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The Girl Without a Name
Suzanne Goldring
Historical Fiction
373 pages
Published by Bookouture on Nov 5, 2020
They say you cannot judge a book by its cover. It was the cover that attracted me to this book and I am glad it did.
Every timeΒ I think Iβve read enough about WW2, along comes another book to change my mind. This story is excellent.
Dual time lines, present day (actually 2004) and war times. Of course the war generated a lot of suffering but one of the most poignant points was of the children shipped away from home in
London to the country side (or Canada) for safety. Traumatic times, especially for younger children.
The present day timeline is a daughter trying to figure out her father’s past after he had a stroke and is visibly upset as photos from the war are shown to him in order to help with his rehab. Naturally, the other time line is what happened to him as a young boy, leading up to his time in the armed forces.
Descriptive passages about cleaning up bombed out areas is a quite realistic. It might be a trigger for some.
I really enjoyed how this book followed the evacuated children through the war and further as they grew into adults. Very effectively, the author demonstrated the effects of war to the psyche. Now it is known as PTSD, but it can affect a person until the end of their days.
Finally, the ending was a huge shock. I did not see it coming, though it made me happy.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advance copy in exchange for a review.
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