What a lovely book. I was drawn to Little Souls because it falls at a time when the Spanish Influenza and WWI were simultaneously taking thousands of lives. I thought a story written about this era would be fascinating. But this book is about so much more, although both of those realities of the time were drawn so personally that this novel made me cry and that says a lot about Dallas' writing.

Sisters Helen and Lutie sold the family home in Iowa and moved to Denver after their parents died. They bought a small house with a basement apartment, occupied by the Streeters and their ten year old daughter Dorothy. Helen, a nurse, found work with women and children in poverty and when the book opens, in 1918, she is engaged to Gil, a medical student. They are both working round the clock due to the pandemic. Lutie (Lucretia) has finished art school, but could not find success as a fine artist so she works in the advertising department of a high end department store. She is fun loving and dates casually. Eventually, she surprises herself by getting serious with Peter Howell, a seminary student and son of a well to do judge.

Little Souls seamlessly and meaningfully weaves into a narrative already ripe for tragedy, number of serious themes while effectively placing the reader in 1918 Denver. By the time I finished, I found I dwelled at times on issues both serious and everyday in nature the whole time I was reading: domestic violence; ice cream sodas; the role of women in changing times; bootlegging; the rise of automobiles; child trafficking; how trash was disposed of; murder; policing; ice boxes; rape; fashion; class issues; how streets were lit; orphanages and the fact so many children were orphaned during this period; early telephones (you can picture one of those candlestick phones with the pear shaped speaker on a hook every time someone gets a call); family; yellow dog journalism; porch swings; gardens and kindness found in unexpected corners.

I listened to the audio book. The narration was above average. The narrator uses less a style that involves acting out the characters and more reading to us with minor changes for characters' voices, if that makes sense, but very enjoyable. Highly recommend!

Lutie and Helen are sisters that are settling into Denver from Iowa after the deaths of both of their parents. The year is 1918 and both the Spanish Flu and a war are in the works. The sisters but a home and rent out the basement to a family. After tragedy strikes, Lutie and Helen take in 12 year old Dorothy.
The story is a mix of all kinds of storylines and the author really made it work. From the war to the flu pandemic to a kidnapping, this book has all of it. I enjoyed the characters very much. They were well thought out and interesting. A fantastic read, overall, and I highly recommend!
*** Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review

Little Souls is set in 1918 Denver in the midst of the Spanish Flu and WWI. Having recently read another book taking place during the last epidemic, I was a little apprehensive about the subject matter and how depressing it might be. There was certainly loss and sadness but there was also a mystery that kept the story moving and didn't sink into despair. There are some wonderful people in this book and Sandra Dallas did a great job of really bringing out their personalities.

Helen and Lutie are sisters who moved to Denver from Iowa after the death of their parents. Helen is a nurse and as such, overworked during the pandemic. Lutie is an artist working as an illustrator for a high-class department store. Their busy lives are turned upside down by the deaths of their downstairs tenants, first the wife from the flu and the the murder of the father who had come back for his daughter. He was not a nice man, I'll leave it at that.

Along with the war and the epidemic, there is love, families, aforementioned murder, and child abuse. Above all is the love and devotion of the sisters. I am sure a lot of research went into the writing of this book to get all the details of what life must have been like during such trying times.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance audio copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

The story takes place during the Flu epidemic in 1918. With the Spanish flu sickening and killing thousands, schools are turned into hospitals, public places like churches are closed and funeral homes cannot safely operate. Sounds eerily familiar.
Two sisters do their best to eke out a modest living during these trying times, their men overseas in WWI. They open the basement of their house to be rented out to bring in a little cash.
When their tenant dies from the flu, the sisters are thrust into caring for the woman’s small daughter, Dorothy.  Soon after, Lutie comes home from work and discovers a dead man on their kitchen floor and Helen standing above the body, an ice pick in hand. She has no doubt Helen killed the man — Dorothy’s father — in self-defense, but she knows that will be hard to prove. They decide to leave the body in the street, hoping to disguise it as a victim of the flu.

