Mrs. Braithwaite has had her life turned inside out. Her husband has divorced her and she's been replaced as the head of the WVS in her town. Feeling unsettled, she decides to head for London to reconnect with her daughter. When she arrives at the boarding house, she discovers Betty hasn't been home for days and no one knows where she is. This was a departure from Jennifer Ryan's other three novels but I still really enjoyed it. Unlike the other books, Spies of Shilling Lane is almost a caper through World War II London- there are spies, double agents, plots to help the Nazis, and so much more. Every time I thought the story was over, another twist happened. This was a fun read!

I read this AGES ago and never wrote my review.

Apologies to Netgalley and Crown Publishing for this massively delayed review.

I read this in April of 2021 - and it was a solid work of historical fiction.

Based in WWII London (during the Blitz) - Mrs. Braithwaite leaves her home after her husband divorces her and her local WVS treat her like a pariah. Being knocked down a peg leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, and so she decides to go and visit her daughter Betty. The only problem is - that once she arrives in London and at Betty's boarding house, she is surprised to find that Betty isn't there!

What follows is a little mystery as Mrs. Braithwaite pairs up with her daughter Betty's landlord Mr. Norris to figure out where her daughter is, what she is actually doing to help the war effort and how to get her out of her spot of bother.

Jennifer Ryan is able to weave a story that is really character based with the rest just falling into place. I really enjoyed readying this - completely different than what I was expecting having read The Chilbury Ladies Choir - but I enjoyed it and am happy I finally got to it!

Review coming soon. Fell behind due to illness, amd working on all of the old ones now.

This one will not be forgotten. I adored this book. Anything)no by Jennifer Ryan is one I dive in to. I just need more time to give a proper review.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC; opinions are mine.


Pub Date was June 4 2019
#theSpiesOfShillingLane #JenniferRyan #NetGalley

The Spies of Shilling Lane is a historical mystery where we find Mrs Braithwaite and her plucky, ruthless optimism deep enthralled in her English village after being dethroned and dismissed following her husband's divorce petition.

Of course not being deterred, she goes to London to find her daughter Betty. However, when she arrives the landlord informs her that Betty has not been home in days. Worried something terrible has happened, where she can be and what happened to her.

A great historical fiction!

I would give it more 3.5 stars, but not 4. I really liked Ryan's Chilbury Ladies' Choir, so my expectations were high. This one, the premise felt slightly fanciful so it took some time to shake that sense off and just go with it. I did enjoy the characters -- especially Mrs. Braithwaite and Mr. Norris; I think this is one of Ryan's particular skills -- making you care about characters you might typically not like or be interested in. I also felt like I gained a deeper understanding (through Mrs. Braithwaite's own surprise) of what it was like to live in London during WWII and how the "regular" people were affected every day.

The Spies of Shilling Lane by Jennifer Ryan—author of ‘The Chilbury Ladies Choir’—has written a compelling WWII novel with a plot, setting, and characters that were so alive that I was loathe to put it down. And despite the setting, it was a very compelling and redemptive read that lifted my heart.

As the novel opens, we meet one of its main characters Mrs. Braithwaite. Mrs. Braithwaithe is alone on a train traveling to London to find her only daughter, Betty, Blitz or no Blitz.

From the novel:

“ASHCOMBE VILLAGE, ENGLAND
MARCH 1941
How do you measure the success of your life? Mrs. Braithwaite wrote determinedly in her notebook as the train sputtered out of the little station. She hadn’t left her village for a year; hadn’t been to London since the war began back in 1939. The journey to see her daughter was long overdue.

Every so often the train would hurtle through a station, now nameless because all the station signs had been taken down at the beginning of the war to confuse any invading Nazis. None had come over yet, thank heavens. For now the Nazis were content sending planes across every night to bomb British cities to pieces—the Blitz, they called it, “lightning.” Their intention at first was to take out factories and docks, but now they were bombing at random, trying to exhaust the Royal Air Force and break the spirit of the people.”

