Love in a Time of War: The best new sweeping, escapist historical fiction book release of the year!: Book 1 (The Three Fry Sisters)

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Even Jessie, who was my favourite character, eventually embarks on a relationship with a man who for many reasons would probably not be welcomed with open arms in the Fry household. Italy, Egypt and England play an important part in each of their lives as they grow into the women they are meant to be. I’d done an MA in English Literature at university in Canada and worked as an editor for trade magazines for several years in Montreal before emigrating to the UK when I was 30. It’s 1913 and three young girls living uneventful lives in a quiet corner of London are coming of age and are excited about what the future holds for each of them. The author uses the three sisters to demonstrate the impact the war had on the women through both love and loss.

Overall I enjoyed this book, I got pulled into the lives of the Fry family, I liked how we followed different characters in different locations. As you would expect from such a novel, it ends on a cliffhanger… and a promise, leaving the reader craving for what could happen next? Cecelia loves Max but his soldier’s uniform is German, not British, and suddenly the one man she loves is the one man she can’t have. Etta elopes to Capri with her Italian love, Carlo, but though her growing bump is real, her marriage certificate is a lie. Her character is the epitome of determination, but she faces difficulty while trying to operate her own clinic.And the story-telling really is tremendous – the three sisters are distinct and well-drawn characters, and the author wraps their stories around each other in a way that is a real pleasure to read. Jessie is the caretaker of the family; her medical skills send her on an international tour as she delivers care to the sick and wounded. Celie has always been interested in photography and she starts writing articles and taking pictures for the Mirror and she wants proper credit for her work.

For the most part each chapter covers one of the girls and Christina and while that could be confusing I felt it worked because of the different settings of Capri, England and Egypt. Her first, The Lost Letter, totally escaped my radar – her second, The English Wife, most certainly didn’t (it was impossible not to notice the wonderful reviews), but I just couldn’t fit it into my reading list. There’s a strong romance element to all three stories – beautifully and convincingly done – and the emotional content has a very sure touch.I’m always ready to discover new-to-me authors, especially when I toss in a palate cleanser that is much different than what I would normally read. My mother’s family lost two young men — my great-uncles John and Alphonsus Edwards — in battles during WWI, and my own grandfather, Thomas Chinn, was gassed with mustard gas and suffered a shrapnel wound which would eventually kill him in 1949. The twins – Jessie and Etta – are a few years younger than Celie, but both have passions that define them. This is probably an aspect I found questionable as with there being three sisters, it added to the number of characters, bringing a lot of dialogue and plot lines to follow.