4 1/2 stars.

This is the third book by Julia Kelly that I’ve read, and I have to say she has stepped up her game every time.

Viv Byrne Levinson, Kelly's protagonist, is heartbreakingly sympathetic. For much of the book, her life's path is decided for her. One reckless moment of abandon forces her into a marriage to a Jewish man she barely knows and turns her into a pariah in her devoutly Catholic family. When war comes to London, she's again forced into a choice involving her daughter, one that has long-reaching consequences.

Kelly is among the best when it comes to writing strong character arcs, especially female character arcs. I loved watching Vivian grow a spine and stand up to the people controlling her life. Vivian's husband has a story of his own, and he too grows and changes over the course of the book. I began the book disliking him and finished liking him immensely.

I read this book in two days, largely because Kelly’s plot contained two major twists that had me unable to stop reading. Curse her for making me stay up late.

All and all, The Lost English Girl is an enlightening look at family, motherhood, war and anti-semitism. I enjoyed learning more about Operation Pied Piper as well.

I look forward to Kelly’s next historical fiction.

Title: The Lost English Girl
Author: Julia Kelly
Genre: Historical fiction
Rating: 4 out of 5

Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous Jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family.

Five years later and on the eve of World War II, Viv is faced with the impossible choice to evacuate her young daughter, Maggie, to the countryside estate of the affluent Thompson family. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force, fight for his country, and try to piece together his feelings about the family, wife, and daughter he left behind at nineteen. However, tragedy strikes when Viv learns that the countryside safe haven she sent her daughter to wasn’t immune from the horrors of war. It is only years later, with Joshua’s help, that Viv learns the secrets of their shared past and what it will take to put a family back together again.

I do love Julia Kelly’s novels, so this was a no-brainer. There was some hard stuff in this novel, though. Viv’s mother was a terrible person, and it was gut-wrenching to read her treatment of Viv. Joshua wasn’t exactly a catch, but his journey was good to read. Poor Viv. What a terrible thing the first part of her life was, until she grew into herself and realized she had the strength to make her own life. Let’s be honest: Viv is a better person than I am, because I’m not sure what I would have done to Mrs. Thompson. This is a solid read, and I ended up plowing through 3/4s of it in one sitting, eager to find out what happened.

Julia Kelly is a bestselling author. The Lost English Girl is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Gallery Books in exchange for an honest review.)

A great look at what women went through during World War II. Viv is a young Catholic girl who finds herself pregnant by a man she barely knows. He is Jewish. After the wedding her parents pay him to leave. Viv says if he does she never wants to see him again. She ends up raising their daughter Maggie alone. She must send Maggie to the country because children are being moved to sabe them from bombings. Viv gets a mail delivery job. She tells everyone she is a widow so she can get hired. Her daughter disappears.
Julia Kelly does a wonderful job showing the different types of mothers. The treatment by the church of girls in trouble. Her description of flying bombing missions is spot on, too.
An interesting look at civilian life during war. Thank you, NetGalley!

I absolutely loved this book. It's a very heartwarming story of a young woman and her strange marriage and beautiful child. One that will stick with me for a while. Julia Kelly has hit this out of the park for sure.

There are a lot of characters in this story but the ones that count are Viv and her daughter Maggie. Also Joshua. I can't forget about Joshua. He's a very important part of this story. He's also Maggie's father.

Viv Byrne meets Joshua Levinson where Joshua plays a Saxophone in a club band. They are almost immediately smitten with one another. They only have two official dates and the second one results in Viv becoming pregnancy. She's not a bad girl by any means. She was just attracted to Joshua and it happened. Her family are Catholic while Joshua's is Jewish. Now the fireworks begin....

Viv and Joshua decide to marry and both families seem to be ok with that. For the unborn child's sake at least. At the wedding though Viv's mother offers Joshua a deal he just can't refuse. He leaves right after the wedding and Viv doesn't hear from his again.

Joshua wants to be a famous Saxophone player so he goes from Liverpool to the US to seek his fame. He tries to make it as a big time musician. He's a struggling Sax player though. When WW2 breaks out and he learns that things back home are not so good he decides to go home and join up.

