The Lost English Girl - Julia Kelly

Written by Julia Kelly
Read by Danielle Cohen, Raphael Corkhill
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
Release date: March 7, 2023
Duration: 14:11:35

Liverpool, 1935: Raised in a strict Catholic family, Viv Byrne knows what’s expected of her: marry a Catholic man from her working-class neighborhood and have his children. However, when she finds herself pregnant after a fling with Joshua Levinson, a Jewish man with dreams of becoming a famous jazz musician, Viv knows that a swift wedding is the only answer. Her only solace is that marrying Joshua will mean escaping her strict mother’s scrutiny. But when Joshua makes a life-changing choice on their wedding day, Viv is forced once again into the arms of her disapproving family.

Five years later and on the eve of World War II, Viv is faced with the impossible choice to evacuate her young daughter, Maggie, to the countryside. In New York City, Joshua gives up his failing musical career to serve in the Royal Air Force and try to piece together his feelings about the family he left behind. However, tragedy strikes when Viv learns that the countryside safe haven she sent her daughter to wasn’t immune from the horrors of war. It is only years later, with Joshua’s help, that Viv learns the secrets of their shared past and what it will take to put a family back together again.

Danielle Cohen and Raphael Corkhill voice Viv and Joshua believably and sympathetically, communicating their growth, courage, and convictions. VERDICT Kelly’s latest is a poignant story of love, acceptance, determination, and duty.