THE COPPER KETTLE TEAROOM. The tearoom had been started by a Jewish old lady Madame Olga back in the early days of the century where she fled Russia. Olga attempted to create a tiny glimmer of civilization amid the bustle of the East End. Lace edged table cloths and pretty pink and - white flowered china, teacakes and sandwiches with the crust cut off. Housewives and children came to Copper Kettle who wanted a cup of tea and a minute's escape from the chores.

Jose Banks was married to Stanley Banks who had been called up into Army and for five year she hadn't worked other than for a garment factory. She stayed being a housewife for five years. she wanted to work as there is war. Olga was a Jew, her husband was murdered and Josie was ready to makeover the shop for Olga with some refinement. Josie was an asset at the Copper Kettle. After five year of looking after her five siblings, following her mother's death, the work didn't seem hard, and Josie loved chatting with customers, making sure all the china sparkled and trying to stretch the flour and margarine to bake the occasional cake or biscuit.

After Stanley left back to the Army, Josie gets back to her tea shop business and Madame Olga. The tea shop remained a charmed little haven, too good to be true, until the autumn of 1940, when the bombing started in Ernest. Night after night waves of bombers over London. The rumbling drone of hundreds of aircraft drowned out by air raid sirens. The sky crisscrossed with search lights. The burst of anti-aircraft guns and then the deep thump as a bomb landing one after the another.

It was too late after the bombing in London started, Josie found that she no longer had her Job and Madame Olga was dead in the bombings by Germany. It felt as if everything she cared about had been snatched from her in one instant. The tea shop had been like home. she hadn't realized how fond she had become of the old lady. Madame Olga had become the grandmother she never knew, someone who had time to listen to and appreciate her. And now she was gone. Josie realized she needed to find another Job.

Again Josie finds herself and her house to be bombed by Germany left alone with broken collar bones surviving somehow the drastic aftermaths of bomb. She had nothing and nowhere to go. Many of them have lost family members in the bombing- children buried in rubble. Everyone is grieving and in shock and frankly no one has answers. Gripping story and a page turner until the end. I would rate it 5 star!

I just reviewed Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen. #Where the Sky Begins #NetGalley

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the advance copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

In 1940 London, Josie Banks has been left a victim of the bombs falling all across the city. Her beloved tea room where she took a job after her overbearing husband Stan left for service has now been reduced to rubble, killing her elderly employer. Then her own home is bombed leaving her homeless and injured. She is evacuated to the country, forced to fall on the mercy of strangers. Mrs. Harcourt is a cranky old woman living alone in a mansion with only one servant remaining, Irish maid Kathleen. Neither one of the women are welcoming, counting down the time until Josie heals and moves on. After having several pilots from the nearby RAF base stop by for tea and scones, Josie asks permission to open a tea shop just to give the men a little comfort of home. One of the frequent visitors is Mike Johnson, a squadron leader whose intentions might be more than a little friendly. And although she's fallen out of love with her husband, she IS still married. Has she found a new future as the rest of the world is falling apart?
I just loved the friendly, flirty relationship between Josie and Mike. A pilot, and squadron leader at that...<swoon>! I despised Stan and how he treated her so horribly, and was secretly hoping Josie would find something better. Then we find out a shocking surprise about Mike and my heart just sank. I'm glad in the end Josie was able to find her own happiness.
I received an advance reader copy of this book. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.

Where the Sky Begins adds to the growing 21st century canon of novels that explore the impact of WWII on European women on the homefront. Rhys Bowen takes a unique perspective with protagonist Josie Banks, who finds some freedom to begin to grow into herself once her husband is called up to serve and no longer dominating her life and home. When a bomb destroys her community, she finds that what at first is a devastating blow eventually leads her to self-discovery, new friendships, and new opportunities.

I love Rhys Bowen’s books, but this was not my favorite of hers. After reflecting on it for a couple of weeks, I think it was because the tone and mood reflected the limited experiences of the character. Bowen did an amazing job getting into her head to explore every element of who Josie was, and writing the narrative as Josie would be thinking. This left me wanting, as the depth and complexity of the writing was lacking (though it was definitely there in terms of relationships and processing a new world).

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, Netgalley, and Rhys Bowen for early access to this novel.