It’s a complex story, with so much horror and death happening between the flu, the war, and a murder. But it is also a compelling story that pulls you in and holds on tight.

Extremely well written and highly recommended. The narration performed by Carly Robins was also excellent and kept me engaged.

Thanks to @netgalley, Macmillian Audio, and Sandra Dallas for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion

Little Souls by Sandra Dallas was a very compelling historical fiction novel that took place in the early 1900’s during The Spanish Flu pandemic. Simultaneously, while the people around the world battled this quizzical and dreaded flu, World War I was being fought. Women’s roles were clearly defined and opportunities were often lacking for the women that lived during that time period. The type of jobs that were available for women in those times did not promote advancement and the women who held those jobs were not compensated with the same monetary policy afforded to men with the same positions. They were dead end jobs. Women who suffered from abusive husbands were forced to just accept what was being done to them. Few believed them and even if they did the women were usually blamed for doing something that instigated the behavior in the first place. It was a hard time to be a woman.

During this time, two very close and devoted sisters had recently lost both of their parents. Helen, the oldest of the two sisters, was determined to sell their parent’s home that was located in a small rural community in Ohio and move to a big city like Denver and start a new life. Lutie, the younger of the two sisters, agreed to accompany her sister to Denver. They purchased a home together and rented out the basement apartment to a couple with a small daughter. Helen was a nurse at the local hospital. She was working tirelessly by nursing the victims that presented with symptoms of the Spanish Flu. The hospitals were overflowing with patients with the Spanish Flu so schools and other buildings were converted to accommodate the countless patients. Lutie was working as an advertiser for fashion at a well known and respected department store in downtown Denver. Although her job was a dead end job Lutie didn’t seem to mind. She was quite talented when it came to sketching fashion and even making her own clothes.

One night, as Lutie made her way home after a long and thankless day at work, she encountered a haunting sight. Lying on the street, right before her eyes, was a man. As she got closer, Lutie realized that the man was dying.. He was another victim of the Spanish Flu. Lutie almost bent down to try and see if she could do anything for the man but then she remembered Helen’s warnings about how contagious this flu was. Lutie planned on telling Helen about the man she had seen but when she entered their home, Helen was standing in the kitchen over a body of a dead man, holding a bloody ice pick in her hand. There was no question in Lutie’s mind that Helen had killed the man. Upon closer inspection, Lutie realized that the dead man was the husband of the woman who had been their renter. When the woman renter died from the Spanish Flu, Helen and Lutie were in total agreement that they would take care of Dorothy, the daughter. The father had left his wife and daughter months before but now here he was dead on their kitchen floor. Since so many of the victims of the Spanish Flu were left on the streets to be picked up by carts, Helen and Lutie devised a plan to do the same with the body of Dorothy’s father. They pinned a note on his clothes that read: victim of the Spanish Flu. Helen’s beau, Gil, a doctor at the same hospital where Helen worked, helped Lutie accomplish this. Lutie believed that the only reason Helen could have killed Dorothy’s father was in self defense. No matter what, she would protect her sister, even if it meant bending the truth when the police came to question them. Lutie was determined to keep Helen and Dorothy safe.

Lutie also had a boyfriend who was considering becoming a minister. The idea of marrying a minister and becoming a minister’s wife was not very appealing to Lutie, though. In spite of everything, Lutie fell in love with him. Then one day he told her that he had enlisted. Lutie was devastated. The two became engaged before he went off to war. Lutie had even met his parents before he went off to war. His father was a judge and Lutie took to him immediately. Both his mother and father would become important people in Lutie’s life. They would come to her rescue more than once or twice.

