Secrets of a Charmed Life

Secrets of a Charmed Life

Author:
Series: 2015 Reading Challenge: a book you chose because of the cover
Genre: Historical Fiction
Length: 416 pages
ASIN: 0451419928

I've heard good things about Susan Meissner's historical fiction for years, but I must admit, it was the cover that convinced me to give her latest work a try: it was popping up all over the MMD Reading Challenge pinterest board for this category at the beginning of the year! Now that I've read it, I have a difficult time connecting the stylishly dressed woman on the cover to any characters in the novel, but since the teenage protagonist dreams of becoming a fashion designer it's not too far off. The story takes place during the London Blitz, which is probably why it reminded me so strongly of Kate Morton's The Secret Keeper. Enjoyable and moving.

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About the Book

Publisher’s description:
The author of A Bridge Across the Ocean and The Last Year of the War journeys from the present day to World War II England, as two sisters are separated by the chaos of wartime…

Current day, Oxford, England.
Young American scholar Kendra Van Zant, eager to pursue her vision of a perfect life, interviews Isabel McFarland just when the elderly woman is ready to give up secrets about the war that she has kept for decades…beginning with who she really is. What Kendra receives from Isabel is both a gift and a burden—one that will test her convictions and her heart.

1940s, England. As Hitler wages an unprecedented war against London’s civilian population, hundreds of thousands of children are evacuated to foster homes in the rural countryside. But even as fifteen-year-old Emmy Downtree and her much younger sister Julia find refuge in a charming Cotswold cottage, Emmy’s burning ambition to return to the city and apprentice with a fashion designer pits her against Julia’s profound need for her sister’s presence. Acting at cross purposes just as the Luftwaffe rains down its terrible destruction, the sisters are cruelly separated, and their lives are transformed…

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