Amazon US $6.50 $16.99
Amazon CA n/a
Family Drama
1941+
England, Cairo
and Rome
Selected as Book of the Month
Katherine Bishop
is seventeen years old and she has two dreams: to sing and to 'do her bit' for
the war effort. Against her father's wishes, she runs away from her home in
Kings Lynn, Norfolk, to London hoping to fulfil at least one of those dreams.
Eventually she passes an audition to join ENSA, despite being just too young,
and is posted to Egypt. Unfortunately, there are always petty jealousies and
Katherine (now known as Kitty Townsend,) falls foul of the leading act, messes
up on her début and is almost sent home before she has even started. But she
has friends and thanks to the intervention of an Italian officer who is a
prisoner of war, she is kept on and begins the difficult climb to success.
Needless to say, she falls in love with the Italian, but when she is ordered to
spy on him to establish his loyalties, a disaster is inevitable.
I thoroughly
enjoyed this book with some plot twists that will have you gasping 'I didn't
see that coming'! Kitty is very likeable and very well portrayed as she
transforms from naïve dreamer to experienced realist.
The cover is most distinctive and extremely eye catching, depicting Kitty as she first sets
out on her journey. Superbly designed, except there is an error in it - and to criticise it is to be very
picky in the extreme, as only ‘anoraks’ like myself would spot it, so it's no big deal! (But
for those with an enquiring mind… see below.)
Although part of
a trilogy called The Voyagers, this
volume is eminently readable as a stand alone and it is not necessary to have read
any of the others as they deal with different generations. On the evidence of
this story, I would recommend the others purely on the skilful plot and
excellent writing.
© Richard Tearle
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(Kitty would have taken the Great Eastern Line from
Norfolk to Liverpool Street in London. The locomotive pictured is an
LMS [London Midlands] loco.)
What an exciting read! I have, of course bought it.
ReplyDeleteYes, you did, and you also wrote a very nice review on Amazon, so many thanks.
DeleteIt's going on my tbr list, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you Alison and Loretta!
ReplyDelete