Viv gives birth to a little girl she names Margaret Anne. She loves this child like she's never loved anything. Viv's parents though are very indifferent to Maggie. Like she is not their grandchild. Viv's sister has three children who they adore very much. Maggie however is like an unwanted part of their lives and Viv's mother is not very quiet about it. She makes a huge difference between the grandchildren. Viv has no choice but to live with her parents. She's a married woman and can't live on her own or have a job. Women were treated like property back then. When she did get a job she had to give her money to her mother.

When the war is about to hit Liverpool the children are being sent to foster homes in other areas to keep them safe. Viv has to send Maggie even though she really does not want too. It breaks her heart to part with her beautiful and very sweet child. It's during this time that she goes to work for the postal delivery again and saves some money so she can visit Maggie. She has to actually take her own money before her mother can take it all. Needless to say Viv's mother is not a very nice woman.

When the unthinkable happens Viv is devastated. Her world is turned upside down and will never be the same. In the meantime Joshua is in the service and has started to straighten up his life. He misses his wife but she told him to never come around if he left and leave he did do. I didn't much like Joshua for a long time but he was young and impressionable so I kind of felt bad for him too. They were too young to be getting married but if they didn't Viv would be labeled a fallen woman. Not that it was much better that she married a Jew. People shunned her because of it. She carried on though as did Joshua.

A lot goes on in this story that will have you turning the pages. A lot of tears will be shed also. It's a heartfelt story that in parts had me weeping. What Viv goes through is so horrible but she is also very strong when pushed. She does not give up easy and that works to her benefit. With Joshua's help things get better. I kept rooting for them to end up together after they got older and can't tell you if they did or not. They did work together for a great cause and got things back the way they should have been.

This is one of the best books I have read this year. You should read the very end, the acknowledgments, to find out where the author came up with this story. I found it quite interesting. Well done Julia Kelly. Very well done.

This story is told in three parts and between Viv and Joshua. Also Maggie has a few chapters in here. Each one is great and gives you insight to what they feel and have to say. I enjoyed this book so much.

Thank you #NetGalley, #JuliaKelly, #GalleryBooks for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts.

Five huge stars and a very high recommendation.

Liv and Joshua have a brief intimate encounter resulting in a pregnancy. It’s the 1930s in Liverpool, England. Joshua agrees to marry Viv. Because Viv is Catholic and Joshua is Jewish, Viv’s mother offers him a large sum of money to leave and never communicate with his wife or child. He leaves for New York to pursue his dreams of becoming a saxophone player and Viv is left to raise their child under her strict parents’ rules. Four years pass. As WWII invades England, Joshua returns home to serve in the RAF. Viv’s daughter Maggie is evacuated to the north to live away from the bombing and Viv becomes a mail delivery girl. A series of tragedies coupled with some lucky breaks bring Viv and Joshua back together. This was well-written with great characters. The story is gives a lot of detail on life in Great Britain during WW II. I greatly enjoyed it and highly recommend it. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

This book takes place during WWII and specifically tells a story centered around the evacuation of children to the country-side that took place at the beginning of the war. When Viv gets pregnant she marries the father of her child, but because he is Jewish her parents pay him to leave her. When the war begins she makes the painful decision to send her four-year-old to live with a couple where she will supposedly be safe. This is a story about being a mother during the tragedy of the war, as well as a story that highlights the challenges of living with the prejudices of the time. It's a compelling story of resilience.

Viv's Choices

Viv Byrne is a young woman just a teen in 1937 when the rumblings of Hitler start to erupt. She meets a young musician name Joshua at a club she attends with her co workers. She is young and has been raised in a strict Catholic family. This is exciting and feels like freedom to her. She dates the young musician. They succumb to their passion and soon Viv is expecting and they must marry.

Her parents are livid because Joshua is Jewish and Viv is catholic. Viv feels she will finally be able to escape from her parent's. However, at the wedding Joshua decides to make a choice that is life changing for both Joshua and Maggie.

A few years later the war is in full blast and Viv must make the hard and tragic decision to evacuate her daughter Maggie to the country to live with foster parents to keep her safe from the bombs. It seems the country is not so safe after all when a tragic event occurs. It takes them both to figure out their lives and how they can put their family back together again.

I thought this was a great coming of age story. Two young people thrown together because of a mistake. They must learn to live with their mistake, or in Joshua's case run from the mistake. It happens in a troubled time and with two families that have absolutely nothing in common with each other.