Nobody does historical fiction better than Rhys Bowen.
Josie is working in a London tea shop while her husband, Stan, is in the Army. She is very happy there until the tea shop, along with its Russian emigrant owner is bombed. Josie tracks down where Madame was taken and identifies her body and takes her few possessions as Madame had no family.
As the war goes on, Josie is also bombed out and is saved by the kitchen table bu loses everything else. She is taken from the hospital to a convent to recover. From there she is sent to the country to recuperate. She makes unlikely friends and fits into the community when Stan reappears and wants her home to London to live with his awful sister. She goes for his leave, but insists on going back when he ships out. Josie faces going back to her old life as Stan comes home badly wounded even though she realized that she had only married him to get away from her unwelcoming step-mother.
Will she stay and care for Stan or will she return to her new "family" and possible new love?
Josie has the choice made for her and finds new ways to contribute to the war effort and eventually finds that Madame's "baubles" she had kept for her fond memories of the tea shop were a legacy indeed.
Ms. Bowen makes the era come alive with all its dangers and broadened horizons of even the most reluctant.

Historical fiction is not one of my favorite genre but I decided to give this book a try because I have always enjoyed Ms. Bowen's Historical Mysteries. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and was up way to late turning pages.
I was transported back in time to war torn England. A great novel about finding your own happiness in a time of great upheaval. The main character, Josie Banks, somehow manages to lemons life throws her and turn them into something sweet and refreshing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for review.

Following her controlling husband’s deployment, the bombing destruction of her workplace, and her own near-death experience in her home, Josie is sent to the countryside for rehabilitation. Unfortunately, she lands where she is definitely unwanted—in a lavish estate currently occupied by the lady of the house and a single housekeeper. As Josie heals, she involves herself in the community and becomes friendly with some of the RAF staff nearby. Her quest to stay busy and contribute to the war effort is met with at first skepticism, then gratitude. When she gets word of her husband’s status, it puts a halt to a quickly developing attachment with a Canadian RAF pilot who seems to actually appreciate her.

It’s weird to say that this is a cozy WWII read—I love them and the more I read the more I am blown away by the fortitude of people in those situations to buck up and keep moving. That said, it is cozy. This is a story of a woman who has been kept down and ignored and never has her wishes considered, finally being able to make some choices of her own and feel some autonomy over her life. This was my second Rhys Bowen book and I will go back for more, though I can’t say I liked this one as much as In Farleigh Field. The story itself was good but the writing just didn’t seem as strong as I wanted it to be. Available today (8/2/2022). Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union for the eARC.

Thank for the opportunity to read and review this book! This will be another great WWII fiction title to add to our collection for our patrons.

I always look forward to Rhys Bowen's summer historical novel. They are more of the romantic story of WWII story, but I wouldn't call them romances. Where the Sky Begins is a women's fiction novel set on the homefront in England.

Josie grew up in the slums of the East End in London. At 14-year-olds she had to leave school though she was a bright child whom her teachers thought might be able to get a teaching degree one day. But her mother died and there were little ones to look after. Once her father remarried she took a job in a factory and it was at a social where she met Stan who swept her off her feet. With her stepmother wanting her out of the house, Josie thought Stan was a great opportunity. However, Stan has a jealous streak and a bit of temper which only gets worst when Josie is unable to bear him a child. Then war breaks out and Stan is called up. For the first time, Josie gets to live a life of her choosing.

I liked Josie right off the bat. She is optimistic even with the hand she has been dealt. When her house is bombed and she is evacuated to the country-side she really starts to shine. You can't help but root for her.

There have been books with characters I didn't like but I'm not sure I've ever truly wished for a character to die. But I'll be honest, as Josie came into herself, met new people, and had new life experiences I kept hoping she would get a telegram from the War Department saying Stan had been killed in action.

A few years ago there was a television show on PBS (it was from across the pond) called Home Fires. Where the Sky Begins reminded me a little of that show. Josie is in a small village that is doing its bit for the war effort by growing vegetables and such. The village is also home to an RAF airbase. There's a Women Institute group - though it is more about gossiping than anything else. But all of this offers quite a diversity of characters. There are even a couple of German Jews taking refuge in the village.

I loved all the village people - they were lovely and just the community anyone would want to be part of.

The story is an easy one and it reads pretty quickly as you want to find out if Josie is going to get to live the life she so richly enjoys or will duty return her to London with her husband.

My review is published at Girl Who Reads - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/08/where-sky-begins-by-rhys-bowen-review.html

Content warnings: war, emotional abuse, bombings, using "gypsy" to refer to the Romani people, loss of a spouse, assisted suicide

(3.5 stars, rounded up)

Josie Banks married young and her husband is abusive toward her because she has yet to bear a child. When he is conscripted during World War II, Josie finds a job to pay for their London home which is eventually bombed and destroyed. With nowhere else to go, Josie is sent to the country to convalesce.