Little Souls was the first book that I have read by Sandra Dallas but it will not be the last. I enjoyed Sandra Dallas’s plot development in Little Souls and her writing was wonderful. The timing for this engaging book could not have been better timed as we battled and lived through the COVID 19 pandemic. The similarities between the two pandemics were too numerous and almost frightening. I love when a novel has a strong female protagonist and this one most definitely did. I cried a few times during this performance of Little Souls but I also smiled a lot, too. Little Souls explored the themes of sisterhood, love, loss, abuse, determination, strong wills, and secrets. I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of Little Souls and highly recommend it.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

**I received an advanced listening copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Set in 1918 during the influenza outbreak, this novel follows Lutie and her sister Helen as they navigate through an ever changing world. Dallas covers quite a lot of topics and historical points in this novel - the aforementioned influenza outbreak, as well as World War I, bootlegging and mob activity, and some darker topics involving abuse. There is much tragedy in this novel, but also a sense of hope.

I've read novels by Dallas in the past, and each of her novels brings tragic events to the reader through the eyes of at least one main character. In this novel, Lutie's naivety about the world seems a little distracting to the storyline, and I did not always find myself "cheering" her on as she navigates constant changes. The narration of the novel is superb, and I will definitely listen to another book narrated by Carly Robins.

In the end, I felt compelled to hear how the story would come together.

Story 3 Audio 4

TL/DR: A nice read with some interesting history and a creative, if slightly muddled and at times shallow, story about sisterly love amid a chaotic time in the early 20th century.

The first lesson to learn from Little Souls, the new novel from Sandra Dallas, is that Denver started prohibition four years before it hit nationwide in 1920. This new-to-me detail adds another layer to the already tumultuous year of 1918 as sisters Lutie and Helen navigate life during both a pandemic and a World War.

The sisters, Helen a nurse and Lutie an artist with a bit of a bohemian streak, are building a life for themselves in the big city after leaving Iowa when their parents died. They’ve found a home, careers, and love. They’ve also found mayhem due to an unscrupulous tenant, fear from the influenza pandemic, and the pain of dealing with having loved ones across the ocean fighting in Europe. The sisters find allies in the upper class family of Lutie’s fiance, Peter, and deep love for Dorothy, the young girl whose mother died of the flu and whose father finds himself on the sister’s kitchen floor with an ice pick to the head. And as we all know but always seem to forget, just about everyone has a secret. And, of course, most of the secrets coincidentally tie into the events of the story.

Little Souls is well researched and well written; the descriptions of early 20th century Denver are rich and engaging, and the plot and themes are interesting and well crafted. Unfortunately though, it seems to lack some soul itself. The characters are developed well technically, but there is something missing in bringing them fully to life. Given the settings of the story, there is inevitable death, fear, heartbreak, and a dose of redemption. But there is just not enough there to make you really feel. We are told throughout about the sister’s bond, but never feel it. Lutie’s indecision over how she feels for Peter is the closest you get to really engaging with her emotions, but in the end you are still just told that she loves him without knowing it. The one exception is Helen and Gil, who have just enough of the right details to connect to their relationship. The summary describes it as a gripping tale, but it is more of a slow mellow churn with some slips and slides along the way.

The crown jewel of this audiobook is Carly Robins’ narration. Her voice has the perfect lilt to take you back to the time period, and she uses tone and pace changes very smartly to keep the story moving. The unfortunate detail here is that I listened via the NetGalley app, which I great appreciate but has some looming audio issues. This may have the potential to be a 5-star performance, but it’s challenging to get past everyone sounding a tad like a robot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Net galley and McMillian audio for the copy of this audio book. This book was amazing!! I have to be honest- I did not read the entire book blurb I like to be surprised on books. So I was blindly listening to this book. I was shocked to learn that this book touches on childhood sexual abuse and its long term affects of the victim. then I was shocked to learn it touched on death too. The author did a great job with bringing everything together.

Sandra Dallas wrote a lovely little mystery. Reminded me a little like Amy Stewart series with the Kopp sisters. 1918 Denver Colorado during the Spanish flu, older sister Helen is a nurse, her younger sister Lucinda an artist. The sisters take in their downstairs tenants 12 year old daughter when tragedy leaves the young girl an orphaned. Bootlegging, Spanish flu, murder and cover ups keep this story alive. All though this novel is not on my ten top best list the audio was a pleasure to listen too. The narrator, Carly Robins was very enjoyable to listen to, her characters very convincing I would recommend this book to my friends and patrons in my library. Not sure if it would make the 10 best sellers list, but it could make a strong number 11 on that list. Worth the read or the listen...

