Many thanks to NetGalley and Celadon Books for gifting me a digital copy of this beautiful book by Laura Spence-Ash - 5 stars!
It's 1940, and bombs are beginning to fall around London. Millie and Reg Thompson make the horrible decision to send their 11-year-old daughter, Beatrix, to America to live with another family until the war is over and it's safe for her to return. Bea is scared but finds that the Gregory family - parents Ethan and Nancy, sons William and Gerald - fold her seamlessly into their home and lives. She becomes close to both boys and spends summers at their Maine island, living a life she never even dreamed of. So when the war is over and she's called back to London, she doesn't seem to fit in there any longer.
This is just a gorgeously-written book - a character study of loss and love, moving forward, forgiveness and acceptance. We follow along as time moves on for all the characters, and we see how they are pulled towards each other throughout the years. While this is a historical fiction book and takes place during wartime, its focus is on families - the pain of turning a child over to another generous family and the bonds that result. I loved spending time with this book and hated to see it end. A must read!
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