Josie's country home is a large, six-bedroom house occupied by Mrs. Harcourt and her Irish maid. Haughty Mrs. Harcourt is unpopular in the village, and living with her and the maid is far from pleasant. Josie makes the best of her situation and helps maid Kathleen with the chores she can do one-armed, including cooking simple dishes. Eventually, Josie persuades the mistress of the house to allow her to open a tea shop in the manor.

Josie's tea room serves as a gathering place for RAF soldiers and villagers. Josie finally finds a purpose during the war and becomes attached to the countryside. She dreads heading back to London with her emotionally abusive husband. Then a mysterious man shows up at the tea room and brings Josie into World War II espionage.

Recommended for fans of World War II fiction and women's fiction.

With Josie Banks' husband Stan, joining the war effort in 1940, Josie started a new job in the tea room with Madam Olga, but when the bombing started, the tearoom was lost. Then Josie's own home was bombed and she was injured, with no possessions and nowhere to go. She wouldn't go to Stan's sister Shirley, and was eventually taken to a nunnery that was taking in the homeless. When Josie was eventually evacuated to the countryside, she vowed never to live in London again.

The small town of Sutton St Giles was where Josie and three children stepped down from the bus, with Josie going to an aristocratic old home, with an owner equally as old, and a crotchety housekeeper. Miss Harcourt gradually warmed to Josie, but Kathleen quite obviously didn't want her there. With the RAF base nearby, Josie gained permission to use the downstairs parlour and opened a tea room for the men. Meeting the squadron leader, Canadian Mike Johnson was a pleasure for Josie and gradually a friendship grew. But what would happen when Stan arrived home from the war? Josie didn't want to return to London...

Where the Sky Begins by Rhys Bowen is an excellent WWII historical novel which focusses mainly on the evacuated peoples from London when the bombing was occurring. Josie was a strong, determined character, with an innate kindness which she easily showed to those around her. She wanted to help people get through some of the worst years of their lives, and even though she'd been through awful times herself, she put others first. Once again Ms Bowen has written a captivating story, which I recommend highly.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Entertaining and dramatic! It was a fun read and very lighthearted. I liked the mc. The writing was beautiful

Actual Rating - 3.5

This is one of those books where the characters and the plot eventually grows on you. To be honest, I didn't like Josie's character in the initial few chapters. She had had a difficult childhood, what with her mother dying when she was still young and the responsibility of looking after her numerous young siblings falls on her shoulders. So when she meets Stan Banks and he proposes to her, she accepts it without much ado, hoping that her life will change for the better. But quickly she realizes that Stan isn't what she expected him to be, he constantly puts her down and Josie is scared to stand up to him. So when Stan is called for duty amidst the raging war between England and Germany in WWII, she is secretly relieved.

But soon Josie's own home is destroyed in a bombing and she is left homeless and almost penniless. She is evacuated to a countryside home, where she is to be housed by an old spinster, Miss Harcourt, in a sprawling and a charming house. Josie makes her self useful by helping out the lone housekeeper, Kathleen, in the household chores. But it's very clear that neither Miss Harcourt nor Kathleen are happy with her presence in their house or their lives. Despite their cold behavior, Josie persists in keeping herself busy and immersing herself in the activities of the local community. She also forms a friendship with a RAF officer, Mike, stationed nearby to the village. We see how Josie's personality emerges as she comes up with ideas to start a tea room in the old house and her affable nature breaks down the hostile barrier of her hosts. If there was one word to describe Josie, it would be resilient, a never say die attitude. Even when she has no money left and no where to go, she is resourceful and is not scared to start life afresh on a unknown territory.

Although there are other novels set during the same time of WWII, narrating stories of holocaust survivors, about the atrocities of war, we get a glimpse here of how the everyday life of civilians was affected so horribly during the war. The constant fear of bombing, the air raids, loss of family and friends and the uncertainty of one's own fate is well brought out in this novel. It was certainly an enjoyable read. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Thanks to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Rhys Bowen for an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

War, tragedy, loss and love

A rather lovely story that brings forward the horrors of war on the home front without being over the top. Of course things were coincidental, maybe a bit too pat, but that’s fine. I’m all for some improbable reality.
Josie Banks, an east ender, is married to a controlling man. The war is on and thankfully Stan is called up. Josie however is caught in a bombing raid. The description is truly awful!
She’s shunted off to the country by the authorities and ends up being put off at the end of the line with three girls.
No place to lay her head. But there’s the big house with the reserved woman owner and her Irish maid. The welcome is NOT. But the rules are there and Josie is reluctantly given a place.
Josie’s new life is detailed minutely. She has the ability to make friends, solve problems and doesn’t shirk from a challenge.
Again and again, Josie faces situations and events that just keep coming. Not quite the Perils of Pauline, but still there’s a certain inevitably of something coming next.
The people were very real, the events unfolding like a favorite tv series. A mixture of Foyles War and Miss Marples. I could even envisage this in full color.

