**WARNING** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS















In this story, we follow Ruth, a young woman who knows a lot about her mom’s side of the family but wants to know more about her much more guarded dad’s side of the family. It seems like her dad’s side of the family is shrouded in secrets, silence, and tall tales. On her quest to find out more about her father, his family, and their past our Ruth is dealing with matters of the heart with her boyfriend who can seem kind of distant, she’s also dealing with trying to smooth things over between her father and her brother, they got into a big argument when dad made himself sound racist against Jewish people, and Ruth’s brother Jake had his girlfriend with him who happens to be Jewish.
Ruth, on her quest to find out more about her family, finds cassette tapes of an interview that her grandmother did for a magazine so she pays someone to translate them for her because they are in French. We go back to occupied France and meet Ruth’s grandparents where they grew up, and we go with them on their long, scary, frightening, horrific, harrowing journey and find out who they really were as people.
Without giving too much away, I cried a lot with this book. There were also moments of smiling through tears. Getting to know these people and all they went through and all they risked to save a sweet baby and themselves. I hate that they couldn’t just be themselves and be happy and free the way they were before Hitler’s people came along. I learned so much from this book, I know the Nazi regime was horrific filled with absolute tragedy, but I didn’t know some of the horrors mentioned in this book until I read it. I believe this is a very important read, it’s hard to read some of it because it makes me cry, but that’s what makes it so important to read. We should never forget what evils some will put others through for absolutely no reason other than just being pure evil.

A fantastic story focusing on WWII and the difficulties faced by those who were targeted for their sexual orientation. The layout of the story focuses on Ruth who has uncovered some interviews and soon begins to uncover a lot of truths. Its set between two time periods where we go between Ruth and her life and Genevieve and Pierre.

I became attached to the characters and had to keep reading!

This was my first novel by Nick Alexander and certainly not my last! They are such a talented writer and I look forward to reading more of their work. Thank you netgalley & the publisher for the ARC, in exchange for an honest review.

Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander was an amazing Book. Nick has a way of writing that just draws you in and writes beautifully form start to beginning and this book was no different. It was beautiful. I found his books by accident and i've been a fan from his first book I read back in 2019 The Other Son. I then went out and purchased all his books and now they are all in my bookcase. This book is a great book for a holiday read sitting round the pool or on a beach.

I highly recommend this latest book by Rick and all his other books. They are just a masterpiece and written with so much Love.

This is the first book I've read by this author but it certainly won't be my last. A wonderful, highly emotional historical story line. The alternating interviewee chapters added so much depth to the story as it unfolded. Really well done.

Perfectly Ordinary People is a story of relationships, the horrors of the second world war, and of families torn apart. I loved the honesty of this book, the stories it wove and the way they related to each other. Anyone who loves Nick Alexander's storytelling, but also world war 2 fiction will enjoy this book.
With thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I think I can say it is my favourite book I have read this year. I envy anyone yet to read it. Set in two time zones - today and during occupied France in WW2. A secret that has been kept for decades. This story has it all - sadness, tragedy, laughter and tears. I urge you to read it!!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of Perfectly Ordinary People by Nick Alexander.

Ruth loves her family, especially during family gatherings. But lately the gatherings have gotten tense after her dad has made passing comments laced with homophobia and antisemitism. Where is thing coming from, and how can these relationships be mended?

Meanwhile, Ruth has discovered old tapes of interviews that will help uncover so many mysteries of her family from years past. Perhaps these secrets can be the key to reunification, if they aren't the thing to destroy relationships completely.

First off, I highly recommend the audio version of this book. The voice actors are spot on, and add a whole colorful layer to the story. Having said that, what a story! Tons of history, and I especially loved diving into the plight of the LGBTQ+ community during the Holocaust, something that we don't talk about enough. The characters and family dynamics were tangly and relatable. As I've said a million times, I love a messy family saga, and with some added historic fiction? Sign me up.

Perfectly Ordinary People is a well written novel set in the 90's about a woman who discovers more about her paternal grandparents via an interview with her grandmother set in the 80's, which delves into her grandmother's experiences during WWII.

I found the framing device of the interview the most interesting part of this novel, and would have preferred to solely spend time with Genevieve. I thought she was a very interesting character, while the main character of Ruth was a bit of a bore. Ruth seems to just let things happen to her, and the musings on whether to move in with her (frankly terrible) boyfriend were not very investing in comparison to the story being told by her grandmother. Her parents are also pretty terrible, and it's hard to understand how a family could talk so little to each other based on the mass amounts of time they spent together.

I found the story very interesting overall and I did enjoy it, but it drags a bit in some spots. I also think Ruth's father gets off way too easy for being an anti-Semitic homophobe. It's funny to me that he was raised by such a progressive woman and yet none of it seemed to rub off on him.

Ultimately, I think I would have preferred spending more time with Genevieve and getting to know Pierre, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.

This was a great read by Nick Alexander. It's set in 2 time zones and it needed a little concentration until I got into it. Then it was impossible to put down. Set in war times and full of mystery and love. Excellent as always from one of my favourite authors.
It is compassionate and although it is in fact not a true story, it could easily be so.