Wow this is a very tragic book! I feel like there should have been a few more disclosures/trigger warnings in the summary even though the summary is already pretty bleak as it is. There is a lot of discussion of child molestation and rape that go into pretty graphic detail that should be disclosed before someone reads this book.

This book is very well written and definitely makes you feel for all of the characters. With that being said, there is a lot of death, murder, rape, child molestation, and kidnapping that will make you feel just awful. There is very little in this book that will make you feel alright.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

I wanted to love this book. The setting of Little Souls in 1918, during the flu pandemic and the war in Europe in Colorado, was interesting. Usually, these historical fiction books take place in big cities such as New York. This made me more interested in reading it, as I hoped it would offer a different perspective on the massive worldwide events, which it did, in its own fashion.

Unfortunately, for the most part, the author used the pandemic and the war merely as background to remind the reader when this story took place. Yes, there were descriptions of people suffering and dying from the flu, which were well researched and very vividly described, and there were conversations about the war and whether the U.S. should stay out of it. I had hoped the author would make those major events a more significant part of the story.

It was a decent story, though a bit over the top at times with the number of horrible things that happened to and around the two main characters, one of whom serves as the narrator. Despite the many seemingly unresolved complications, the ending seemed abrupt, with multiple plot threads wrapping up too quickly and conveniently.

“‘We’re all lost little souls in our way.’”
Picture it, 1918 Denver. Men are off to fight in WWI and those at home are fighting the Spanish Flu. We follow 2 sisters, Helen, a nurse, Lutie, an advertisement artist, and a young girl they find in their custody. Secrets are revealed, the truth found out, and lives melded together in ways no one had planned or foreseen.
………………….⭐️4/5 ⭐️ ………………….
⚠️ Trigger Warning: Mentions of sexual assault, violence, and child abuse. No graphic depictions.
🛑 SPOILERS AHEAD 🛑
Little Souls by Sandra Dallas is a historical fiction about Helen and Lutie, 2 sisters that move to Denver after losing their parents. They rent the basement to a couple and their daughter, Dorothy. When the husband abandons his family and the mother dies of the Spanish flu, Helen and Lutie take in little Dorothy and vow to adopt her as their sister. After her beau perishes in the war, Dorothy’s father is murdered, the Spanish flu hits far too close to home, and Dorothy is kidnapped by deranged family members who fear she’ll tell their secrets, you would think that Lutie has been through the worst of it. Yet it gets worse.. it’s still 1918 and an unmarried young woman clearly can’t make a sensible decision on her own..
This story is bleak and unpredictable to the last second and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were well written and the story gripping.

Thank you to Sandra Dallas, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for this audiobook. Look for it in stores and online April 26, 2022.

Doesn’t life always seem like we are riding the waves? Life is never flat, there’s always ups and downs. And that is true of the story, lots of ups and more than it’s fair share of downs.

This story covers the tumultuous life of two sisters out in the world on their own. The story of Helen and Lucretia (Lutie), is set in Denver around 1918, however by changing a small amount of details the story could have taken place in the 1950s or in the 2020s (excluding the amount of technology we have today)

I did find the story to be entertaining and a quick one, which is why I did give it three stars; but the details didn’t make me believe the story, which is why I didn’t give it more stars.

When I described it to a friend, I compared it to of one of those prolific romance novels. Meaning how those books are page after page of romance, love, lust and not much other plot. This book was page after page of depression, drama, sadness but not much plot. When readers of a romance novel pick up a book, they aren’t looking for a deep thought provoking storyline. They are just reading to get their romance fix. And that’s what I would describe this as, not a story to read for a deep storyline, but to get a drama fix.

As I said, there was a fair amount of tribulations for the main characters. These included primarily two women on their own at a time when that would have been exceedingly difficult. The story includes death in multiple forms to include pandemic illness, war, and murder. The story gives details of rape, incest, child sex abuse, as well as forced prostitution of children. While these topics are not discussed in great detail, they are still mentioned. And not to be naïve, however, these were definitely activities that were prevalent of the time, it could also be said of many other times in history, modern included.

