Author Kristy Cambron’s latest historical novel is “The British Booksellers.” I applaud the book for its compassionate depiction of the people of Coventry, England during the early years of World War II. They showed grit, bravery and resolve during the intense German bombings. The commitment of the Land Girls was also heart-warming.

Yet, it was a struggle for me to read this book. First, the book is literary fiction, and is dense and difficult to read. There is an every-other chapter dual timeline, alternating between World War I and World War II, which adds to the complexity of the story. Some of the characters are interesting, particularly the tenant farmer Amos and his friendship and hidden love for Lady Charlotte. But part of the plot, involving the paternity of Lady Charlotte’s daughter, was hard for me to decipher.

“Maybe there is more to life-than wealth and privilege…there is value in doing for others, in caring for others, and for what we know to be true…”

“Ordinary people like us become extraordinary fighters when we first seek to serve, and love others.”

Thanks to NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an advance digital review copy. This is my honest review.

This is a great story about a loving couple who are separated by family, status, and wars. Sadly, women were less than property for a long period of time and often were forced into marriages that they did not want. The movement of the story between two times was difficult to follow until the story got a bit further along but it was a great story.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron is set in the Second World War during the Blitz of England. This is an interesting perspective, as many stories focus on the fighting not the suffering and fighting at home.

This story was beautifully researched and written. Cambron Is a master craftswoman. She uses jargon and language expertly to immerse you in the past of 1940 and 1914. Every little detail is realistic, and the description of the world is vivid.

I knew of the London Blitz due to my grandparents living through it, but I’d never heard of the Coventry Blitz. Her notes at the end were fascinating, especially to learn that it is also known as the Forgotten Blitz even though six hundred people died.

This is a slow, winding story full of sweet nostalgia, loss, and hope. It weaves between the present of 1940 and the past of 1914. Two world wars are the backdrops of human stories. Showing us how our protagonists, Charlotte and Amos met, and how life has irrevocably torn them apart.

It’s a beautiful read, although I did find the first half slow. It’s fascinating because of the history and knowledge that the Blitz is coming, but there’s just a lot of set up and development. The second half began to move more quickly, and I was finally hooked.

My favourite part of the story is the meeting between Amos and Frank the German officer. It’s such a fleeting moment, but it ties them and the rest of the story together powerfully. Their second meeting as well is gut wrenching because you know it’s leading to loss.

Another powerful moment is when Amos is manning the Home Guards control centre right at the end. With the warnings of planes being rung in and the tension building, you can see that something terrible is about to happen.

The British Booksellers is a poetic novel on love lost and found. War is a gateway to suffering and redemption. Cambron has a vivid descriptive voice, and is adept at building a realistic and well researched world.

The British Booksellers tells the story about love that spans two World Wars and brings together a couple of people from different social environments.
Although the events in this book also take place in different periods, there is less of a split time, split couples storyline than in many other books. This is because, apart from some flashbacks, there is more of a chronologically told story. Somehow this felt more natural than a lot of other similar books set in WWII.

The main story is set in London during the forgotten Blitz bombings, a period and setting I don't know much about, so this made the story extra interesting for me. I think that the historical background is really well researched and documented. What makes it extra interesting is that the story spans two world wars and even two continents.

I can highly recommend this book to everyone interested in historical fiction and I enjoyed every minute of reading this book.

I thank Netgalley and Thomas Nelson fiction for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange form my honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Amos and Charlotte were childhood friends who fell in love. The problem is that Amos is a tenant farmer and Charlotte's future has been arranged by her parents to marry the Earl of Harcourt, another childhood friend. When the Great War breaks out, all their plans suddenly change. Both Amos and the Earl head off to France and Charlotte finds herself married, pregnant, and trying to help out the war effort as best she can by opening a bookstore. Thirty years later, a new war has broken out and Coventry, an industrial center, has become a target for the Germans. Charlotte's daughter, Eden, and a mysterious American lawyer now are trying to keep both Eden's estate and Coventry safe. A wonderful historical fiction novel highlighting "The Forgotten Blitz."

This book took me a little bit to get into at first. Dual timelines are always a bit tough for me to get into. But once I started reading I was truly captured.

The pacing was great and kept me engaged. There was accurate history, mystery, suspense, emotion and of course romance.

