THE LOST ENGLISH GIRL by Julia Kelly is a beautifully-written and moving story of families who had to make the unimaginably difficult choice to evacuate their children to the English countryside to keep them safe from German bombings. In Liverpool in 1935, Viv Byrne, a young woman with a strict Catholic upbringing, finds herself pregnant after a brief relationship with a Jewish jazz musician. The only way to save her family’s reputation is for the couple to marry. But on their wedding day, Joshua makes a stunning choice that will change the course of both their lives. Viv is forced to move back in with her parents and raise her daughter, Maggie, in their disapproving home. Five years later, war is about to break out and Viv’s parents demand she send Maggie off to a Catholic family in the country to be kept safe. Later, Viv is devastated to learn that the safe haven she sent her daughter to has also been bombed by the Germans. The story is told from multiple points of view allowing the reader to see into the complex and turbulent emotions of the characters. There were twists and turns I didn’t see coming as Viv and Joshua pieced together the events and secrets from their past. I truly enjoyed this compelling story of motherhood, family and resilience and I highly recommend it. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to read and review an early copy.

Julia Kelly delves into the decision of sending your children out of London to live in the country for their safety at the start of WWII. Also at issue are women working, marriage between different religions, and manipulative relationships. Love the courageous character Viv, with a full array of complex supporting characters.

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

The book starts out with Viv and Joshua getting married because Viv is pregnant after their second date. Her parents are not very happy about the fact that he is Jewish. Her mom "bribes" Joshua to leave them and he takes the money and goes to New York to try and become a musician.

The war breaks out and Viv, along with many other families, send their children to the country where they were thought to be safer than in the cities. Viv hates that she sent Maggie there but she was convinced by her mom, who isn't very nice to Viv or Maggie, that this is what is best for Maggie. The house where Maggie was living was bombed and they were not able to find any survivors.

Viv is heartbroken. She gets a job delivering mail and reconnects with Joshua's parent and sister on her route.

This book was so good. I became so invested in Viv and was hoping that her and Joshua could make their relationship work.

A quick, emotional read, The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly will pull at your heart and keep you up wanting to know more. Viv, the protagonist, is a remarkably contemporary woman. She makes her way as best she can as essentially a single-mother in WWII Liverpool. The historical novel tells a fascinating, heart-wrenching story of what happened with children evacuated from cities during the war. This is an aspect of WWII I knew nothing about. In all, this is a great read, and I am eager to try more of author Julia Kelly’s historical novels!

My Thoughts on The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly

As I mentioned above, this novel covers the relocation of children from major target cities during WWII. Beyond the opening scenes of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I knew nothing about this phenomenon. Julia Kelly illustrates the painful realities of these situations, and the emotional coercion that went into some of the decisions to send children away.

As for the writing style, I really enjoyed the narrative. Chapters focus on one of three characters – Viv, Maggie, or Joshua. To be honest, I found Viv and Maggie’s chapters to be far more compelling than Joshua’s. By the end, though, his story comes full circle in a way that makes the earlier chapters about him compliment the story of Viv and Maggie.

A wonderful historical fiction that starts in the late 1930’s and into WW2 and after.
The family dynamics are strong and bring this story together. This novel will give you characters you love and definitely one or two you will despise!
Julia Kelly is a great author and The Lost English Girl is another example as to why.
Highly recommended!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Growing up in a strict Catholic family, Liv finds herself pregnant, and the father is a Jewish boy. Her family is just awful to her, and the parents-to-be both make decisions that will change their lives forever. This was a wonderful story of the differences in a loving family and one that is unforgiving and judgmental. Liz’s path is one of strength and determination. Loved the book from the very first page to the end!

The beautiful cover and then the title attracted my attention to The Lost English Girl, by Julia Kelly. The description sealed the deal. This is a beautifully written historical fiction novel. The children's experiences during WWII are realistic and the plot kept me reading. I had to know...
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest review.

