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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The second book in the series, The Paris Sister, was published in 2023, and the third book, In the Shadow of War, was published in March 2024. She trains as a nurse and enlists in the army and is sent to Egypt and Gallipoli to care for wounded soldiers. And although the sisters’ stories (and their mother’s) are largely complete by the book’s end, it leaves a few intriguing threads to be picked up and followed later – I enjoyed this book so much, and I can’t wait for the next one! I received a complimentary copy of this book from HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter through NetGalley.

Amongst these were photographs of my great-aunts Jessie and Ettie Chinn — Jessie who became a milliner was creative and engaged to a young German student who was killed during the war; Ettie joined the Queen Alexandra’s Imperial Nursing Service and served on a hospital ship at Gallipoli and in Egypt during the war. Towards the end there are number of coincidences which enable the tying up of loose ends, these felt awkward and abrupt.The secrets that she has kept for all these years, it's going to be horrible when Celie learns the truth. When he goes off to war, promising to come back for her, she busies herself in her father’s photography studio and fights off the pursuits of Frank Jeffries. In the Acknowledgments, the author talks about her grandmother and other family members who became an inspiration for the characters of the Fry sisters.

There is, of course, romantic relationships - one Italian and one German - which makes for next level problems given the world situation of the time. I love the way in which Adrienne made me feel as though I was part of the story and at the heart of the action. I hope there is a book two so I can follow the girls on the next section of their lives, especially Celia and Frank in Canada and Jesse and Aziz in Egypt. Carlos Marinetti’s a struggling Italian artist living in London, they fall madly in love and elope to Italy. I enjoyed being in different locales - England, Egypt, Italy - and how family secrets were to become exposed.Adrienne Chinn’s Love in a Time of War is a wonderful historical novel that effortlessly draws readers into a beautifully evoked world of secrets, jeopardy, hope and love. So if this time period appeals to you and you enjoy epic family dramas and are prepared to invest in a trilogy, then Love in a Time of War should definitely be on your reading list.