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron is her latest WWII novel and it is so good. I have been taking a break from WWII fiction, as it seems so heavy sometimes (as it should). But I’m so glad I read this one. Told in two timelines, both World War 1 & 2, it will remind you of the resiliency of the human spirit and the beauty in life, even in the midst of war. Five stars! #NetGalley

I absolutely loved this book. Kristy Cambron takes two world wars and manages to show both the horror and the beauty that can be found. The characters are flawed and perfect. Yes there is a love story intertwined, but it is so much more than that. You see the MCs, Charlotte & Amos grow and mature and with that their perspectives on life. During The Great War Amos sees the death and distruction of the front lines, while Charlotte deals with the pain and suffering on the home front. This book shows how war can change not only the landscape, but our hearts as well. It reminds us that even in times of deep sorrow there is always hope for something better. A must read.

Many thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing me with a free complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own..

Fantastic novel with endearing characters who I genuinely liked. If you like Historical Fiction, you’ll want to read this one.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy.

The British Booksellers is a dual timeline/dual perspective novel following childhood friends Amos and Charlotte as they navigate the social barriers of their time.

Once closest friends now turned competing bookshop
owners, there is simply too much dividing Amos and Charlotte both in their youth and adulthood. Expectations, Social lines, memories, war torn lives, and secrets that must come to light in order to restore the hope of a town that is enduring endless night raids.

There were moments the narrative ran very slow. The first half of the book was spent setting the stage, but the reader could easily surmise much of the story without the added repetition from multiple points of view. However, the second half of the book was so compelling and the story began moving in a more exciting way.

It took me a long time to settle into the story and begin to connect with any of the characters. Overall, I enjoyed this book because the last 40% was so wonderfully engaging. I just wish it would have unfolded more quickly .

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and netgalley for an advanced reader copy to honestly read and review. All opinions are my own. Publication date: April 9, 2024

Real accounts of the forgotten blitz bombings in Britain inspired this book. This book is an inspirational genre. It is a split timeline between World War 1 and World War 2. Kristy Cambron is a master storyteller. I will be recommending it to all the historical fiction lovers in my life.

What a great read for historical fiction lovers! I was excited to check this out after previously reading The Paris Dressmaker by Cambron. I enjoyed the dual timelines- one is set in WWI, and the other set in WWII. It specifically depicts the "Coventry Blitz", which is a new topic to me that I found interesting- with all of the WWII fiction out there, I appreciated that this particular setting is not as widely known. It is apparent that much research and thought went into this on Cambron's part! I also enjoyed Cambron's writing style and the characters she created. The characters felt realistic and nuanced, and I was invested in their lives and stories. While there were a few instances where I found the timelines confusing and specific sentences or instances of writing that I felt were not helping to propel the story forward, I really enjoyed this read by Cambron!

The British Booksellers is a fascinating historical story written in a dual timeline of the past and the present. The story follows the main characters of Amos and Charlotte in their childhood/youth and years later with their fractured friendship.

I loved reading about their sweet friendship as teens, bonding over books and showing that you can be from different background but books can bring you together. I did enjoy seeing the flashbacks of their past and the present to piece together what had happened between them.

It was an interesting to see this point of view of World War II and the Coventry Blitz. We could see the consequences of war, but also the way it can drive people to band together. The land girls were such a delight and they created a great friendship group for Charlotte's daughter, Eden. There was great character development and one of the characters showed more depth than I was expecting which left me feeling emotional.

This book is. a story of love, forgiveness, friendship, redemption, second chances and the love of books. It was such a joy to read and left me feeling so happy.

Amos was a tenant farmer' son, Charlotte was the daughter of an earl, and the class system was firmly in place in England before WWI. Amos and Charlotte had plans to marry and open a bookstore, but the class system would not allow such a marriage. After the war Amos was left with visible scars, Charlotte's husband was dead, and Amos and Charlotte had rival bookstores in Canterbury, one across the street from the other. The story is told in alternating time periods to show how that happened. Several threads in the story did not come together until the bombing of Canterbury in WWII. This was an ok story and gave tribute to the land girls, but I did not get emotionally involved with the characters. Spoiler alert--it ends happily ever after. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc and for not influencing my review.

Enjoyable historical fiction that weaves together both WWI and WWII and touches on the unfortunate consequences of the strict social class structure in England on young love.

I absolutely loved this story. Kristy Cambron has such an captivating way of expertly leading the reader along with new revelations in each timeline that one can simply not stop keep turning pages. She writes such beautiful and satisfying stories. I could not put The British Booksellers down!

1908, 1914, and 1940 Coventry England.