It shows how the anti semantic racism was already happening even at the beginning of war. It also shows how narrow minded some can be. How much difference religion can make. It show how some like the Levinson's can forgive, forget and show compassion to their daughter in law even though they have been hurt very badly by her parents.

Thanks to Julia Kelly for writing a great story, to Galley Books for publishing it and to NetGalley for providing me with a copy to read and review.

I love historical fiction, especially when based on true people and events. This was a great read with well developed characters and very interesting relationships. The story itself was engaging and I didn't want to put it down! I really enjoyed the background information at the end of the book as well. It was a good addition. Thanks #NetGalley #GalleryBooks

4.5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Lost English Girl is another wonderful book from Julia Kelly, cementing her further as a possible new favorite in spite of an initial bad first impression. She takes on some issues I knew a bit about, and brings them to life, giving me more understanding and even emotion for what the real people who experienced these things went through.
The book is split, more or less, into two parts: part one where the central couple, Viv and Joshua, are forced into marriage due to pregnancy as a result of their youthful indiscretions, and part two where they’ve been parted for some time, and their daughter Maggie is also parted from them, due to the evacuation of children during the Blitz. I appreciated the dramatic choice to start with the tense circumstances of a shotgun wedding between people from different faiths, instead of their romantic interlude, and while I don’t agree with how the flashbacks to said interlude were incorporated anticlimactically, it set the tone that it was mostly a marriage of convenience, and romance wasn’t the point.
A major overarching plotline is Viv coming into her own, as in spite of being married, she remains dependent on her parents for almost everything. I loved seeing her coming into her own, especially as she became aware of how they were holding her back from truly having a good life with Maggie on her own terms.
I was anxious about how the marriage would be handled, given despite Julia Kelly impressing me since, I’m still not over my first betrayal. However, I ended up liking how it turned out. It’s not a genre romance by any means, but the overall relationship arc and the ending felt satisfying nonetheless. The book emphasizes how young and impulsive both Viv and Joshua were, and reflects on how they’ve changed. Joshua made some selfish choices, and Viv doesn’t fully forgive him, but they are ultimately able to come together and form a strong, if unconventional family unit for Maggie.
The second part of the book is focused on the evacuation of children to the country during the early part of World War II (including the Blitz), something I knew a bit about from my background reading about CS Lewis and Narnia. However, this book was the first time I was faced with what should have been obvious to me: the separation of parents and children, even for the children’s safety, was often traumatic for the children. And while what happens to Maggie is highly dramatized, I love how Kelly worked in the real stories of the complex feelings children like Maggie had being away from home with virtual strangers, in varying types of home environments, and being expected to adjust…then after many months, being recalled home and expected to reacquaint oneself with one’s family and old home.
This is a beautiful book, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys World War II-set historical fiction.

I love a story about strong women who step up to claim their lives when it goes against the norms of society, and Kelly's latest features such a heroine. Viv chafes against her sheltered life and nearly finds a way out by marrying her baby's father. But when Joshua follows his dreams instead of keeping his promises, Viv becomes a single parent. At the same time, tensions are rising with Germany, and when the British start evacuating children to the countryside, Viv reluctantly lets Maggie go.

As heartbroken as she is, this leads Viv to redefine her life - her independence, her relationship with her parents, her sister, and especially her in-laws. This is a heartwarming, heartbreaking story that brought me to tears and then had me smiling again; had my jaw drop at the twists so that I never quite knew what was coming. Deftly told, with an abundance of emotion and strength, this was a gripping read. Kelly is very quickly becoming an autobuy author for me!

The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly is my third book by this author. The story takes place just prior to at the very beginning of WWII through the end of the war. The war was clearly on the horizon. The British government made people in the more populated cities (ie London, Liverpool etc) send their children to the rural areas and countrysides of England. This was conceived because the government felt the cities would be a target for the Germans and they wanted to reduce the amount risk of injury and death for their citizens but most especially the British children. This evacuation was code-named Operation Pied Piper. Almost 3 million children were evacuated during the first four days of the operation and ultimately more than 3.5 million children were relocated. Ms. Kelly researched this story well. It was extremely interesting to see how this evacuation not only changed the children but the birth mother and the foster mother. The children and mothers experienced fear, readjustment, guilt, confusion, regret, loss and gratitude.