I am extremely tardy in reviewing this novel and apologize to the publisher—it came out in mid 2019–but ironically, it turned out to be a powerful read for the current pandemic times because it was a reminder that others have gone through tough times with a lot of courage and selflessness—and England in WWII was a tough time.

If you notice in the two paragraphs above, Mrs. Braithwaite hasn’t seen her daughter, Betty, for two years because of the war. She has been busy being the head of the village ladies' volunteer war committee in her small hamlet, which is pretty removed from the devastation that is going on in London, and she has been sacked from that position for being a bossy and judgmental person, and, for being stigmatized because her husband divorced her.

So she has left for London to find the only person left in her family and life, and she is about to have her eyes opened. London during the Blitz is a devastating place. When Mrs. Braithwaite goes to her daughter’s boarding house, she finds that she has not been there for several days. Her daughter’s landlord, a timid accountant named Mr. Norris, does not think this surprising because of the Blitz. Neither do the local constabulary, so Mrs. Braithwaite sets out to find Betty on her own pulling a reluctant Mr. Norris along with her.

What is so moving about this novel is how both of these characters become likable—even lovable—characters as the novel evolves through growing kind, caring, and brave hearts during trying times. How trying? Well, besides the obvious of being in a place where bombs drop nightly demolishing neighborhoods and leaving dead and dismembered people in their wake, they become unlikely spies when they stumble upon a NeoNazi movement of pretty thuggish characters who can’t wait for Hitler to succeed in his invasion so that they can lord it over their fellow Brits. And the courage these two unlikely characters show against such terrifying thugs is laudable.

One of the first places Mrs. Braithwaite goes to find her daughter, after arriving in London, is to the local hospitals struggling to deal with casualties. At one, she learns that there is a patient listed as B. Braithwaite. As she rushes to the Ward where she is sure her injured daughter is, Mrs. Braithwaite passes many grim cases in the overcrowded wards. From the novel:

“The air was lifeless. Still as an empty church, silent as a mortuary.
Mrs. Braithwaite’s feet echoed on the polished wooden floor as she walked slowly down the aisle. Eyes followed her, even though nothing else moved. She was petrified. What had happened to her daughter?
She hadn’t been expecting this. No one had warned her.
Carefully counting the beds, she stopped just before the eighth one. On it was a mound, a body with a heavily bandaged head lying motionless on the pillow. Below the sheets, the mound was diminished at the other end, indicating that one of her legs had somehow come away from her body.
Mrs. Braithwaite let out a small, hollow cry, “Betty!”
She rushed forward, stopping before she went to put her arms around her, suddenly conscious that she couldn’t do that. It would be too painful, possibly even harmful. She ended up turning her hands back on herself, gripping them together, kneading them into a tight ball.
“Betty, are you there?” she cried.
She peered over, through the dim light, at the small portion of the face showing between the thick bandages. Her eyes were tightly closed, her nose and mouth scarred with scratches, a deep gash coming from the side of her lip, closed together with two reddish-brown stitches. Her neck was held up with a stiff collar, and Mrs. Braithwaite wondered if all of her hair had been burned because nothing protruded from the bandages around her scalp. Not a single wisp.
But one thing was immediately clear.
This was not Betty.
She was older, although not by much, and her nose was too small, her mouth too full. Even with the injuries and bandages, it was plain to see.
Mrs. Braithwaite felt her whole body go limp with relief, putting a hand on the bedside table for support. The thought of Betty going through all that pain was beyond comprehension.
She quickly looked down at the face to be sure. Yes, it definitely wasn’t Betty. This B. Braithwaite must have been a Bertha or a Beryl. She wondered what she had looked like, who she’d been. Whether she was aware of what had happened to her, where she had ended up.
“Touch her hand, to let her know you’re here.” The nurse had come up behind her.
“But she isn’t my daughter, after all,” Mrs. Braithwaite whispered.
“It’s all right.” The nurse smiled, as calm and serene as can be. “You can still let her know that you’re here.”
“But I don’t know her.”
“I’m sure she’ll enjoy the company.” That smile again, enticing—or was it coercing? Even though Mrs. Braithwaite would rather not—it was awkward enough as it was—she didn’t want to cause offense.
And she didn’t want to seem heartless, not to this kind young nurse.
One of the injured woman’s hands lay outside the sheet. It was half covered with bandages and mottled with blood and small wounds.
“She doesn’t have burns on this hand,” the nurse said. “So it’s all right to hold it. I think she likes the connection. It must be terribly lonely for her in there, not being able to see or speak or hear.”
“What happened to her?”
“She’s a hero. Saved eleven children from a fire in a bombed school before the roof collapsed on her.” She gave a small shudder. “They had to amputate one of her legs to get her out. They didn’t even have time for pain relief, which is probably why she went into a coma. Absolutely dreadful if you think about it.”
Mrs. Braithwaite decided she’d rather not.
“She worked at the school, you see,” the nurse went on. “A teacher.” She sighed. “Some people have so much love in their hearts. They’d do anything for anybody. They’re the real heroes of this war.”
“What about the men fighting on the front?”
“They’re heroes, too, but not like this courageous woman. No one told her what to do; she simply saw someone hurt, someone in trouble, and found the bravery to go into the chaos, help in the best way she could. It didn’t matter whether it put her own life in danger.”
“And look how she’s repaid,” Mrs. Braithwaite murmured, looking at the tumbledown brutalized body.
The nurse smiled calmly. “But think of the children she saved. They owe her their lives! They’ll always remember her. It must be wonderful to know that you made so much difference to so many people’s lives. You enabled them to live! Can you imagine that?”
Mrs. Braithwaite let the idea roll around her mind. “Yes, I do know what you mean. But it’ll be a difficult life for her when she comes out of the coma.””

