When I Was Yours by Lizzie Page

☆☆☆☆☆
Kindle Edition, 346 pages
Expected publication: April 16th 2019 by Bookouture
About the Book:
We stand in the back of the hall as the children troop in. Big ones, little ones. Straggly hair, cropped hair, curls… the adults surge forward to choose and soon there is just one child left, a little girl sitting on the floor. She is thin as a string bean and her sleeve is ragged and damp – like she’s been chewing it. 1939. War has broken out – hundreds of children are evacuated to the countryside to keep them safe from the bombs raining down on the cities. Wrenched from her family in the East End and sent more than a hundred miles away, seven-year-old Pearl Posner must adapt to a new life away from everything familiar. Vivienne didn’t ask for an evacuee child. In fact, she’s not sure her heart can take it. So many years, so many disappointments… Vivi’s ability to feel love left her the day she learned the truth about her husband Edmund, and when she made the worst decision of her life and left her cherished sister to her fate. But like it or not, Pearl is here to stay, and what with the rumours about what’s happening to children in mainland Europe, it might be the last safe place for her. As Pearl and Vivi learn how to live together, they discover that they have a connection that runs more deeply than they could ever have guessed – from before Pearl was born, and deep into Vivienne’s past. And will it be Pearl – the little girl who says so little and sees so much – who forces Vivi to finally confront what happened in her marriage… and to the long-lost sister she loved so dearly and let fall so far, just when she needed Vivi most?

This book was hard to put down. I loved the characters in the book. And to be honest I do not usually read WWI or WWII historical novels. This a first for me. I highly recommend this book as I am an avid reader. It is very well written and easy to follow.

What an awful time in history that must have been and what sacrifices were made. This book, as almost all books set during WWI or WWII, has some of the most unbelievably sad moments that you wonder how people go on living. But it also has some beautiful moments when you feel the hope of humanity and the ties of love that keep us going in hard times.

I highly recommend this book for its memorable characters and satisfying story-line. There's a range of interesting themes from women's friendships to various aspects of war that people never think about. One of the best historical fiction books I've read in a very long time. I felt as though I was right in the book with all the characters.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Lizzie Page for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

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