I opened this book, expecting something ordinary about WWII in England, but I found a perfect little gem about love, not war. The love is between Ellen and the little girl she “found” after an attack in a nearby town. It soon became apparent that the child, Pamela, had lost her mother. Ellen takes this child to her heart and there is great mutual love, until their existence is shattered when Pamela is returned, despite her deep unhappiness, to her father’s family.

Ellen was shattered, but as life went on another child became part of her life.

The story of these women, surrounded by the characters of the village of Upton, make this novel a small treasure. As a reader, I keep thinking of the interpretation of the title, WE MUST BE BRAVE, and all the meanings I found within this novel.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this very special novel.

This book was received as an ARC from G.P. Putnam's Sons in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I am in love with the overall context and theme of this book. We must be brave tells the story of Pamela a struggling little orphan girl that is determined to find a family. She later meets Ellen while she fell asleep on a back of a bus. With the evacuation of Southampton England and Ellen newly married, she falls in love with Pamela and is determined to adopt her. The bond the Ellen and Pamela have for one another is so breathtaking and will leave you speechless with tears in your eyes. I also love that there bond is so strong that nothing can get in their way and I am sure this will turn into an Oscar winning movie someday.

We will consider adding this title to our Historical Fiction section at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

This is on of my favorite time periods to read about. It's not always easy but it is usually enjoyable. When I saw this title available, I knew that I had to read it. So glad I was given the chance. There is nothing better than a well written, interesting story.

I loved about 50% of this book, liked 25%, strongly disliked 15%, and thought 10% was from another novel and got somehow stuck in this one.

I would call this a time slip novel in that it goes back and forth between parts of Ellen Parr's life. I definitely enjoyed seeing how decisions made in the past came to touch the present and how an opinion I had made could be changed once I realized what happened to get the character there.

Ellen Parr is childless and married to a much older man Selwyn and she 'finds' a child named Pamela during an evacuation in early-ish WWII. The book spins the tale of how she ended up being married to Selywn, why she is childless, and what happens when Pamela is taken away. I am not spoiling anything as the book description says as much.

Parts of the book dragged on and once Penny was introduced and you see she is a 'replacement' for Pamela I felt my self checking out of the chapters that were not in the past. A little editing and removing some parts where Ellen's mental state is gone over and over but at the same time not really addressed would greatly help this book.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It was so moving in places and left me flipping pages in others. The story is set during WWII. Ellen Parr, a young married woman, finds an abandoned child name Pamela on a bus after an air raid on a nearby city. When her parents can't be found Ellen and her husband take the child in. That's pretty straightforward but the rest of the book is not.

There's a lot about Ellen's life before she meets Pamela, and then a lot about what happens in a wartime situation where children have to be moved around for their own good without thought for their feelings or the feelings of those around them.

Ultimately a bittersweet book that I enjoyed with reservations. Thanks to G.P. Putnam's Sons and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ellen knows she will never have children of her own. Welwyn, her husband was damaged in the war. That doesn't stop her from falling in love with a small girl left in a bus. Pamela comes to live with them. Her mother was killed in a bombing and her father is unknown. An aunt has decided she doesn't want anything to do with the child. Ellen steps in, loves, protects and cherishes Pamela. Then the unexpected happens, Pamela's father shows up. After years of adoring this child, Ellen is now forced to let her go. She is taken far away to Southern Ireland to live with an aunt and cousins she's never known. To make matters worse, Ellen is told not to write to Pamela or visit. They feel it would be a better way for her to adjust to her new life. Years later and a lifetime of living Ellen's heart is still with Pamela.
This is a sensational story of love, friendship, and family. Heartwarming, tear jerking tenderness. Incredible story!

3.5 stars. I usually really love WWII novels and although I do believe this one portrayed the difficulties of war and how it often impacted children well, the story itself went on a bit slow for me. Although her struggle was heartbreaking and agonizing, I was never really able to connect to the main character Ellen, due to how the writing often portrayed her. I did however enjoy reading about her connections to the other characters and wish there was more focus on them throughout the book. I was given a copy of this book via Netgalley on behalf of Putnam Books in exchange for an honest review.