This is the beginning of a change in Mrs. Braithwaite’s heart, and is not the last that we hear of this brave young woman in the book.

As Mrs. Braithwaite continues to look for Betty—dragging Mr. Norris along—the novel gets quite exciting, and they evolve into characters that are entertaining as well as endearing. Here is an example of one conversation between them from the novel. The first voice is Mrs. B’s:

“ “Thinking is a very overrated pastime, and some of us are far too busy putting the world to rights to be wasting our time over such things.”
“But sometimes we need to mull everything over, find out what we really feel, or think or believe. Sometimes, if you don’t think about big things that happen in our lives—people close to you dying and so forth—it gets bottled up inside. One day you might just explode.”
“I’ll do no such thing, thank you very much!” she retorted, tidying the blanket.
But the conversation seemed to have tipped Mr. Norris into a thoughtful mode, and he said rather philosophically, “When people you care for die, something inside changes, and you become a different person. Some say that you take on a part of them yourself, that everything you loved about them is enveloped within you, that you have a responsibility to keep them alive in your heart, whatever it takes.” “

I highly recommend this novel. Jennifer Ryan does an excellent job with her characters, setting, and plot—which all ring true to the era.

Thank you Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader’s Copy of the novel and for allowing me to review it.

Thank you to Crown Publishing and Net Galley for the chance to read and review this book. I really liked this book! Historical fiction is one of my favorite genres, and this one did not disappoint. Jennifer Ryan is an excellent historical fiction writer. I highly recommend-lots of twists and turns.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a light easy read. While a mystery, it was also a romance which is not my favorite book genre. I think one of the things I enjoyed most was that the characters are not all young adults. The fact that women over 50 are tough and not to be taken lightly. Add the aspect of Mrs. Baithwaite’s personal growth as she changes and begins to develop relationships and overcomes her insensitive nature makes it a delightful story.

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

I love a good historical fiction novel and this one is no exception. Very well-written and great pace.

I read this almost immediately after finishing "The Right Sort of Man," and the British humor STILL entertains me every time. A sweet, comical story about a mother-daughter bond that even a fascist spies ring, a rocky past, and a few plot twists cannot come between.

