Karen White is always an author that consistently delivers great books. The Last Night in London is another great book. In a dual timeline that moves between war ravaged London during the bombing blitz of WWII and present day as we discover the stories of Precious Dubose and Maddie Warner.
In London 1939 we meet Precious and her friend Eva Harlow, just starting out as fashion models, who have their world turned upside down due to the war.
London, 80 years later we meed Maddie Warner, American journalist, who travels to London to interview Precious about her life in pre-WWII London while still reeling from the lost of her mother.
Both of these amazing stories will pull you into their lives, with all the love and struggles both had to face.

A riveting story of two women and their intertwined lives. Historical fiction that is engrossing. The stories blend and pull you in. A wonderful read.

Thank you Karen White and NetGalley for the chance to indulge in this read!

I picture Precious holding court to her family and friends while sharing the history of her life. I can hear how she tells the stories she wants to share and keeps the secrets that she feels she must. As the story continued, I knew there was more to Precious’ life than it appeared. She lived a life many dream about by being a fashion model in London but has also seen and lived through so many troubling times.

The twists and turns of Maddie and Colin’s friendship was unique. Maddie had a different outlook on relationships and did not want to let people get to close her while Colin realized how special Maddie was. I liked that it had a history, a current time, and hopefully a future to look forward to.

400+pages of amazing history, wonderful characters, and an amazing story.

The Last Night in London is an enthralling story about the bonds of friendship, the wonder of falling in love and the often painful experience of holding on to hope in the midst of unexpected hardship.

It begins with an exhibit. Ninety-nine-year-old Precious Dubose had been a model for decades and kept many of the fashions she had worn. When the Design Museum in London, the city where she has lived for most of her life, decides to do a presentation of 1940s fashion, Precious donates her wardrobe from that time period. Her honorary granddaughter Arabella is helping to catalog and prepare Precious’ collection for the display and as a magazine editor, sees an opportunity for a fascinating story in the elegant garments of that bygone era and the woman who’d worn them. Precious modeled in London and Paris during WWII, working for the likes of Coco Channel and Madame Lushtak; she’d danced at underground clubs during the Blitz and dined with Nazi officers during the occupation of France. An article about Precious would capture not just the hardships and turmoil of those years but the stylish beauty and magnificence of the era’s haute couture. And Arabella knows just the woman to write that feature.

Maddie Warner – who was at Oxford with Arabella – is currently a journalist but had also trained as a photographer and is a fourth cousin to Precious. The family connection will hopefully soothe Precious’ anxiety/reluctance to speak of the past, and having just one person write and take pictures will mean fewer people traipsing through the nonagenarian’s home. Maddie is  happy to come to London and interview this living legend, but is far less pleased when she learns she will be sharing an apartment not only with Precious but also Colin Eliot, Arabella’s cousin and the bane of Maddie’s university years.  As she tells Arabella, “Colin is the kind of guy a girl could really fall for. In a permanent way.” And Maddie feels she has just cause to insist on being with people who are only into temporary relationships; men who live in the here and now and never talk about the future. Colin is also less than pleased at the realization that the woman who’d spent years rebuffing and rejecting his advances will be sharing his home but reluctantly agrees to play nice for Precious’ sake.

Maddie and Colin plan to keep their distance from each other but that quickly becomes impossible as they find themselves caught up in investigating the details of Precious’ past. It’s a history deeply entwined with Precious’ 1940s flat mate, another gorgeous blonde model named Eva Harlow, whose large friendship circle had incorporated such disparate characters as the wealthy Alexander Groff and makeup artist/Czechoslovakian refugee Anton Danek - and whose lover, Graham St. John, a Royal Airforce Pilot with aristocratic lineage, had been close to Precious as well.  It doesn’t take long for Maddie and Colin to realize the tale they’ve stumbled upon is far more complex than they had first thought – and to understand that finding answers to their questions will affect both their lives forever.

