A very different kind of WWII novel. If you're looking for a Germany-centered, or Jewish/Holocaust-centered story, this is not it. For that reason, it was an interesting read as it provided some alternative perspective during that time. This book is set somewhere in the UK (I was never really clear where) and focuses on the lives of two sisters, Etty/Esther and Dorothy. It chronicles their lives from the time they were dropped off at an orphanage by their mother and follows them thru adulthood as they experience the effects of the war. The story overall was good and you may want to have a kleenex nearby. If you have a sister who is near to your heart, you will probably greatly enjoy this read. For me, I wanted a little more detail about the setting and characters. 2.5 stars from me.

A very endearing story. I have read many historical fiction novels set in the time frame of 1920’s through the 1940’s. At first, I had the feeling this was going to be repetitive of other stories. After a few chapters, the story comes alive. There were twists and turns that I never would have expected! If you want a historical fiction roller coaster, this is the book for you! Pleasantly surprised and greatly enjoyed! Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read and review.

The Orphan Sisters was a very well written novel by Shirley Dickson. I have read many books about World War II that have played on my emotions and this one was no exception. Once I started reading it I found it hard to put it down. This is Shirley Dickson’s first novel. I will look forward to more books by her.

The story began when Etty (a nickname for Esther), a four year old girl and her older sister, Dorothy who was eight were taken to Blakely Hall, an orphanage, in 1929 by their mother. The sisters were devastated to learn that the orphanage was to be their new home. Etty believed that their mother would return and take her daughters home. Sadly, their mother never returned and both girls were brought up with lots of rules but no love. At fifteen, Dorothy was made to leave Blakely and she got a job living in a wealthy home caring for the children of the family. Etty had to endure life at Blakely without Dorothy. Over the years, Dorothy became more of a mother figure to Etty than a sister. The two were allowed to see each other once a week now on Dorothy’s day off. They depended on each other and became a “team”. During this time, Dorothy met Lawrence (Laurie) and they fell in love and got married. Etty loved Laurie like a brother and he had a soft spot for Etty as well. When it was time for Etty to leave Blakely, Dorothy had found a flat for them to share. Etty began to work at a factory doing her part for the war. On her way home one day from work she met Trevor Milne. The two began to date. Glimpses of what the “Blitz” was like with the gas masks, shelters and destruction showed the constant fear both sisters and their friends felt during the bombings.

My emotions were all over the place as I read The Orphan Sisters. It was a book about family, forgiveness and heartbreak. I really enjoyed reading it and recommend it highly. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC of The Orphan Sisters in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. What a terribly sad book about 2 sisters left at an orphanage. I loved it

A coming of age story of 2 sisters, Dorothy and Esther, who were abandoned by their Mother in 1929, in an orphanage, Blakely Hall. The story follows them from their abandonment through WW 2. Your heart breaks for these 2 girls, completely unprepared to be left behind by their mother. It's a story of sisterly love and the support that they show each other. It is also a story of the devastation of war. I enjoyed the book so much. Thank you to the publisher, the author and Net Galley, for the opportunity to read an advance copy. I will be looking for more books from Shirley Dickson!

8 year old Dorothy and 4 year old Etty are sisters who are left at Blakely Hall Orphanage by their mother in 1929. With their father dead and no other close family, the girls cannot understand why their mother left them as she gave them no explanation before she left, never to be seen again. The book follows their lives while they grow up in the orphanage and what becomes of them after they are eventually old enough to leave.

I do enjoy reading the WWII sagas and this book put me right in the middle of war-ravaged Newcastle and its surrounding areas! I was gripped from the very first page where we are introduced to the main characters, Dorothy and Etty. It was heart-breaking to read how their mother took them to an orphanage and left them with no explanation, although as the story moves on you do get to find out what had happened.

Dorothy and Etty were perfect characters. They had all the feelings and emotions which you would expect from two young girls who had been abandoned by their mother, and as they grew up they were both worldly and wisely from their experiences in the strict orphanage, but also so naïve in many other ways. I loved the way that they were so close and depended and relied on each other despite them both having husbands of their own. Together with the other characters, the wartime camaraderie shone through, with the local community rallying round for each other during the tough times of rationing and loss.