Yes, the stereotypes are there. But when a novel is written in a comedic style, well... what do we expect? The stoic Mrs. Braithwaite may not have set out to look for love, but it is fairly obvious from their first exploits that she and the landlord are destined for a relationship (oh c'mon, it's hardly a spoiler when the signs are all there). An unlikely pair, but a great team - the premise for many a good book.

A beef: the "villains" are all so over-the-top villainous that, yes, it is hard to believe them/be scared of them. The bumbling criminal type. But part of what gives the novel gravity is the knowledge that it could be entirely historically possible (perhaps without the interference of a real-life Mrs. Braithwaite, however).

Overall, cute. Thumbs-up.

Received an advanced reader copy from #netgalley - thanks NetGalley!! #thespiesofshillinglane

Sometimes what I really need is a feel-good story. Had I ascertained that this was that sort of book, I would have had it read by the publication date. I read the beginning twice, decided it was going to fall into the grim duty category since I had accepted a review copy, and I set it aside. My apologies go to Net Galley, Crown Books, and the author for my lateness; my heartfelt thanks go to Jayne Entwistle, the reader for the audio version of this lovely tale, for rekindling my interest. I procured the audio version from Seattle Bibliocommons and listened to it while I rode my stationary bike and prepared dinner in the evenings. I began listening to it because I owed a review, but soon I found that I preferred this novel to the other good book I had been listening to just for pleasure.

Our story begins with Mrs. Braithwaite feeling injured and put upon. Her husband is divorcing her, and the women in the local charity club have banded together and ousted her from her treasured position of leadership. She is miserable. Betty, her only child, has run off to London, intent upon aiding her country now that the second World War is upon them, and she isn’t answering her calls. Mrs. Braithwaite decides to visit her, but upon arrival, she discovers that Betty is missing. The story flows from her effort to find her daughter and also herself.

Those seeking an espionage thriller won’t find it here; the story is character based, and in this Ryan succeeds richly. Mrs. Braithwaite enlists the reluctant assistance of Mr. Norris, Betty’s milquetoast landlord, and it is these two characters that are wonderfully developed. None of this would have been achieved without the spot-on cultural insights regarding the World War II generation. The shallower pop-cultural references to music are well and good, but Ryan goes deeper. The fact that the character is known only by her formal title, with the salutary “Mrs.” in place of a first name, speaks not only to the protagonist’s dignified, somewhat cold façade, but also to the practices of the time. Use of first names was considered an intimacy among the elders of this time period; women addressed their peers by it unless they were close friends or family members. Even the way that the plot develops is reminiscent of the fiction and movies of that generation. As in most good historical fiction, the setting mingles with the characters to move the plot forward.

I am not much of a cozy mystery fan, but I think this story would please cozy readers. At the same time, I appreciate the careful balance the author uses; the touching moments are deftly handled, never becoming cloying or maudlin. At other times there’s a playful, spoofing quality to it, as Mrs. Braithwaite and Betty search for each other, each fearing the other is in danger and thus placing herself in it.

I recommend this book to cozy readers, fans of historical fiction, and anyone in need of a boost in morale. It’s for sale now.

Once a leader of her community, her divorce results in Mrs. Braithwaite being ostracized; as if that isn't enough, her daughter Betty goes missing in London during World War II. This sets Mrs. Braithewaite up to leave her home for adventures in the city, which place her life in jeopardy as well as the daughter who hasn't been completely honest about her work. Secrets drive this plot, which remains somewhat light despite the dark, wartime setting. Mr. Norris, Betty's landlord who becomes Mrs. Braithwaite's sidekick in the search, is likeable but seems diminished by her; he is somewhat of a foil but could be a bit more robust. All in all, this novel is not as successful as Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, but it's a fun, entertaining read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital review copy; this is my honest opinion.

If you want your history to feel personal, and to surprise you with unforeseen aspects, this book is for you. Ryan also delivers with a heartfelt character arc that will have you turning page after to page to see where the story will go. Highly recommended to anyone who loves endearing, personal World War II literature.