This book is written in a dual timeline format with the far more interesting story being told in the WWII portions of the narrative. While Precious, Maddie and Colin are the focal points of the contemporary piece, it is Eva who stars in the historical segment. And that’s a good thing, since Eva is easily the most likable of all the female leads in the tale. Raised by a drunken father who wound up in prison, and a downtrodden mother who’d had all her dreams beaten out of her, Eva is a master of reinvention. She has a knack for mimicking behavior and accents, and as a model at an exclusive fashion house, is exposed to people from all walks of life, and quickly learns how to pass herself off as a genteel young woman of good breeding who has fallen on hard times. Her skill at deception comes with a heavy price tag, however. Not only can she not be sure of what Graham will do once he learns the truth, she finds herself being blackmailed into unscrupulous behavior when a dangerous man figures out her secret.

Eva makes some poor choices as a result of her difficult situation, but I loved how strong, resilient and clever she is. Ultimately, she does all the right things and is definitely a heroine worth rooting for.

Precious is a side note in her own past. A transplanted Southern Belle in the rarefied air of European high fashion, she often seems to be nothing more than a frightened little girl playing dress-up. As the story progressed, I became more and more intrigued as to how Precious would go from being a wallflower to the belle of the ball she became in her later years - and the formidable woman Maddie is interviewing.

Maddie was the hardest of the characters for me to connect with.  That’s understandable since she’s described as working very hard to keep people at a distance. The text alludes to a deep, secret reason for that, but I had guessed what it was within the first couple of chapters, and I think most other readers will, too. While I could understand Maddie’s reserved nature given her circumstances, that intellectual acknowledgment of her difficulties didn’t translate into the kind of emotional bond I think the author intended me to have with her. I found myself frustrated by her unwillingness to fully live because she had fears based on past events, and the effect those would have on her future. As a result, I wasn’t delighted by her inevitable romance with Colin. The relationship seems to be based almost entirely on mutual attraction and his willingness to deal with her anxieties and difficulties.

Graham and Eva fall in love with all the romantic trappings one could wish for, but their love story is strained by Eva’s lies and then takes a dark turn at the end which is very bittersweet.

Much is made in the text of how Colin looks a great deal like Graham St. John, and he proves to be similar in temperament as well. Both men are kind, dependable, gracious, brave, loving – they are near perfect heroes who work well as a foil for our heroines.

Among the quibbles I had with the tale was that a great deal of emphasis is placed on an idealized image of “charming” Southern heritage. Both Precious and Maddie hail from the South and Maddie has a tendency to talk about this a great deal and use grating phrases like “I could eat the north end of a southbound polecat” or “Is a frog’s butt watertight?” to emphasize whatever point she is making.  I found those little colloquialisms and the regional romanticizing to be grating rather than endearing.

The Last Night in London is an intriguing look at survival, forgiveness, and love amongst the war-time generation. While the weak romances and nostalgic representation of the American South keep it from DIK status, I would still recommend it to any fan of dual timeline novels and lovers of WWII fiction.

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This was a lovely read. I have always loved Karen White's southern books and though this was a deviation from her normal books and this one was just as great. This story was told in multiple POV's and it was very well done. I liked each of the POV's and how they wove seamlessly together. I loved the characters and the plot. The writing was fantastic and I was sad for it to end.

From my blog: Always With a Book:

I'm a fan of Karen White's writing, especially when she partners with Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. I haven't read too many of the books she's written by herself, though the ones I have read I did enjoy. And once I saw this book, it definitely became an anticipated read...and it absolutely delivers in every way!

Historical fiction has become my favorite type of read lately. There have just been so many fantastic books released in this genre this year and this book is definitely one of them. I was so lucky to have gotten a copy and once I started reading it, I really had a hard time putting it down. I'm such a fan of the dual timeline and both timeframes equally captured my interest here. Sometimes I find I'm more drawn to one over the over but that was definitely not the case here.

