The whispers of war

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher
Gallery Books
Publication Date
2020.
Language
English

Description

The start of World War II looms over three friends who struggle to remain loyal as one of them is threatened with internment by the British government, from the author of the “sweeping, stirring” (Kristin Harmel, internationally bestselling author of The Room on Rue Amélie) The Light Over London. In August of 1939, as Britain watches the headlines in fear of another devastating war with Germany, three childhood friends must choose between friendship or country. Erstwhile socialite Nora is determined to find her place in the Home Office’s Air Raid Precautions Department, matchmaker Hazel tries to mask two closely guarded secrets with irrepressible optimism, and German expat Marie worries that she and her family might face imprisonment in an internment camp if war is declared. When Germany invades Poland and tensions on the home front rise, Marie is labeled an enemy alien, and the three friends find themselves fighting together to keep her free at any cost. Featuring Julia Kelly’s signature “intricate, tender, and convincing” (Publishers Weekly) prose, The Whispers of War is a moving and unforgettable tale of the power of friendship and womanhood in the midst of conflict.

More Details

ISBN
9781982107802
9781982107796

Discover More

Excerpt

Loading Excerpt...

Author Notes

Loading Author Notes...

Similar Titles From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These books have the appeal factors intensifying and intricately plotted, and they have the theme "life during wartime"; the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "war and society," "world war ii home front," and "world war ii."
These books have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "war and society," "world war ii home front," and "world war ii."
These books have the theme "life during wartime"; the genres "historical fiction" and "biographical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii home front" and "world war ii."
These books have the appeal factors parallel narratives, and they have the subjects "grandmothers," "war and society," and "world war ii home front."
These books have the appeal factors parallel narratives, and they have the theme "inspired by real events"; and the subjects "female friendship," "world war ii home front," and "loyalty."
These books have the theme "life during wartime"; and the subjects "war and society," "world war ii home front," and "family secrets."
These books have the subjects "female friendship," "world war ii home front," and "loyalty."
These books have the appeal factors parallel narratives, and they have the theme "web of connections"; the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "female friendship," "war and society," and "family and war."
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted and multiple perspectives, and they have the theme "life during wartime"; the genre "historical fiction"; the subjects "world war ii home front" and "world war ii"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted and parallel narratives, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii home front," "men-women relations," and "family secrets."
These books have the appeal factors intricately plotted and parallel narratives, and they have the theme "life during wartime"; the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii home front," "world war ii," and "family secrets."
These books have the theme "life during wartime"; the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "war and society," "world war ii home front," and "world war ii."

Similar Authors From NoveList

NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
These authors' works have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii," "female friendship," and "british people."
These authors' works have the subjects "female friendship," "british people," and "english people."
These authors' works have the appeal factors strong sense of place, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii," "women and war," and "british people."
These authors' works have the subjects "world war ii," "british people," and "english people."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the subjects "world war ii," "female friendship," and "british people."
These authors' works have the genres "historical mysteries" and "historical thrillers"; and the subjects "women and war," "british people," and "english people."
These authors' works have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii," "letter writing," and "personal letters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the genre "historical fiction"; and the subjects "world war ii," "love triangles," and "british history."
These authors' works have the appeal factors nonlinear, and they have the subjects "world war ii," "mothers and daughters," and "female friendship."
These authors' works have the genre "war stories"; and the subjects "world war ii," "women and war," and "female friendship."
These authors' works have the subjects "world war ii," "british people," and "english people."
These authors' works have the appeal factors romantic, and they have the subjects "world war ii," "women and war," and "english people."

Published Reviews

Kirkus Book Review

When Samantha's beloved grandmother Marie passes away, her will sends Samantha from her home in Chicago to London, where she learns of Marie's vivid life during World War II.Born in Munich, Marie met her two best friends, Nora and Hazel, at a British boarding school. Inseparable, the three women stay together long after graduation. As the secretary to the German Department at Royal Imperial University in London, Marie finds herself drawn to Neil Havitt, an ambitious graduate student eager to make his mark in politics via the Communist Party of Great Britain. Married but distraught over multiple miscarriages, Hazel has found meaningful work as a matchmaker. Nora works in the Air Raid Precautions Department of the Home Office , where she is privy to national secrets. And once Hitler invades Poland, those secrets include plans to intern German nationals. As events in Europe escalate, Kelly (The Light Over London, 2019) deftly threads harbingers of domestic danger into the friends' lives, first via radio and newspaper, then through suspicions of their associates, and finally converging on Marie. Hazel and Nora risk everything to keep Marie out of the internment camps, but Kelly has strewn villains in every corner: Once Neil drops Mariehow can he have a German girlfriend in this time of war?can she trust that her visits to Communist Party meetings will remain secret? What of her dissolute cousin Henrik, who is eager to throw Marie out of the house? Will he turn her in to the authorities out of sheer spite? Nora and Hazel are not entirely safe either, especially when it turns out that Hazel set up a wealthy British widow with a German professora German professor who is now missing and presumed a Nazi sympathizer. Throughout, Kelly skillfully balances narratives from all three friends' perspectives, building parallels to Samantha's own budding romance with Nora's grandson.Women's friendship overcomes the villainy of war in this engaging historical fiction. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Powered by Syndetics

Booklist Reviews

Kelly's latest outing (after The Light Over London, 2019) movingly depicts the importance of female friendship in wartime. In 1939, school friends Marie, Hazel, and Nora are living and working in London as World War II looms, each with her own set of concerns. German-born Marie is alarmed by increasingly vocal calls for the internment of Germans living in Britain; Hazel, who works as a matchmaker, is skilled at her profession but increasingly unhappy in her own marriage; and Nora, a secretary for the Home Office, is frustrated by her male superiors' refusal to allow her to play a more significant role in the war effort. These plotlines all converge as it soon becomes clear that Marie's freedom is in jeopardy—and she will need her friends to help her evade internment. Rich with historical detail and anchored by an utterly convincing friendship at its heart, this should find a wide audience among historical-fiction fans, book clubs, and readers who enjoy stories of the important roles women play in one another's lives. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.
Powered by Content Cafe

Reviews from GoodReads

Loading GoodReads Reviews.

Staff View

Loading Staff View.