The publisher's summary suggests this is a story of World War II and the heartbreak of tearing families apart, but it is so much more. A young child is taken in by a couple when her mother is killed by a bomb. Despite the husband's misgivings, his young wife Ellen connects to traumatized Pamela and throughout the horrors of war, she creates a cocoon of love for the little girl. The special relationship is ripped apart when the child's father reappears. The book is not yet half complete when Pamela is forcibly removed to Ireland in the care of her distant cousins. How will the characters and the story continue?
When I said this was more than a story of World War II, the reader is also carried back to the childhood of Ellen with a story that is just as dramatic and heartbreaking as the tale of her young ward. And then we are whisked ahead in great leaps to decades long past the end of the war.
The stalwart individuals who people this book will remind you of the salt-of-the-earth men and women from the chapters of Downton Abbey. You will love them all, even when they show their failings.
The writing of Francis Liardet is a joy to read. The descriptions of the English countryside and village life in the 1930's and 40's are perfectly lovely. Just the names of the flowers and weeds captured my imagination. The images of sky and hillside lingered in my mind. At no time did I want to skim a single descriptive paragraph. Beyond the descriptions, the events as revealed to the reader will keep you wondering and worrying about the fate of the characters. You will find yourself so invested in these flawed individuals, you can hardly bear to let them go.
But as all stories do, this must also come to an end, and you will reach the final pages with mixed feelings of sadness and contentment. What more can you ask from a book?

I enjoy reading books in the historical fiction genre, especially ones with women and children as the main characters. We Must Be Brave is just that. It was very touching and emotional, my heart melted and tore while reading about little Pamela and all she went through. I didn’t feel as attached to Penny, and was happy when Pamela was part of the story again.

To me, the reading was slow and I found myself skimming through some parts, which I hate to do, but overall I am happy that I stuck through it.

We Must Be Brave is about a young child who is taken in by a couple during WWII. Eventually relatives of the girl are found and ties are severed, The book details what happened to the characters before and after their years together. This novel didn't resonate with me. It just wasn't for me

During the evacuation at the beginning of ww2 Ellen discovers a child Pamela abandoned on a bus.She takes her home falls in love with her makes her,her own but the day will come when she will have to let her go, This book has twists turns heartbreak,Tears will flow highly recommend.#netgallet #putnamboojs

I really enjoy historical fiction, especially novels that take place during WWII! So when I read the description for We Must Be Brave, I knew it was a book I wanted to get my hands on.

We Must Be Brave centers around a little girl, Pamela, who needs to be saved and Ellen, the woman steps up to plate to be her hero. I loved the premise of this book and I felt Frances Liardet has put an interesting spin on WWII fiction. The beginning was fast-paced, but the middle was a tad slow at times, but after finishing I see where Frances Liardet was taking us and felt she did a fantastic job with the conclusion. I am looking forward to reading more from Frances in the future.

Review:WE MUST BE BRAVE by Frances Liardet. England at the beginning of WWIIEllen finds a little girl abandoned on the bus and must take to task protecting and raising her. Excellent book, sometimes heartbreaking and a bit more lengthy than I would have liked but great story.⭐⭐⭐⭐Four stars.

I'm just going to put it plainly. This book was boring. There was seldom any great parts and when there were they're few and far between. The last 10% was probably my favorite.

Sorry to say I cannot finish this book. I stuck it out for almost 30% of the book. The writing style is hard to understand or interpret and the story is just plain boring and hard to follow. This is one of my favorite genres and had high hopes. Thank you netgalley for letting me give an honest review of this book.

After reading all of the positive reviews, I was hoping that this book would deliver. However, I found half way through that I was bored and not engrossed in the characters or story. Ellen is helping evacuees from Southampton during the bombing in early WWII. Pamela is a little girl who is separated from her mother, who we find out later died in the bombing. Ellen's husband is not as anxious as Ellen to give a home to Pamela, and we see why Ellen is so determined in the story of her own upbringing. At this point, I stopped reading. Thank you for the opportunity to read the book, but I found I could not finish.