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spenci_boi's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
adelita18's review against another edition
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a fun read and a good recommendation by BookBub. I found this book through their daily email of books on sale for my Kindle and bought it on a whim after reading the book description. The interplay of the stories between Katie Cabot and Nancy Mitford was delightful. While I found Katie to be a more sympathetic character than Nancy, I found learning about WWII through Nancy's lens to be fascinating. Like Ms. Gable, I also read the biography about the Mitford sisters several years ago but this novel definitely made me interested in delving more into Nancy's work as an author.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Pregnancy, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment and Suicide
books_inthewild's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this one. Great for fans of historical fiction, WW2, set in London, and stories about bookshops/writers.
I loved the “based on a true story” life of Nancy Mitford, and learning so much about her and her family. Especially from the added notes in the back.
I liked the back and forth from present to past- but not sure I liked Simon’s character much. I did like Kate, and her growth as a character and her friendship with JoJo.
All in all, a great read and an insightful peak into some WW2 & British history!
mschrock8's review
3.0
"Cheers to novels, I say! Cheers to readers the world over!"
Katie likes John Irving, Daphne du Maurier and Anne Tyler.
I've been reading two books about booksellers, and I finished this one first.
Considering reading something by Nancy Mitford.
Katie likes John Irving, Daphne du Maurier and Anne Tyler.
I've been reading two books about booksellers, and I finished this one first.
Considering reading something by Nancy Mitford.
missbryden's review
3.0
Picked up from a Little Library. Piqued by being about books (or at least booksellers and writers) and a historical fiction. Different sort of format than I've read before, it's not just historical fiction but flips back and forth between our time and World War Two, and the modern bits were written in present tense (perhaps to make it clear which bit you were reading?).
I really enjoyed the sense of place, looking up the locations in London and trying to walk along with the characters via Google street view.
I had been interested to keep reading, looking forward to picking it up of an evening, yet towards the end I guess it got slow and a bit anti-climactic. Although it also felt like the modern main character (as a writer) might have been commenting on different types of endings.
I didn't really like any of the characters, particularly main characters seem pretty unlikeable. Family members were pretty awful to each other.
Odd: Missus and Mister spelled out, rather than Mrs. and Mr.
Adult language, if on screen would warrant R or Mature. Content warning: discussion of pregnancy loss.
I really enjoyed the sense of place, looking up the locations in London and trying to walk along with the characters via Google street view.
I had been interested to keep reading, looking forward to picking it up of an evening, yet towards the end I guess it got slow and a bit anti-climactic. Although it also felt like the modern main character (as a writer) might have been commenting on different types of endings.
I didn't really like any of the characters, particularly main characters seem pretty unlikeable. Family members were pretty awful to each other.
Odd: Missus and Mister spelled out, rather than Mrs. and Mr.
Adult language, if on screen would warrant R or Mature. Content warning: discussion of pregnancy loss.
mkbee's review
1.0
As I was reading, I was planning on giving this book three stars. Mainly for the biographical half detailing Nancy Mitford’d time at the bookshop (wasn’t familiar with her before and it was interesting learning some about her and her family and friends) and for Simon. He was a fun character (though only semi developed and semi dimensional) and I was really interested in his mystery.
These are the reasons I actually finished this book rather than returning it early.
This is, sadly, not a good book. The main character is very difficult to like (and I don’t understand where she was going with her dialogue? It wasn’t consistent, i’m still reeling from her jokingly fantastic“skillzz”) and honestly? Her story was actually pointless.
The writing just is not inspiring, the dialogue is clunky. Other reviews have mentioned how dialogue heavy this is, and it is, which can be fine but you find things out in conversation rather than witnessing it.
I believe the point was to … weave? tie? these stories together? It sort of did, at times. But felt like a broken zipper in that regard. Katie finds her muse, her inspiration, but only in talking about Nancy Mitford as an infallible goddess in her personal and professional life.
The mystery of her memoirs was again, pointless. Did not have any sort of satisfactory ending, or even any sort of closure at all.