This story is beautifully written, and as mentioned before, well researched. This is a story that will be with me for a long while. I, once again, look forward to seeing what Ms. Kelly has in store for us next. Well done.

I would like to thank Ms. Kelly, Simon & Schuster Canada and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Julia Kelly is one of those writers who can immerse you in whatever she is writing about. It took me a bit to come out of this one. Heartbreaking yet hopeful.

It’s 1935 in Liverpool. Viv has been raised in a really strict Catholic family. Her only hope to get out from under her stern mother’s control is to marry. And she will be doing that. But first, she got pregnant. And her mother is not happy, to say the least.

Add to that the boy is Jewish. And oh, my momma hates that. And once she finds out he has plans to go to New York to become a Jazz musician, she has a plan of her own.

Now that little Maggie is five, her grandmother pressures Viv to send her to the country to get her out of the line of fire, as the big war threatens. Viv is resistant but finally comes around.

But, has her mother been truthful with her? I doubt it.

As Joshua gives up his musical dreams and heads home to fight for his country, Viv will spend a long time looking for their daughter.

The choices we make can have such long-reaching effects. This was a story about those decisions. Full of struggle, heartbreak, hope, and love, this is a good one!

NetGalley/ Gallery Books March 07, 2023

Thanks to Gallery Books for my advanced copy of The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly.

Julia Kelly is one of my favorite authors and I really loved The Lost English Girl. It's a story about a family set in Liverpool during World War II and a little girl who was evacuated to the country (like so many children during the war) and the choices we make and family pressures/obligations. I loved the multiple viewpoints of this story.

Highly recommend this book (and all Julia Kelly books!)

Juiia Kelly has brought the affects of World War Two in England to life in The Lost English Girl. I knew the story would not be a happy story. After all, the atrocities of the war are taught in our schools. The author's telling of some of those atrocities inflicted on the people of England gave me more insight than years of history classes. Julia Kelly had me bawling uncontrollably. I had to sept away from the book, but the tears still flowed.

The Lost English Girl isn't all doom and gloom. The story is inspirational. The British people kept calm as they carried on; pedaling around craters, trying to feed a family with fewer and fewer ingredients available, hiding from bombs and so much more. Every day more and more important decisions had to be made.

Those decisions were not always easy. My mum has spoken many times of the struggles parents had to make about evacuating their children. I never understood how hard it must have been until this story. That wasn't the only hard decision for many women. Being caught in the family way brought shame to a family. The mother, if she was able or brave enough to keep a child, was ostracized and frequently judged.

The main character, Viv, had to deal with those decisions and the horrifying repercussions. Her decisions allow the reader to grasp many situations during World War Two in Liverpool and other areas. What an eyeopener!!! I now have a greater understanding. The empathy for my aunt has grown. Viv is one tough lady.

The Lost English Girl touches on some of the struggles of the evacuated children and the parents left in the war zone. There were so many issues. I had no clue what could result from the decisions made in order to protect the children. Even in war, evil and the lack of compassion infests the people.

It is stories like The Lost English Girl teach us things that history books neglected. They give a human perspective. They teach us without us necessarily realizing it. They remind us that we can't let anything like this happen again. I will happily cry today reading the story , if I don't have to cry in the future because we didn't learn from the past.

I was aware that children were relocated to safer parts of England during WWII, but I didn’t realize how this multi-year absence affected their families. This book gives us a story about the child Maggie and how her parents lives took different turns. Four-year-old Maggie is sent away to a foster family to keep her safe from the Nazi bombs destroying Liverpool. The novel describes how her mother is dependent on her toxic parents until she decides to take a job to get money to visit her daughter. We see the difficulty in obtaining a “typical” male job, and how she pushes to get a job delivering the mail. The religious differences of Catholic/Jewish faiths are an important part in the story. There are some twists in the story which I was not expecting. You can see that this was a well-researched book from the author’s notes at the end of the novel. Well done Julia Kelly!