In the 1940s, when a one night stand between a young English Catholic Girl and a Jewish Saxophone player results in a pregnancy, there are devastating effects on all involved. Unfortunately, in this case, one of the families was more concerned about the stigma and what people would think rather than concern for the individuals involved. Make the setting wartime and more complications ensue. I’ve always been fascinated by stories of the evacuation of children from London to the English countryside during World War 2. Julia Kelly did a beautiful Job capturing the heartache of the decisions involved in those evacuations. Without giving the story away, let’s just say the consequences of the evacuation in this case were disastrous. this was a quick page turner and I especially appreciated the opportunity of an advance read in exchange for a review, as offered by NetGalley. #TheLostEnglishGirl. #NetGalley

Julia Kelly has quickly become one of my favorite historical fiction writers, so I was delighted to receive an ARC of her latest novel, “The Lost English Girl,” from NetGalley and the publisher, Simon and Schuster in exchange for my review. The novel covers an area of World War II history that is rarely touched on in fiction, specifically, the fate of the mothers and children who were separated during the war when children from cities such as Liverpool and London were sent off to live with foster parents during the war to keep them safe from Nazi bombs.

The novel begins in 1935 when Viv is getting married in Liverpool to Joshua Levinson, a man she hardly knows after getting pregnant by him on their second date. She is Catholic and he is Jewish, a fact which upsets her parents. After the wedding ceremony at the registry office, Viv’s mother hands Joshua a wad of bills and asks that he take the money in exchange for never seeing her daughter again. Joshua agrees because he wants to use the money to try to make a success of a career playing saxophone in a band in New York City.

Viv stays at home living with her parents and raising her daughter, Maggie alone. Viv’s mother as well as the neighbors treat both Viv and Maggie with disdain because of Viv’s fall from grace. In September 1939, when Maggie is 4 years old, Viv’s mother and sister persuade a reluctant Viv to send Maggie to the country to live so that she will be safe from the anticipated bombings of Liverpool by the Luftwaffe.

In the meantime, Joshua returns to England to join the war effort after an unsuccessful bid to become a musician in New York City. After training, he is assigned as a navigator for the RAF. Now that he is home, Joshua begins to allow his guilt over his abandonment of his wife and child to emerge. Unbeknownst to him, Viv, who has a postal route to help pay the bills and earn enough money to visit her daughter occasionally in the country, discovered that her postal route included the home of Joshua’s parents and sister Rebecca. Gradually, Viv begins to trust them and to visit them regularly, finding in them the parental love she never knew growing up.

When Viv learns that her daughter is missing and presumed dead following a bombing in the town where Maggie had been relocated, she and Joshua meet again for the first time in a decade, united in their mutual grief over their daughter’s loss. A not wholly unanticipated ending brings them within each other’s orbit even further.

As mentioned previously, the novel brings to life the anguish and estrangement caused by the evacuation and lengthy separation of children during the war, as well as the challenges encountered by both the parents and children upon their return home after the war. The novel was meticulously researched, as detailed in the postscript. The characters, with all their flaws, together with their subsequent growth, were well defined. Readers of historical fiction will enjoy reading about this little known aspect of World War II history.

This was one of the best books I have ever read! It describes the children’s experiences who were sent to live with families in the country in England during WWII.

I adore this author's writing and this title is no exception. This story will pull at your heartstrings and is a must-read for those who love historical fiction.

Viv is a young Catholic girl raised in a household with rigid rules and strict parents. When she finds herself pregnant and unmarried, the only option she has is to marry the father. But once her parents find out that he is Jewish, they take it upon themselves to be sure he is out of the picture. In their eyes, their daughter couldn’t have a baby out of wedlock, but she also wouldn’t be making a life with a Jew.

When Viv’s daughter, Maggie, turns 4, she is evacuated to another city to be taken care of by another family in order to ensure her safety during the war. As bombs are dropped and homes are ruined, it becomes increasingly difficult for Viv to keep tabs on Maggie’s safety. The story that follows is about that lost English girl and the mother(s) who loved her.

The story also follows Joshua, Maggie’s deadbeat father, as he pursues his musical goals in New York City. The guilt he carries for abandoning his wife and child lead him into a military career and, I believe, make him a better man.

The story is fast-paced with a richly woven storyline and compelling characters. I give this book 5 stars. Thank you, NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC.

During the war, there was an effort to evacuate Liverpool children to more rural areas. One woman was convinced by her parents and her priest to send her young daughter to a couple. The bombings started and some hit rural areas as well as the cities.

How does a mother make the decision to send her daughter to strangers to keep her safe from the horrors of war?