Overall, this book is bloated with characters and is written as though the reader is familiar with Nancy Mitford and her books (was planning to read The Pursuit of Love but they discussed the ending in the book, spoiler alert an afterthought)
It was mainly a waste of time - I was introduced to Nancy Mitford and that was interesting. Really, if this was just written as a biography of her war days and working in the Heywood Bookstore, it would have been more compelling.
These are the reasons I actually finished this book rather than returning it early.
This is, sadly, not a good book. The main character is very difficult to like (and I don’t understand where she was going with her dialogue? It wasn’t consistent, i’m still reeling from her jokingly fantastic“skillzz”) and honestly? Her story was actually pointless.
The writing just is not inspiring, the dialogue is clunky. Other reviews have mentioned how dialogue heavy this is, and it is, which can be fine but you find things out in conversation rather than witnessing it.
I believe the point was to … weave? tie? these stories together? It sort of did, at times. But felt like a broken zipper in that regard. Katie finds her muse, her inspiration, but only in talking about Nancy Mitford as an infallible goddess in her personal and professional life.
The mystery of her memoirs was again, pointless. Did not have any sort of satisfactory ending, or even any sort of closure at all.
Overall, this book is bloated with characters and is written as though the reader is familiar with Nancy Mitford and her books (was planning to read The Pursuit of Love but they discussed the ending in the book, spoiler alert an afterthought)
It was mainly a waste of time - I was introduced to Nancy Mitford and that was interesting. Really, if this was just written as a biography of her war days and working in the Heywood Bookstore, it would have been more compelling.
smalltownbookmom's review against another edition
4.0
I LOVE a good dual timeline WWII historical fiction, especially when it's based on real people. This novel focuses on the life of Nancy Mitford and her work during WWII. I really enjoyed getting to know this fascinating woman and her family. She was a struggling writer during the war and worked in a bookshop in London. I thought the author did a REALLY great job linking the contemporary and historical storylines. In the present day, we get to know Katie, also a writer searching for her next great book idea. She travels to London to learn more about Nancy and connects with an English man who has his own mysterious connection to Nancy.
This was so well written, the two timelines flow seamlessly and I was invested in what happened to both Nancy and Katie. Perfect for fans of stories about books and writing, and especially ones set during WWII, like The Paris library, The last bookshop in London and The librarian of Saint-Malo. Also excellent on audio narrated by Eleanor Caudill. I highly recommend this one for WWII historical fiction fans. Much thanks to NetGalley, Libro.fm and the publisher for my advance review copies.
This was so well written, the two timelines flow seamlessly and I was invested in what happened to both Nancy and Katie. Perfect for fans of stories about books and writing, and especially ones set during WWII, like The Paris library, The last bookshop in London and The librarian of Saint-Malo. Also excellent on audio narrated by Eleanor Caudill. I highly recommend this one for WWII historical fiction fans. Much thanks to NetGalley, Libro.fm and the publisher for my advance review copies.
kdurham2's review
3.0
Check out the full review at Kritters Ramblings
Two storylines in one book, in 1942, Nancy Mitford is an author trying to survive the war and while she has a few books under her belt she still feels as though she hasn't had that success. In present day, Katie has ended an engagement and after a disastrous holiday with the family she gets the chance to escape across the pond to a friend's house and maybe get that inspiration for her next book.
For me when I read books with a past and a present storyline, a few things happen and sometimes I love one of the storylines and just skim the other and that happened with this book. The current storyline had me hooked and I couldn't wait to read more and more of Katie and her adventures learning about Nancy Mitford and trying to figure out what she wanted to do next with her life, but for some reason when it switched to Nancy Mitford herself, I wasn't captivated and I wanted to return to Katie.
Two storylines in one book, in 1942, Nancy Mitford is an author trying to survive the war and while she has a few books under her belt she still feels as though she hasn't had that success. In present day, Katie has ended an engagement and after a disastrous holiday with the family she gets the chance to escape across the pond to a friend's house and maybe get that inspiration for her next book.
For me when I read books with a past and a present storyline, a few things happen and sometimes I love one of the storylines and just skim the other and that happened with this book. The current storyline had me hooked and I couldn't wait to read more and more of Katie and her adventures learning about Nancy Mitford and trying to figure out what she wanted to do next with her life, but for some reason when it switched to Nancy Mitford herself, I wasn't captivated and I wanted to return to Katie.