Even with the ups and downs of the lives described of the two sisters, I felt that many parts of the story were quite predictable. Only two distinct happenings in the book were a surprise to me, and both involved the sister Helen. While many other happenings were as I imagined they would be. The deaths of certain characters, the arrival of others, the appearance of officials (who bumbled through), to the exit of those officials without real success, and even to the expectedly happy ending.

I am thankful for NetGalley giving me the opportunity to read this book by Sandra Dallas

It has been quite awhile since I read Sandra Dallas book because I have read through her backlist so this book felt like coming home to one of my favorite authors. Like many of her books this one is set in Colorado in some of my favorite real life places to visit. It’s 1918 and the Spanish Flu is raging. Parts of this book felt very familiar because of the pandemic that we have all been dealing with for the last two years.

It is set in a background of the Spanish Flu and the WWI, but is a family story of two sisters who are very close. It’s also the story of a little girl that they come to love and how you find love after living through heartbreak.

If you are a fan of Sandra Dallas’ work you will love this one too and if you have not read anything by her before pick up this heartwarming story that will put a smile on your face.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ALC copy.

4/5 stars

A historical fiction narrative taking place in the time of WWI and the "Spanish" influenza, Little Souls somehow manages to be both heavy-handed in places and overly innocent in others. While I think many readers of historical fiction will appreciate this title, I think the author narrowing her plot lines down a bit (loss, death, pandemic, incest, sexual assualt, kidnapping, murder...there's a lot crammed into this relatively short audiobook!) would've made for an even better read. It was definitely a refreshing change of pace to listen to an historical fiction piece from a different (non-WWII!) era thank the market is currently saturated with!

My thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the chance to preview this title in exchange for my honest review.

This book had it all! Sisterhood, friendship, love, loss …. A very somewhat sad, but enjoyable, loving read, I enjoyed narrator, loved the characters, and love between sisters.

1918 Spanish Flu pandemic in Denver, Colorado. Luttie and Helen, two sisters, live together. They have a rental apartment in their basement and when the lady in the rental apartment dies of the flu, the two sisters take her daughter, Dorothy, under their wing. Dorothy’s father is a bad man and when he shows up dead in the kitchen is when the writing picked up. Luttie and Helen will do anything to save Dorothy. The book was slow in the beginning but picked up as I read on. I did love the strong female characters, the sisterly love, and the action that occurred in the second half. I did figure out what was going to happen at the end, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment while reading. Parts of the book seemed unbelievable and far-fetched, but it was still fun to read. This is a dramatic historical fiction about what makes up family, survival, loss, and how far someone will go to save those they love.

Another beautifully told piece of historical fiction by Sandra Dallas! I enjoyed both the ebook and the audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy of Little Souls by Sandra Dallas, Narrated by Carly Robins in exchange for an honest review. It publishes today, April 26, 2022.
Wow, this book was impossible to stop listening to! Not only was the narration very well-done, the story itself was captivating. I learned quite a bit about this period of history, and I felt that Dallas handed the pandemic portion really well, considering that we just lived through one ourselves.
I think if you're interested in a historical fiction about sisters, you will really enjoy this one.
Trigger warning: Pandemic, Death, Rape, Child Abuse.

I felt like I was living in Denver in 1918 while I was listening to this book on tape! Sandra Dallas did an impeccable job of researching the town and the time period. The parallels between the Spanish Flu and Covid 19 pandemic were very interesting.
Helen and Lutie are sisters who are navigating life in America while there is a war going on in Europe. There weren’t many opportunities for women during this time. Women had jobs, but were expected to quit and raise a family when they got married. Both sisters have steady boyfriends, but of course there are challenges along the way.
This book focuses on thinking about others' needs before your own. If you like books about people facing hardships, this book is for you. The narrator’s voice was overall pleasant to listen to.
I want to thank the author, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of the audio book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.