The Newcastle area, where the book was set, suffered terrible losses in the German air raids, as did so many other towns and cities around the UK. The descriptions in the book were so realistic, I could smell the burning and hear the sirens as I was reading and I certainly felt the fear that the characters were portraying. It wasn’t all doom and gloom though, with both Dorothy and Etty having many happy times. I smiled through these happy times with them but also shed tears over the overwhelming sadness that books set during the War tend to bring.

This was the first book I’d read by this author, but after I’d finished I was surprised to read that this had been her debut novel. It was so well written and researched that I thought this must have been the work of someone who written wartime stories for years!! It does though fill me with excitement at what other books this author may bring out!! If this is how good the first book is, imagine what the second or third book would be like!!

I would highly recommend this book. I could not put it down once I’d started it and had it finished in just over a day, reading it during every spare minute I had! It was a heart-warming story of family, love and heartbreak which will undoubtedly pull at your heart-strings. Just make sure you have a box of tissues ready!

This story is an interesting glimps into what life in England may have been like during WWII for those not enlisted. The story of the sisters and their lives was touching although I was surprised at my lack of emotion during some parts later in the book. Normally, I'd have felt all the feels for these characters by that point in the story. Overall it was a good read though and a great debut for a new author.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

The book mainly focuses on Etty’s (the younger sister) perspective though it does delve into the thoughts of the other characters. It is a beautifully sad story of family, betrayal heartbreak and the prevailing support that the right people can have. The two sisters mean everything to each other and I enjoyed watching them grow and move forwards from their tragic childhood and adolescence.

There were many moments of heartbreak though none felt forced. It is beautifully written and ready to capture the reader’s heart. It provided a lot of realism and truth at how it felt during the air-raids and you become emotionally invested in all of the characters, not just the main ones.

Four-year-old Esther and her eight-year-old sister Dorothy were accompanying their mother on a “special journey” but the destination wasn’t one either of them had expected. The Blakely Hall orphanage was run by a cruel, bitter woman who was to be the bane of the sisters’ existence. It was 1929 when they started their new lives at the orphanage and Esther strongly believed their mam would return for them. But when first Dorothy left at sixteen, then Esther a matter of weeks before her sixteenth birthday as war was declared, Esther’s anger at their mother abandoning them hadn’t abated.

When Dorothy and Esther – now Etty which she quite liked – moved into a little house together, Etty was overjoyed. The sisters were together again. But it was 1940 and the country was in the grips of war with London continually under attack from air raids. Their lives contained many highs, and too may lows but worse was to come. What would happen to the two sisters? Would Etty and Dorothy know peace after the war? Would they find their mother?

The Orphan Sisters is the debut novel by Shirley Dickson, and is a heartbreaking story of hope, sisterly love and support, and the devastating effects of war. I loved this book from the beginning – I was recommending it at only 20% in! Dorothy is a kind hearted and forgiving girl, while Etty is a feisty young woman, determined to prove herself. Thoroughly enjoyable, I highly recommend The Orphan Sisters to all fans of historical fiction.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

Great read. I highly recommend this book to all. Thank you Shirley Dickson for this phenomenal book. I enjoyed the characters and the setting. Can't wait to read more from this author.

What a story. Two sisters who are put into an orphanage by their mom!

I felt for the mom and the sisters
Have tissues ready and enjoy this book !

Lovely historical fiction about a pair of sisters who stick together through ups and downs. Etty and Dorothy find themselves left at an orphanage in 1929. Conditions there are strict but not severe but once Dorothy is out, Etty wants to leave as well. Unfortunately, the UK in this time frame was not the easiest place. While both sisters find love, things don't go as they hope. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. The characters, including Laurie and Billy, are well drawn and make this a good old fashioned read.

A brilliant debut, A beautiful written, heartbreaking story. Good strong characters. I can't wait to read more by this author.

I didn't quite know what I was getting into when I picked this one up. It wasn't quite what I expected. I was expecting more detail out of how hard the girls' lives were at the orphanage, but instead you really only come away with the knowledge that the people there were strict and they hated it there. The rest of the story had the same feeling of "barely scraping the surface" before moving on to the next scene. It made it difficult for me to really get in to. At least partially for moral reasons, I couldn't sympathize with Etty the way I was expecting to, and I think that effected my overall emotional connection with the story. I will admit that the events at the end of the story fully sucked me in and even changed how I felt toward particular characters, but then it all came to a close.

