War Brides

Even though this book has been very popular, I was unable to find any questions for discussion. Here is a list of the questions we used at our book club: (There will be spoilers if you haven't read the book!)Questions for War Bride by Helen BryanThink of five words to describe Alice Osbourne at the beginning of the story. How do these attributes prepare her for her future?Was Alice a believable character? Comment on the woman she becomes and why you think this was or was not realistic.Evangeline marries an Englishman after knowing him just a few days and comes to England to live and Alice marries an American after knowing him just a few days and moves to America to live.... Do you think this was intentional? Why do you think the author might have written these two stories this way?Alice and Tanni and Evangeline all were in love (or infatuated) with men other than their husbands, yet all three had long healthy marriages. Discuss how and why this would happen. Do you think people getting married that quickly today end up with strong, long-lived marriages?Three of the main characters, Evangeline and Frances and Elsie, are manipulative, to some degree. Compare the ways these three manipulate the people around them. Was this a positive attribute for each of them, or would they have been better off in the long run if they hadn't used manipulation to get what they wanted? How would their lives be different?Why do you think Tanni was so adversely affected by the night of their big plan? Was it realistic to think she would have buried those memories for a lifetime? At the story's end, the reader finds out the fate of the twins. Why do you think the author didn't let Tanni know what happened to her sisters?Elsie Pigeon ended up being the richest after starting out the poorest. What does this say about being dishonest? She also is the one taking orders at the beginning and giving orders at the end. Why do you think the author did this?Finally, there is Frances Falconleigh. Frances had been sent to the country so she would stay out of trouble. How was she different than the others? How did she fit into this group?Frances and Evangeline were both rebellious and their father's favorite. What else did these two have in common? Were you surprised that Evangeline ended up as she did? What do you think would have become of Frances if she had lived?The men in this book were generally not very "fleshed out." What did you think of the male characters in this story?A review of some of the men and their fates:* Richard Fairfax: Alice Osbourne's fiancé, Evangeline Fontaine's Husband: Wounded in war, dies later.* Maurice Fitzroy: Evangeline's intended, murdered by Evangeline, unrelated to the war.* Laurent Baptiste: Evangeline's true love at first, goes down in a plane with Glenn Miller's band.* Oliver Hammet: the young vicar: Frances' husband, massive heart attack, 1946 not long after reading a letter from Frances, who had gone on a mission and not returned.* Hugo de Balfort, scarred by fire, murdered (Later) and his father, Leander de Balfort, died in a fire...during the war.* Bruno Zayman, still living at the end of the book.* Bernie Carpenter: Dies of Lung CancerQuestions left unanswered:Was Frances really pregnant? If so, what happened to Frances' and Oliver's baby?What secrets did Evangeline share at the end of the day of the celebration? (pg. 74 of ebook)If you had written this book, what would you have done differently? Would you have ended it the same way?Compare this book to the book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. How are these two books alike and how are they different? Which book did you prefer and why?The reviews for this book are all over the place; from terrible to wonderful. How would you rate this book and why? What are some things you liked about the book and what didn't you like?Questions by Holly [email protected]

