I would recommend this book to others who are looking for a satisfying and inspiring read that transports them to another time and place, and introduces them to memorable and relatable characters. The book is a wonderful example of how history can be brought to life through fiction, and how fiction can reveal the truth and beauty of history. The book is a delightful and emotional journey that will stay with the reader long after the last page.

I was able to get to this one over the weekend and I feel like I've read it before. I wasn't as interested as I thought I would be.

Archived before I downloaded it but I wanted to read it, so I bought it. Amazing book. I loved reading about Cara and even though it was less historical fiction and more romance, it was sweet.

Perfect for fans of Sarah's Key and Lilac Girls, The Light Over London is a strong contender in the ever popular genre of early 20th century historical fiction. The book unites the stories of two women across the span of time, shedding light on the sacrifice and pain of war that is all too often glorified.

Julia Kelly writes about interesting women in this dual time period novel. Set in 1940's and 2017, the story moves seamlessly between the two. It is a romance novel first and a historical fiction second. It deals with a diary from WWII that is found over fifty years later. Interesting story, but not strong history.

I thoroughly enjoy dual timeline stories and The Light Over London hit the mark for me. Not exactly on the level of the stories this one was compared to - The Nightingale and Lilac Girls - however, author Julia Kelly kept me engaged from beginning to end.

Current day character, Cara Hargraves, buries herself in the past rather than confronting her difficult present. While working for an obstinate yet brilliant antiques dealer, she discovers an old tin in an estate they are clearing out. The time-capsule tin holds memories of the past with an unfinished diary from World War II along with a photo of a uniformed young woman. Fascinated with the poignant entries of the diary, Cara searches for its owner and soon discovers her own family’s wartime secrets, all while learning to let go of her own troubled past.

Feeling trapped in her small Cornish Village in 1941, Louise Keene is keen to remove herself from the planned marriage her mother has arranged for her upon his return from the war. When she meets a handsome RAF pilot and experiences interest and affection for the first time in her nineteen years, Louise makes a rash decision to join the women's auxiliary branch when her Flight Lieutenant's unit is unexpectedly deployed.

As a gunner girl. Louise finds her courage and resilience as bombs are dropped on London.
Getting Louise through those deadly air raids and dark nights is her blossoming relationships with the other gunner girls and the hope she has for her future with her pilot. When her letters to him are returned unopened, Louise fears her wartime romance may not be all that it appears to be.

An enjoyable read with relatable characters and a dash of romance and of course, a slice of history to learn about and to learn from.

“Illuminating the story of these two women separated by generations and experience, Julia Kelly transports us to World War II London in this heartbreakingly beautiful novel through forgotten antique treasures, remembered triumphs, and fierce family ties.”

Review :

Well that was lovely, absolutely lovely. This World War II novel is told from dual perspective. Cara finds an old diary as she is cleaning out a house for the antique dealer she works for. Her interest is immediately peaked. Louise as the author, tells her story both on and off the pages of the diary. Her story of falling in love and how her life is unequivocally changed. Changed by war. By family. By love.

Running aside Louise’s story is Cara’s story. An orphaned, divorcée who has minimized her world to her elderly grandma and her best friend. Liam walks in to help Cara sift through the mystery of the diary as we watch Cara open herself up. To mystery. To love. To secrets that have haunted her.

I adored the format of this novel and was completely and utterly invested in what was happening on the pages. So much so, that I stayed up a little too late so my questions could be answered 😊.

At the root of this novel you get both Historical Fiction and a love story.

5 stars for this well written novel.

If you liked The Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor & Heather Webb…..The Light Over London is a great choice.

This is one of those novels that sounds fascinating, but the execution of it is just ok. The Light Over London sheds light on a part of women's history that hasn't been given much attention, particularly in historical fiction, and I enjoyed learning more about that. I've seen a lot of reviews comparing this to The Nightingale, which I think is unfair because it's nothing like The Nightingale at all. Unfortunately, any WWII novel seems to get slapped with a Nightingale comparison, and I can imagine it's disappointing to be an author of a WWII novel and to not be able to break out of The Nightingale's shadow. But on the other hand, WWII novels are all the rage right now, so anyone choosing to write about that is kind of opening themselves up for it. Regardless, The Light Over London was a decent read. I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'd read it again.

I'm a huge fan of historical fiction, but I get a little tired of the formula of a modern person trying to uncover a mystery about a person from the past. This tends to feel formulaic, and I often find myself wanting to only read the sections about the historical person and skip past the predictability of the current character.

The story begins with Cara, who discovers a diary and some photos in a home where she's assessing antiques. She becomes intrigued and decides to figure out who the diary belonged to and what their story was. The chapters then switch perspectives back and forth from Cara to the owner of the diary, Louise. I was completely drawn to Louise's story as she enlists during WWII to escape her humdrum life and becomes embroiled with a RAF pilot who seems too good to be true. Cara's timeline was less intriguing for me and I felt this is where the story lagged a little (especially with a romance plotline that felt forced to me).

To anyone who reads a lot of historical fiction, you won't really find anything new and exciting in these pages. But if you're someone who loves to read anything WWII-themed, this could still be an enjoyable read.