Thank you to Net Galley for providing an early copy of The Lost English Girl by Julie Kelly'

Many books. both fiction and nonfiction, have been written concerning the evacuation of children from the dangers of London's vulnerability at the hands of the Nazi regime. Julie Kelly offers a fresh and compelling story of two families, one Catholic, one Jewish, and their failure to reconcile differences at such a momentous time in their country's history,.
Viv Byrne is just eighteen years old when she finds herself pregnant by a young Jewish man barely older than herself. Because her Catholic family cannot accept Joshua Levinson, they go along with the marriage to legitimize their grandchild but offer him a generous bribe to leave for New York in the hope of a musical career.
Viv takes advantage of a plan to evacuate her toddler daughter to England's countryside where she will be "safe". Circumstances step in that will devastate Viv and cause her to question her actions, altruistic as they are.
Joshua struggles as well as he returns to his beloved England to join the RAF. He has not forgotten about the wife he left behind and the child he has never seen.
Author Julie Kelly does not write an easy story. Rather, she delves into the thoughts and motivations of all the leading characters and no simple resolution will save the day.

Once again Julia Kelly’s has written a wonderful book! I wasn’t aware of the evacuations of children during WW11 in London. The book is heartbreaking, loving and filled with family drama.

Thank you #NetGalley, #Simon&Schuster,Inc, #GalleryBooks, #JuliaKelly and #TheLostEnglishGirl for the advance readers copy for my honest review.

This was a heart-breakingly beautiful book about a very sad time in UK history.

In an effort to keep their children safe during blitz attacks by the Germans, many families in London and the surrounding cities sent their children to live in the countryside, fostered by caring people. Unfortunately, in this case, and I suspect, many others, the foster families' attachment to the children led to deception and sorrow for the children.

Viv was already struggling with her role as a "disgraced" woman, forced to marry following the accepted norms of the day when she became pregnant. Joshua did his part by marrying her, but then continued on his own life's dream of going to America to become a musician, leaving Viv at home to care for Maggie. Viv was still under her mother's thumb, taking care of their home and constantly berated for her circumstances.

Viv didn't want to send her young daughter Maggie away, but did it anyway, thinking it was the best thing for her daughter. The foster family was very loving to Maggie, but less so to Viv, attempting to block her visits and make it difficult. Then tragedy strikes and Viv believes her daughter is gone forever.

I liked that Viv was a strong woman, she resisted the path that so many women in her circumstances meekly followed. It took her a while, but through persistence she managed to get a job (posing as a widow, because as a married woman it was not usual for the times) and found a way to a relationship with Joshua's family. I won't write spoilers, but she never, ever gave up on wanting a life with Maggie. Highly recommend.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, but my opinions are my own.

*****Publishing March 7, 2023*****

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ If you love Historical Fiction, then this is a must read!

Viv comes from a strict Catholic family, while Joshua is Jewish. They meet at a club where he plays the saxophone. Their relationship furthers and unexpectedly they get pregnant, so they are forced to get married. Viv’s parents do not approve and pay him to leave Viv after their wedding. He takes the money because it will give him the opportunity to get his music career off the ground in NYC.

4 years later, children are being evacuated from Liverpool to the countryside when WWll begins. Viv is told by her parents she has to send Maggie or leave and live on her own. She is reassured by her priest, Maggie will be in good hands. Viv is able to visit Maggie, but goes back to work as a postie, in order to afford the train tickets.

When WWII begins, Joshua enlists in the Royal Air Force and goes to war. Will Viv and Joshua eventually reunite? Will Viv eventually be able to reunite with Maggie after the war? Or will tragedy occur that will tear them apart? This story will keep you turning the pages to find out.

This book is written from 3 points of views, Viv, Joshua and Maggie. It gives the reader a perspective of the harsh reality of what the circumstances were and the struggles they endured! A well researched book that gives some insight into Operation Pied Piper and the Jewish/Catholic community in Liverpool, England before, during and after WWII.

What a wonderful story of adversity, hardships, bravery, family, friendships, love, and loss. This story leaves a lasting impression, so you will be thinking about it from start to finish. Be sure to add this incredible book to your TBR list! A great book club pick as well.

Thanks to Gallery Books, I was provided an ARC of The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Lost English Girl is a beautiful exploration of complex family dynamics of the 1940s. A rich story focusing on love of yourself, your family, and who you choose to be family. I deeply appreciated how the book explored themes of the treatment of Jewish individuals in countries not under Nazi control during the time. If I had a complaint about the book would be that it lacked subtlety. There were no conclusions left for the reader to draw themselves, everything was stated and fully explained. Besides that, it is a beautiful, layered story. Who is good, and who is bad, can you love beyond the world you were raised in, and what are you willing to forgive?