While the writing was admittedly inconsistent in places -- strong & compelling in some chapters, with very awkwardly executed scenes in others -- the incredible characterizations, the sense you get of that place and time... WOW. I can't say enough good things about story itself.I read a lot of historical fiction, specifically Industrial Revolution through World War I This is the first book set during WWII that's really captured my imagination so fully. Somehow, before this book, I didn't really "get it"... I guess my generation has heard so much over the years about WWII in school, on The History Channel, and in other ways that made us feel rather removed from it... It's always been something that happened to our grandparents in a bygone era, but not something that many of us could really understand for ourselves. Because of the incredibly believable characterizations and scenes of this book, I think I finally get it now. And it's reframing my entire understanding of that period.From Evangeline's escape from New Orleans, to Tanni's terrifying journey from Austria to England and through her own memories, to the bombing of London, this book really puts a more relatable, human face on WWII events. You see so many things being LIVED by the characters in a very real, down-to-earth way, which I think is the true strong point of this book. I love the interactions between the 5 women that the book focuses on, and the way that each of the other characters plays their part. It weaves a wonderful story and shows how we all affect one another's lives in ways we may never even know about. I absolutely love pondering those possibilities.I don't want to give too many details away, but the chapter about the rescue workers digging out survivors after entire blocks of London were bombed... I'm struggling to find words for the effect this had. I needed to put the book aside and just process it for a little while. It wasn't partially a strong emotional impact, but mostly just the reality of it all setting in. I cannot imagine living in a situation where bombs are falling on my home on a regular basis and everyone is constantly under the fear of invasion, with food shortages and the whole nine yards. It certainly leaves you with a deeper and greater sense of gratitude for the everyday things in life.Sadly, I found the ending to be rather poorly executed. Without spoiling too much, I just don't think the VE Day Celebration was very well-written. The characters did seem very true to themselves, although slightly cartoonish versions in their old age, and the way they dispose of "Manfred" was too silly & comical to take seriously. (Still enjoyable, though.) The reporter also got in the way of telling that part of the story, I think. She really didn't serve much of a purpose in the overall narrative, and much like the characters themselves, you kept wanting her to get out of the way, so you could focus on the more important things that were going on. And I'm sorry, but the extremely random fate of Frances seemed kind of tacked-on and unnecessary. You never really have the same insight as the author, of course, but I just don't understand what went into the decision to wrap up the story like that.On the other hand, the Missing Person's Helpline chapter was incredibly redeeming. You really feel yourself sighing with relief and happiness when you find out that something that was one of the main threads of the novel worked out for the best, after all.On the whole, I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in historical fiction or the WWII era, or in any book with strong female characters, or that presents a more everyday look at historical events. Despite my criticisms, it was a really wonderful read and I stayed up all night to finish it. Sincere Thanks to the author for sharing this story with us!

This book delves into 4 very different women that if it were not for the war they would not know or even socialise with each other and their individual love stories that lead them into very different paths. I really enjoyed each individual path as they were very different and the characters were likeable and had depth. My only dislike was that at times the book felt like it dragged a bit but I think that was more to do with the depth of each story. If it ha not of been so in depth the author would not have done justice to the individual stories so it's worth the slight drag. Having said that I really enjoyed this book

I really enjoyed this book, against my expectations, it had stared at me from my kindle for quite a while before I actually got around to reading it. The writing could have been slightly better but I thought the storylines were great and I certainly didn't anticipate the ending. Interestingly it still left a couple of loose ends, for example we are left not knowing what happened to Frances' baby, which is exactly how it would have been in the war and made the story all the better for leaving it hanging there.Because I read it on kindle I didn't see there was a prologue until I had finished the book and reading it afterwards was I think better than if I had read it beforehand. I also went back and read the first chapter again which was useful. If you have the paper copy then I would definitely recommend leaving the prologue until last.Good read and very insightful of women's lives during the war years.

I really like this book and thankfully appear to have downloaded a copy that must have been 'sorted out' since the scathing reviews posted in 2012 about it's poor editing. Naturally, it still retains the language and spelling influences of the American author; just as I would expect my English ones to if living in America!The opening chapters may throw you a little as it is not apparent just why it switches about between different people in different countries. But stay with it and all will become intriguingly and emotionally clear. Helen Bryan has engineered a very clever story; using poetic license to set the scene for her heroines and their families in a village in East Sussex, during World War Two.I love her confident and fluent writing and really admire the obvious depth of research she did to create a really credible and absorbing story like this. Unlike many other reviewers, I thought that the ending was the icing on the cake and a stroke of genious for a way of neatly tying up the loose ends.

Found this a very boring slow start. It did pick up and was then enjoyable. However, I was fuming that absolutely at no point was it said that BRITAIN was at war with Germany. A very sore point with other countries that fought hard and lost thousands of loved ones. Again nowhere else was bombed other than England . What about Clydebank, which was decimated

Different take from the usual evacuee or war bride story, 5 women in different circumstances and wildly different backgrounds all find themselves in a small English country village, and as per the usual, form unbreakable bonds - bu this leads to a reunion and a grim decision for the survivors, sort of Land Girls with Miss Marple with a touch of James Bond. I liked it so much I read it twice.