A Lake Union ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.
(Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.)

If you are familiar with Rhys Bowen’s books, then you know that her characters come alive as you become involved with their stories. Josie Banks is no exception. She married her husband Stan shortly after they met. He was the provider and expected her to stay home and take care of him and their future children, but as WWII breaks out they are still childless. Money is tight and she finally persuades him to allow her to work in a tea room. After Stan reports for service both the tea room and their home are destroyed in the blitz. Injured and with no home or possessions, Josie is evacuated to a small country village to recuperate. She is reluctantly taken in by Miss Harcourt, an antisocial spinster whose estate shows signs of neglect. Kathleen, her last remaining servant, resents Josie’s intrusion despite the help that Josie offers.

Josie was a city girl but she grows to love life in the country. The estate is adjacent to an air base. She would love to bring a feeling of home for the men at the base and suggests that they open a tea room in the front parlor. Miss Harcourt is reluctant at first. Josie receives encouragement from the villagers and Wing Commander Mike Johnson, a Canadian pilot. When Johnson shows her the respect that she never received from Stan, she realizes that she does not want to return to the life that she had. Then Stan shows up on leave and demands that she return to London with him.

The conflict between desire and obligation tears at Josie. She had to quit school at an early age to help at home. She was frequently berated by Stan so her time away in the country has allowed her to blossom. She is clever, observant and not afraid of hard work. What she accomplishes leads to the capture of a spy and Intelligence work for the war effort. Rhys Bowen’s story takes you from the bombed out streets of London to the country villages, where evacuees were settled, and the halls of Bletchley Park. It paints a picture of the heartache in a time of war as well as the cooperative spirit and determination demonstrated by the people. WWII fiction fans will find Where the Sky Begins a pure delight. I would like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing this book for my review.

I have only read Rhys Bowen’s mysteries and was pleased to receive a copy of Where the Sky Begins via NetGalley. As is typical of her work, it’s well researched and well written. Bowen paints vivid pictures of landscapes and of her main characters, although she doesn’t probe too deeply into the characters themselves. They are much more than cardboard cutouts but with the exception of Josie, the book’s main character, the others are more stereotypes (the grumpy domestic worker; the cheerful and kindly neighbors, etc.) than fully formed humans. Josie, however, appears to have few if any faults, which makes her a bit unbelievable. Regrettably, the story itself is fairly common and offers few insights into life in London and the countryside during World War II as well as an ending whose resolution seems to be far too convenient. Nonetheless, Where the Sky Begins is a good read for those who savor the genre. 3.5 stars

If you are looking for World War II historical fiction that covers a lot of different plots and genres then this is the book for you. It's historical fiction, and a romance, and then turns into a spy novel. It was a lot for one book. I liked that the main character was from London's East End (one of the most bombed locations in the war). The scenes that took place during the bombings in that area really conveyed the horror of what it would have been like to all of a sudden have no home, no possessions, no identification and no where to go.

1940 London - Josie Banks is an out and out city girl. She wouldn't know what to do in the countryside. The quiet and silence of it would drive her nuts. Surrounded by people and noise she finds it alien but this is going to be her life after being evacuated from London and all that she is familiar with.

First her husband Stan gets called up. Not the most loving of relationships, he was anyway her choice but then he goes. She finds employment with a Russian Jew who has opened a tea room and helps her out, be friending her as well. That gets bombed and the old lady dies. She then moves on but she gets bombed out of her own house, with literally not a stitch of clothing. Thats how the evacuation to the countryside starts.

It was usually children who get evacuated so when they find themselves with a grown woman without a stitch to her name, the authorities scramble to find a place for her. Miss. Harcourt and her servant Kathleen are not welcoming. They are suspicious and supercilious and Josie is not made to feel welcome. Little by little Josie overcomes the obstacles facing them all, settles in and makes a life for herself and the family as best as
she could. Josie has a good heart, is willing to see beyond the arrogance of Miss Harcourt and see the loneliness and heartbreak that has made her what she is. Kathleen is a different kettle of fish - blowing hot and cold alternately.

Josie's sojourn during the war is very beautifully documented - the travails of wartime rationing, how people made do and this adds to so much apart from the story of how Josie gets involved in sussing out a spy in their midst. This will eventually lead to Josie's future working at
Bletchley Park but that I hope will be another good story.

This was historical fiction very well told, documenting the daily life of Britons as well as the overall aspect of WWII