This book held my interest...but I cannot say that I really liked it or liked the characters. I felt that there could have been a good story...but there was no depth - the author didn't dive deep to really flesh the story or the characters out.

I read a lot of WWII fiction and this book is one of my faves. The backstory is so compelling and the main story keeps you invested all the way until the end. I also learned a lot about worn women did during the war that I wasn’t aware of. If you love WWII fiction, you’ll love this!

The Light Over London is a blend of historical fiction meets romance. Not to say it is not an enjoyable book, I did like it very much. But don't think it will be entirely historical fiction. Told in alternating timelines, the story takes place during World War 2 and the present. Definitely recommend to fans of historical fiction, especially London settings, and those who would like the antiques aspect. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy past/present stories like this and so it was no surprise I loved The Light Over London. I never heard of the Gunner Girls so it was interesting to hear their stories but I loved the present day connection, too - lovely writing and I will look for more from Kelly.

The Light Over London was....OK. Not great but not terrible either. It wants to be known as historical fiction but reads more like a romance viewed through the lens of history. IT's actually two parallel tales, one present-day and one set during WWII. Cara, who works for an antiques dealer, finds a box containing a diary written by Louise. Cara's quest to find the owner of the box is one story. Louise's life during WWII is the other. Chapters alternate in the telling of the tales, but none of the characters seem fully developed. Both women have their own romances, but Cara's feels gratuitous, like it's just there for symmetry. I would have left that out and focused more on her search for the box's owner. I don't know that I would recommend this; there a plenty of other books that are similar that I feel are better stories.

I love WWII stories as well as dual timeline books. When a book combines both, it's even better! The one complaint I have is that this was promoted as being "reminiscent" of "Lilac Girls" and "The Nightingale." While both books are set in WWII, that is where the similarity ends. I would have probably chosen to read the book anyway. But the misrepresentation left a bad taste in my mouth.

I did enjoy the book. It was a "lite" historical romance story where there is mystery, personal trauma, and romance. There is not a lot of the ugliness and horrors that occurred during the Nazi invasion. The focus was more on relationships during the past and present. There are some surprises, so it satisfies the reader who enjoys the random twists and turns. The characters are well developed and you will develop strong feelings about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

This is the first I have heard of Julia Kelly as merely a writer of historical fiction. Louise is living a small life in Cornwall but dreams of much more. After meeting Paul, an RAF pilot, she enlists in ATS and and is assigned as a gunner girl in bomb ridden London. Cara, an antiquarian in modern Barlow, finds Louise's diary and is pulled into her world, trying to find the ending to Louise's story. She is drawn further in when her next door neighbor, Liam, a historian, offers to help her not only solve this mystery, but also the mystery of her grandmother's past as well. The strongest point of this story was the two main character's voices--- Louise and Cara. They drove the story onward and gave you some views of a woman's role both in WWII and modern times. I also found the love story between Cara and Liam very refreshing. To the point where I was very much willing a version of my own Liam to show up on my doorstep (now, please and thank you :) ). I also loved her Grandma. She was fun and spunky. I very much appreciated that she stood her ground though about her past. It made sense with her age and how that generation would have handled things like illegitimate children. I suppose characterization overall was well handled. I think my biggest issue was Paul and how Louise just didn't catch on to an issue. Louise wasn't stupid. Not at all. Yes, she was more of an analytical mind. But was socially aware enough to pick up on cues. So it seemed uncharacteristic that she got so easily duped. I also don't like that we didn't really get Louise tied up well. Her ending felt very unfulfilled. I understand the idea of having Kate tell it for her since Louise was dead. But it just felt ingenuine to her character. When this story felt as much to be Louise's story as Cara's, it seemed unfair that Cara got a true ending and Louise didn't really. I am looking forward to reading Kelly's next novel, but I do hope her ending is a bit more rounded.

I really wanted to get into this book but it just was not for me. it started off slow and was hard for me to get into. i was able to read about 3/4 of it before putting it down. i will try to get back into it another time.

Exactly the novel I needed during quarantine. Rich, escapist and a complete page-turner. I've already recommended it.

As is common now "The Light over London" travels from World War II London to the present. More of a romance than strictly historical fiction. Enjoyable just the same.

3,5 stars

Cara is an antique dealer who, after a recent divorce, is trying to rebuild her life. She finds an old diary from the time of WWII and is determined to find who the diary belongs to and wanting to return it. During the WWII Louise is a gunner girl for the British Army. She met and fell in love with a flight lieutenant who gets sent off into war. Soon after Louise runs away from home and her difficult relationship with her mother.

The book has a dual timeline: Cara in the present and Louise in the past. Usually, I’m more drawn to the past timeline but here I didn’t really have a preference. Bit by bit we learn what happened that led to Cara’s divorce. She’s close to her grandmother, Iris, who served in WWII herself. Iris has never talked about the war and changes the subject when it’s brought up and Cara is very curious to know more. Especially now that it seems there are some family secrets.

We follow Louise’s journey from home to the army and how she became one of the Ack-Ack girls. I wasn’t a fan of Louise’s fighter pilot Paul and knew from the start something was up. The plot was a little predictable at times, but I did enjoy the book.

This was was my first book from the author and I’m looking forward to reading more.