I wanted to read The Spies of Shilling Lane from the very first mention of this book. The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, also by Jennifer Ryan, is one of my favorite books in recent years. This novel, like Chilbury, takes place during World War II, a time that the author evokes beautifully.

This is a novel about Mrs. Braithwaite, a middle aged divorcee living in a small English village. When her daughter Betty, who is in London, suddenly goes missing, she goes to the city to look for her. This begins a complicated mystery and a grand adventure involving spies, double spies, new friends, and maybe even a new chance at life.

This novel is cozy one moment and suspenseful the next. I loved the adventure that is The Spies of Shilling Lane, and have already started recommending it to friends. This is sure to be one of my favorite reads this year!

*received from netgalley for honest review* Good book, not what I thought but turned out to be much better lol

The Spies of Shilling Lane is an addictive read. You quickly begin to connect with Mrs. Braithwaite as she desperately searches for her missing daughter in London. The underdogs save the day in this charming read. There was one unexpected gruesome description following a bombing that took me aback. It was not gratuitous in any way, just shocking. There was also plenty of humor in the book with the untrained spies learning to find their inner strengths.

Mrs. Braithwaite is my new favorite fictional heroine. If you are a fan of the BBC World War ll series such as The Bletchley Circle and Home Fires, you will love this novel.
Spies of Shilling Lane takes place in 1941 during the London Blitz. The story begins with Mrs. Braithwaite, a cantankerous village busybody being unceremoniously boosted from her position as chairwoman of the local WVS (Women’s Voluntary Service), due to the disgrace of her husband’s divorce petition and her bossy ways. Her one time close friend Mrs Metcalf threatens to reveal a poignant family secret that Mrs Braithwaite has been harboring lifelong, if she doesn't step down graciously.
Mrs Braithwaite decides to visit her somewhat estranged daughter, Betty who has taken an office job in London and divulge the secret to her. However, when she arrives at Betty’s flat in London, she discovers that Betty has been missing for several days. That's when the adventure begins. Betty, it turns out is not the office girl she claims to be. Sensing that Betty is in danger, she sets out to find and rescue her, drafting Mr Norris, the kindly but meek landlord along the way as her reluctant accomplice. Mrs Braithwaithe is relentless and fearless in her quest to locate and rescue Betty. As the story progresses,Jennifer Ryan brings to life the heartbreaking nightly bombings of the London Blitz and the effects on the everyday lives of the populace.
The evolution of Mrs. Braithwaite's priorities in life come full circle with her reevaluating her stance on what factors constitute success in life. Is it social standing or love, kindness and family?
The novel has it all: suspense, adventure, romance, heartbreak, comedy and a great ending.
“Who knows when one might be in peril and need a Mrs. Braithwaite to save one's life?”

I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s previous novel, “The Chilbury Ladies Choir”, and so I was really looking forward to this latest novel. It comes off as a “cozy mystery”, but was lacking something in its overall delivery. It was a pleasant enough read, but I was a bit disappointed. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader’s copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When I saw that Jennifer Ryan had a new book coming out, I knew I had to read it, since The Chilbury Ladies Choir is a novel that I found to be charming and comforting and a gentler kind of WWII story than is typical. I think that those who appreciated these qualities in Chilbury Ladies Choir will find a similar vibe in The Spies of Shilling Lane.

There's mild excitement to the plot, but less than one might anticipate given the title. The heart of the novel and the source of much of its appeal lies in the relationship between two of the central players - Mrs Braithwaite and Mr Norris, reluctant friends, investigators of intrigue, and unexpected heroes.

A few drawbacks - I found this novel rather slow moving in parts, and some of the secondary characters came off flat. Yet the eccentricities of the main characters and their amusing, keep-calm-and-carry-on approach to the dramas of wartime were ultimately entertaining. I hope there will be another story featuring these two! A strong pick for when you're after cozy, easy reading.