"How many times in life could a boy say he was risking his neck, doing the very last thing he'd expected....for a girl?" From the first line to the last, this sweeping saga begins the with a prologue in 1908, then the two time lines occur in 1914 with WWI, and 1940, with the backdrops of World War I in England and France, and The Coventry Blitz in Coventry England during World War II. The Christmas Truce in 1914 in WWI plays a small but pivotal role in this story.

Beautiful story of books, music, love, friendship, duty, sacrifice, heroism, forgiveness, and second chances abound. I love the fact that instead of one hero, there were several, including one that surprised and delighted me. I loved the stories in both timelines, the historical detail, and the way the author makes you feel like you're there.

I HIGHLY recommend this excellent historical fiction! Thank you to publisher Thomas Nelson and Net Galley for allowing me to read an early ecopy. All opinions are my own. I can't wait for my own preordered copy to arrive for my keeper shelf.

Five Stars. Oh my heart.
There needs to be some movie or show rights on this book stat! The story is so devastating, romantic, and hopeful. I loved that you got to see so much character growth in each of the main characters, especially with the use of dual timelines! The blitz didn’t just hit London, it also impacted several other parts of England, like Coventry. I am so thankful that Kristy Cambron writes beautiful stories that also educate and enlighten us. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a heartfelt historical romance that will make you laugh and cry! Thank you, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson for an ARC! I recieved a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The British Booksellers was a story that went through generations and brought together the lives of Amos Darby and Charlotte Terrington.
The story was set against the world wars.
Sylvia wrote of historical settings, from the trenches of the Great War to the devastation of the Coventry Blitz in World War II.
The British Booksellers was about love, loss, and the power of books.
The British Booksellers was a great written novel. It brought to me the enduring power of love and literature, I recommended this fans of historical fiction.

Historical fiction about two rival book shop owners in WWII Coventry, and the story between them revealed in flash-backs. Honestly, this book was a bit of a slog, and I'm not sure why--whether it was the writing style, pacing or somewhat stereotypical characters--it just didn't flow for me,

Thank you #NetGalley and #ThomasNelson for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

"The British Booksellers" by Kristy Cambron depicts the harrowing Coventry Blitz in 1940. It is one aspect during WW2 that I haven't yet come across that made reading this book more intriguing.

Amos Darby and Charlotte Terrington's friendship stood the test of two Great Wars told in dual perspective narrative structure, alternating between timelines. What they felt for each other was beyond friendship, but nothing fruitful could come from a relationship between an earl's daughter and a farmer's son. When Charlotte was to wed the future Earl of Harcourt, she knew she had one chance to choose a life with the person she loved over duty. But destiny had its plans - one that didn't end up nicely for both of them. But in 1940, when Coventry suffered a devastating bombing raid, Amos and Charlotte were compelled to set aside their differences and establish a truce despite their rivalry as booksellers. Their decision arises from a shared recognition of the urgent need to protect the Coventry civilians from incendiary bombings.

With a writing style reminiscent of Jane Austen's prose, "The British Booksellers" brought me to a bygone era in which the consequences of war brought forth a poignant portrayal of hope and resilience. It underscores how individual choices create the difference between life and death, hope and despair, loss and redemption.

Authors who diligently conduct thorough research for their novels deserve more recognition. There is a sense of excitement whenever I cross-reference major events inspired in the book that align with actual historical occurrences. I love how the genre humanizes history, in particular how this book sheds light on aspects of the two World Wars that are not as widely portrayed in commercial media as the D-Day Invasion and the Holocaust.

Aside from exploring the Coventry Blitz, it also gave importance to The Women's Land Army's (WLA) role in ensuring food production continued during a crisis and how women, despite their status in society, have proven to be strong, reliable, and independent. Another aspect explored is how the war had acted as a catalyst for patriotism but could also exert pressure on conscripted men as part of societal duties amid fears and hesitancy.

However, at its core, this narrative, inspired by actual events, primarily tells a story about the love between two people against the odds of social hierarchy. Unlike romance novels, which typically conclude with the main characters achieving a happy ending, historical and literary fiction genres often conclude on a tragic note, much to the readers' dismay. With that in mind, I won't spoil how this book ends in terms of its romance arc.

With a well-crafted plot and characters, "The British Booksellers" captured the collective sentiments of those caught in the crossfires of war. It came with the lure of a touching tale that evoked reader resonance. Despite its shortcomings, such as a languid pace, the absence of dialogue tags occasionally confusing speakers, and underutilized character arcs, these flaws did not detract from the narrative's inherent beauty. It was a satisfying read, after all.