Set in England during World War II, Nina Woodrow has a tight-knit relationship with her widowed father until she joins the British Royal Air Force and becomes involved in a forbidden affair with a married officer she knew before. Meanwhile, in Nina's quiet village, Kate Nicholson grapples with being the betrayed wife, finding solace in an unexpected friendship with Nina's father, Henry. Kate and Nina must navigate the consequences of their choices and those beyond their control, while seeking their place and identity.

Brooks brings a great voice, intimate yet playful, to both Nina and Kate. The Woman in the Sable Coat never feels like run-of-the-mill historical fiction. The overlapping timelines avoid a predictable duality, revealing the complete story in a way that suits the characters.

I was pleasantly surprised by the leeway Brooks gives her main characters and her resistance to making the 1930s and 1940s feel inaccessible. Despite the present tense throughout, which I usually dislike, Brooks managed a pacing that is leagues better than others, with a strong and navigable current pulling me along.

My main issue with the book is the title and cover not reflecting the story inside. While the significance of the sable coat isn't absent, it's not a constant element. Also, there's no mystery involved; the reveal is anticipated by the audience, waiting for the characters to catch up.

In this complicated, dark historical fiction novel, readers alternate between Kate and Nina’s perspectives. Starting in the 1930s and continuing through the late 1940s, readers travel from England to Canada and back as Nina grows up, Kate struggles in her marriage, and both women try to find happiness elsewhere and learn about the murder that happened not that long ago in Kate’s home. Unfortunately, both women have relationships with the same man, Guy -- Kate’s husband and Nina’s lover. No wonder Nina and Kate’s relationship is so limited and so difficult. Brooks’s characters are complex and morally ambiguous, especially with the lying and duplicity and secrets all of the characters seem to be hiding from the rest of the world. The relationships in this book, between Kate and Nina, Kate and Guy, Nina and Guy, Nina and her father, Kate and Nina’s father, are all fascinating and complex. These relationships help build the tension and twists to the story, and Brooks has developed them so they seem realistic and extend beyond the book’s timeline. Brooks’s novel is a complicated deep dive into the 1930s and 1940s that explores relationships and secrets (and the effects on the people involved) during war and the peace that came after.

A story of love, family, marriage, betrayal and secrets. Nina lost her mother and living with her father hasn’t been the same. Her friend Rose is her refuge and they are dear friends. An encounter with a couple, Kate and Guy, and Guy’s childhood friend, sets everything on a path that will tear everything apart for the couple, for Nina and Rose and for Nina’s father. The next chapter of this drama brings Nina and Guy together during World War II while Kate raises her son Pip and forms a friendship with Nina’s father. The lives and stories of the various characters bring joy and sadness and happy endings aren’t always guaranteed

The Woman in the Sable Coat is a story of infidelity, secrets, murder, friendship, and marriage. In the prologue, we meet Nina in 1946, returning home to England from Canada on an ocean liner. She is anguished and suicidal, the reason to be revealed. Moving back to 1934, Nina and her best friend, Rose, are young teenagers. While enjoying a summer day, a strange man appears looking for Hawthorn House. Joey is here from Canada to visit his friend Guy. The girls lead him across the field to Hawthorn House, where Guy and his pregnant wife Kate live. Nina impulsively invites Joey, Guy, and Kate to dinner that evening with her and her father Henry. Nina is attracted to Guy, and Kate begins a fascination with Henry.

Written in alternate narratives by Nina and Kate, the novel tells of Nina’s and Rose’s friendship, Kate’s and Guy’s marriage, Joey’s and Guy’s friendship, and Henry’s lonely life as a widower. A murder occurred at Hawthorn House years earlier that lurks in the background and comes to the foreground as a shocking secret is gradually revealed. WWII begins. Nina, in the WAAFs, and Guy, with the RAF, find themselves stationed at the same airbase. Here their affair begins while back home Kate and Henry develop a friendship.

The novel moves slowly in the beginning as Brooks develops the characters, but the pace picks up as the plot builds. Her depiction of the marriage of Guy and Kate is realistic in its subtleties, and Kate’s dissatisfaction while still in love with her husband. The women in this novel are real; Nina and Kate have their virtues and flaws. Guy is self-centered, while Henry may not be the upstanding widower we see. The friends, Rose and Joey, though secondary characters, are interesting and round out the four main characters. This is a wonderful read.

Historical Novels Review, February 2024

I really enjoyed reading this, it had a great historical element to it and the characters felt like they were supposed to in this universe. Elizabeth Brooks has a great way of bringing you into a story and having you care. The characters worked and I enjoyed the dark secrets of this book. I enjoyed the cover a lot and can’t wait for more.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book, I was under the impression that this book was World War II historical fiction, although the time period is indeed during the war., I feel that the topic of this book is a character study. The main characters Nina and her father Henry, and Kate and her husband Guy have lives that are intertwined for a number of years, I kept reading wondering where this story was headed, and what would be the end result, I have to say that I didn’t really enjoy this story, I didn’t have any feelings or sympathy for any of the characters. I had high hopes for this book according to the description, I have to say I was somewhat disappointed, perhaps I just didn’t get the author’s intention with this book.