Absolutely wonderful book. It was truly harrowing, the plight of gay people during WWII was the focus, I don't think many people realise the amount of persecution they were subject to. A story told before and during the war when the Nazis occupied France and in the present day when many family members had relocated to Britain.
Just brilliant, Nick writes character driven novels so well.

A quick and easy read that I found myself picking up after a long day to unwind. The characters are beautifully written and I came to love them within the first few pages and was rooting for them all the way to the end. At times I wanted to stop reading because I just wanted the experience to go on for longer.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Another wonderful read from Nick Alexander. I got totally immersed in this story especially the parts from the Second World War which were absolutely riveting being in contrast to the more modern story with which it was interwoven. Powerful, realistic, yet homely and totally honest. It makes the reader think about possible hidden histories within their own families whilst also being a bit of an history lesson. I have to say I did find the past story from the war more interesting and couldn't wait to return to these sections. A definite yes.

Book really really recommended.
The structure of this book is an alternation of past and present: in the present Ruth and her story, in the past the Genevieve interview to a gay french journal.
When Ruth’s paternal grandmother dies, she realizes a sense of void for having missed the occasion to know more about her, so she tries talking to her grandfather or her grandmother’s cousin but… she does not manage to get to meet them in time or to talk to them properly.
Meanwhile her life continues, she finds love and her family encounters a huge misunderstanding.
At a certain point she manages to talk to her grandmother’s cousin, Ethel, who sends to her a package with 6 cassettes: it’s an interview in french.
In the book there is, since the beginning, this contrast between Ruth’s life who has no great problems to deal with, and Genevieve who tells in the interview her story when she was a teenager: a gay girl with gay friends right before, in the middle and after the Fascist regime.
Genieve interview is very very special (pay attention there are some really cruel descriptions) because it made me think how precious are these memories about what happened; this book is fiction but Pierre/Christophe character is inspired by a person who really went to the camps because gay.
I really appreciated the book. Because of the memory, and also because of the contrast with a “relaxed” life: I think we, now, owe a lot of people for this relaxed life.
I will read the book Nick suggested at the end.

What an enthralling and engrossing story. I enjoyed every single minute of this novel. The author has captured the very essence of this era. The story is really fast-paced and kept me turning the pages well into the night. The characters came across as very real in the telling and the historical aspects of this novel have been very well researched, although be warned, there are aspects of this story that are truly harrowing.

This novel is a must-read for those who love quality historical fiction set during World War Two. I highly recommend it.

What a great book that held my attention right to the end. The historical information on same sex relationships was difficult to accept and much of how the Jews were treated, I was familiar with but it still seems hard to understand such behaviour. The characters were well portrayed which is typical of the author. The novel is set in present time and Ruth, through interview tapes unravels her family’s past which explains how various relationships were influenced. Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy.
This really deserves 5 stars.

Before the two timelines/points of view began to merge together, this almost felt like two books in one, historical fiction and a more contemporary family drama. I was definitely more interested in Genevieve's chapters and felt myself wanting to get back into them each time we were back with Ruth. I felt like Ruth's chapters dragged a bit, and I didn't really care about her relationship issues and everything. In fact, if the book had just been focused solely on Genevieve, I would have given this 5 stars.

I enjoyed the interview aspect of this book and felt like it was the perfect medium to capture Genevieve's entire life story. While it was fictional, I learned so much about both France in World War II and what life was like for gay people back then that I hadn't previously known. It was both fascinating and horrifying, and Genevieve's story gripped me from beginning to end.

Be aware that this book covers some heavy topics like suicide and sexual assault, but most of it is just mentioned in passing and not graphic or anything. This is a definite recommend though if you like books that feature incredible love stories and long-kept family secrets.

This book was an interesting twist on the usual WWII dual-timeline story. That being said, a few things didn't sit well with me.

While I understand the point of this book was to bring to light the plight of LGTBQ+ community experiences in Europe during the war, a few sections glossed over details about Genny and Pierre (Chris) that would have given more depth to the story. In all the time they spent in the "cabin' in the woods, the years were just glossed over. Their struggle during the winters to survive, having the Pilot show up was really the only thing that happened to them during those years. Then boom - war is over and they can make their way home.

Also, the dual timelines were interesting to a point, but why such a long time lag? Why does Ruth's story jump about five years towards the end of the book? So much detail at the beginning with her meeting Dan, then all of a sudden time jumps past and now they have a child together and are a family.

I appreciated the novelty of the interview tapes, but again - so much time passes from their introduction to the story to Bill's trip to visit Igor. Seemed like so much wasted time. I understand that Bill had to come to terms with everything but for me - reading this - just felt very long and unnecessary.

I can’t put into words the emotions this book made me feel throughout.

I’ve always been interested in the Second World War. I’ve never once thought about how gay people where treated. I’ve obviously taken it for granted that love is love.

Perfectly Ordinary People, broke my heart.

More books like this need to be written.

Another masterpiece by Nick.

A fabulous read and I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read it. This book held my attention throughout. I loved the dual timeline and I thought it was very well done. I felt all the characters were authentic. It was a hard read at times in terms of learning of the harrowing ordeal some of the characters went through in the hands of German soldiers. It's obvious how much research the author undertook. With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.