At first I had really high expectations for this story and thought I would love it, but I really do walk away with mixed emotions. The story will surely tug at your heartstrings, but I would have liked more depth in the story-line. I just didn't connect as much as I thought I would. I read a lot of historical fiction whether it is Christian or not, so I really try not to fully judge on that standard since I knew going in that this was a secular fiction piece. I expected more about the girls' desire to find out what happened to their mother since that appeared to be the premise of the whole story. Instead it was more about their love lives and failures. Sometimes when a story-line takes you by surprise it can be a good thing, but in this case it felt incomplete.

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. Thoughts and opinions expressed are mine alone.

This is a beautifully written heartbreaking story of two sisters, Dorothy 8 and Esther "Etty" 4, who were left by their mother at an orphanage, Blakely Hall, in November 1929. They did not know why they were being left there but they kept hoping their mother would come back; however, she never did. Dorothy was the first to leave and go to work for a local family when she reached a certain age. When Etty was old enough to leave, she was allowed to go and live with Dorothy who had a job and a flat by that time. Dorothy meets, falls in love and marries Lawrence "Laurie" Calvert. He is sent off to war in the Navy as a signalman in a submarine. Etty meets Trevor Milne and begins dating him but then she meets Billy Buckley who is dating her friend May and falls in love with him. Lots of unforgettable, heartbreaking things happen in this story that will definitely tug at your heartstrings. This story is about family, heartbreaking events and forgiveness. I absolutely loved this superb page turner. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this outstanding book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book from the very start and was drawn in straight away. It's a heartbreaking and emotional story but also heartwarming too. Highly recommended!

I was drawn right in and swept away way by the heartbreaking story of these two sisters abandoned at an orphanage by their mother.We follow them through this trauma and their lives as they grow up adjust to life and the surprise of a shocking secret they discover .A warm emotional read I Highly recommend #netgalley #bookoture

This is the story of people’s triumph over adversity.

In mid war Newcastle Etty and Dorothy are abandoned in an orphanage, without any explanation. Whilst the orphanage years are tough, it’s nothing compared to the World War 2 years where they must endure the blitz in Newcastle.

The novel is well researched, and I found the air raids and the blitz harrowing reading. In fact I was surprised when I read that this is the authors debut novel.

This is an easy read, and I rather enjoyed this, and am looking forward to reading more Shirley Dickson’s novels.

Thank you to Boukouture and Netgalley for an advance ARC.

From reading the description of The Orphan Sisters by Shirley Dickson, I knew I had to get my hands on this novel. This is one of those books you will sit and read within one afternoon, preferably a chilly, rainy afternoon where you can drink hot tea and cuddle up with a soft blanket. That’s my preferred reading scenario!

Here’s what you need to know:

1929: Four-year-old Etty and eight-year-old Dorothy are abandoned at Blakely Hall orphanage by their mother, never to see her again. With no other family to speak of, the sisters worship their beloved mam – confused and heartbroken to be deserted by her when they need her the most.

1940: Etty and Dorothy are finally released from the confines of Blakely Hall – but their freedom comes when the country is in the grip of World War Two and its terrors. Amidst a devastating backdrop of screaming air-raid sirens and cold nights huddled in shelters, the sisters are desperate to put their broken childhoods behind them.

But trouble lies ahead. Dorothy must bid goodbye to her beloved husband when he’s sent to war and Etty must nurse a broken heart as she falls in love with the one man she can never be with.

Etty and Dorothy survived the orphanage with the help of one another and neither sister can forget the awful betrayal of their mother, which has haunted them their whole lives. But when a shocking secret about their painful childhood comes to light, will the sisters ever be the same again?

This one promises to keep you turning pages as your heart attempts not to break. A book you will lose yourself in!

Due out on January 22, 2019.

This book, as almost all books set during WWII, has some of the most unbelievably sad moments that you wonder how people go on living. But it also has some beautiful moments when you feel the hope of humanity and the ties of love that keep us going in hard times. These sisters don't get much of a childhood as their mother leaves them at an orphanage with nary a goodbye. Feeling abandoned by their mother and unloved at the orphanage tears at my heart for them. They grow up, make mistakes along the way like regular young adults even those with available parents do, and manage to make a life for themselves until more tragedy comes along. A sweet, story of sisterly love.