Viv broke my heart. She is a strong character for making the choices she did and being able to continue to live her life. She never let Maggie get far from her heart and knew that she could never give up hope. She was forced to live a life without support and love but she some how knew how to love her daughter with her whole heart, she made every decision based on what would be best for Maggie.

Any war, but I read mostly about WWII, is horrible. The choices the families are forced to make, the horrors that they are forced to live through, and the way the war will affect their lives forever are something I am happy to have never lived through. The Lost English Girl tells of that life. It brought to life a mother’s love during a war and the lengths that she will go to just to keep her daughter safe.

I will give The Lost English Daughter 5 sparkling stars.

Thank you Gallery Books for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I received a copy of The Lost English Girl. From NetGalley. In 1934 England 18 year old Viv and 19 year old Joshua meet and have a brief encounter. Viv becomes pregnant. Vivian is Catholic and Joshua is Jewish. When they marry Viv's mother takes Joshua aside and hands him a lot of money and tells him the leave the country. Joshua takes the money and goes to New York. Viv is left to raise their little girl alone. When Maggie, their daughter turns four it is 1939 Europe is being taken over by Hitler. Viv's family tells her she had to send Maggie away to be "protected' since she is half Jewish. Viv reluctantly sends her little girl away.
She sees her once a month for some time then bombings all over England make it dangerous. Eventually Joshua comes back to England to fight for the war. After bombings hit all over England including Viv's family home there is news that the home Maggie was staying was also bombed. she is told there were no survivors. For years she is heartbroken but goes on with her life. when a few years later she gets news that changes her life. She and her estranged spouse have to join forces to see if this news is true. A good read I liked for the most part. although the characters are fiction, the story is based on what families were forced to do to protect their children and sending them away not knowing if they ever see each other again.

A moving, page-turning, well crafted and well researched domestic drama set in part in WWII. At its core, the story focuses on the heart wrenching evacuation of a child from Liverpool to the English countryside during WWII. Other themes include an examination of family ties, antisemitism, religious dogmatism, women’s roles during the War, and the era’s jazz culture. A few of the transitions between chapters struck me as a bit jarring, I thought a few of the 1935 chapters would have been more impactful if inserted into the tale at earlier points, and I wished for more content in the final chapters detailing what became of the principal characters. But overall, as with all of Julia Kelly’s prior novels, I found The Lost English Girl to be a compelling, very interesting read, with realistic, well drawn characters and skilled evocation of the historical era. Also, I appreciated the author’s notes and found intriguing the fact the story was inspired by Ms. Kelly’s own family history. Many thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for a complimentary ARC. Opinions are my own.

A World War II story about the true meaning of family that made me cry both tears of sadness and joy. It looks a while to hook me, but then I was totally hooked.

I appreciate NetGalley giving me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of The Lost English Girl by Julia Kelly. It was so good!! Viv is a Catholic girl from Liverpool with an overbearing mother. Joshua is a Jewish musician. When Viv finds out she is pregnant, she and Joshua marry. Joshua goes to New York to play the saxophone and Viv is alone, with her parents raising their daughter. With Hitler moving across Europe, Viv is pushed into evacuating her daughter to the country. Joshua, not finding the success he expected in the US returns to Liverpool and joins the RAF. Viv is devastated when she hears the home her daughter had been evacuated to is destroyed during an air raid. Will this bring Joshua and Viv back together or push them farther apart? I couldn't wait to see what would happen next as I read the book.

This is a beautifully written, well researched historical fiction set in the time period of World War II. The character development is superb! Julia Kelly expertly weaves the story through various timelines, with three different narrators, Viv, Maggie and Johsua. The book recounts a lesser-known part of the war history of England, the evacuation of children to the English countryside, in the hope of keeping them safe from the bombings of major cities. It also sheds light on the prejudices of the time, and the sad plight of an unwed mother and the taboo surrounding couples of different faiths. The book has an intricate plot, and I don't want to include any spoilers in my review. The Lost English Girl is both heart wrenching, and heartwarming, as well as suspenseful! It kept me reading late into the night. I absolutely loved it! This review is completely my own opinion. I did receive a complimentary copy of the book from Netgalley, the author and the publisher.

Viv is a catholic who gets pregnant by a Jewish man, they want to marry, but her mother keeps them apart, years later they meet again, I love Julia Kelly books, they are always good.