Starting with a very intriguing prologue that sets up a little bit of a mystery, this book just keeps dropping little hints and insinuating that our characters have some pretty hefty secrets that need to be revealed. I love books that involve secrets - it's always so interesting finding out why something was held back and how it ends up being discovered and what the ramifications will be.

The characters in both timelines really come to life in the story and I had such a hard time walking away from them in the end. This was definitely a story where I wanted to get to the end to find out all the secrets and how it all comes together, but at the same time, I also wanted to savor every last second with this story and the characters.

Historical mysteries are becoming my favorite sub-genre and this one easily fits into this category. But it's not just that. It's also a story about strong women. It's about redemption and reinvention. This book is definitely not one to be missed.

There have been so many books coming out this week! One of my most anticipated was The Last Night in London by Karen White. I finished this last night and can 100% say that I was totally captivated by the story, the characters, the history. All of it!

Told in dual timelines, the past and present are woven together perfectly in a way that bind these women together forever. The characters face so much and I felt all of the emotions with them - joy, love, heartbreak, fear. I was so interested in the history behind this story. I loved getting a glimpse into the fashion world in London during the war, but you see so much more than that. This story really had a little bit of everything. It had beautiful friendships, some mystery, romance, and an overall theme of being true to yourself.

I feel like every good historical fiction book grips you at the end. I knew that I loved this book, but the ending and how effortlessly everything comes together really solidified it for me.

Thank you so much to @uplitreads and @karenwhitewrite for the #gifted copy! This was published yesterday, so get your hands on a copy asap!

This dual timeline novel follows Maddie in 2019 as she interviews Precious Dubose about her time as a fashion model in London before the Blitz. Maddie is not willing to allow anyone to get close to her so as not to inflict the same trauma as she experienced when she lost her mother at a young age. While in London, she tries to find Precious’ friend and fellow model, Eva Harlow.

In 1939, we find out how Precious and Eva reinvent themselves before the war. They flirt with high society which is a huge change from their upbringings.

This is my first Karen White novel but certainly won’t be my last. I’m so excited to dig in to her extensive backlist. If you have enjoyed Susan Meissner’s books, you will love Karen White!

Thank you to @uplitreads and @berkleypub for the ARC and finished copy of this book.

I am a Karen White fan, especially of her Tradd St series so when I saw this was a historical novel with WWII as part of the backdrop- I was hesitant. This is not generally her style. I was not disappointed however. Part of White’s charm are her quirky characters which she was able to inject into a serious novel. The book switches from Madison, a Southern writer in London helping her old college friend Arabella with a project about WWII fashion to the past and the story of Eve and Precious. They were two models in London/Paris during the war. Maddie is there to interview Precious who is about to turn 100 and is distant kin to Maddie as well as a family friend to Arabella. The story is filled with intrigue from the war and romance in the present as Maddie tries to find out what happened to Eve with help from an old college crush. I was really engaged by this book and couldn’t wait to figure out the twists ! Definitely will recommend. Thank you Netgalley for the arc.

Karen White delivers a richly emotional, absorbing story about two women, members of the Greatest Generation, whose lives and futures were forever changed by ambition, friendship, war, and betrayal.

The story opens in February 1939. Eva and Precious share a small flat and work as models for Madame Lushtak, whose wealthy clientele are able to afford designer gowns to wear to their society affairs. Eva adores beautiful things and aspires to live the kind of life Madame Lushtak's customers lead, accepting damaged clothing and cosmetics from their kind makeup artist, Mr. Danek, who is originally from a small Czechoslovakian town near Prague. Eva works diligently to modify her accent and never give away the truth about her background. She is the daughter of an illiterate laundress in Muker. Eva's father, an abusive drunk, was eventually incarcerated and Eva sends money to her mother every week. Indeed, Eva is not her real name, but one she adopted because it sounded more sophisticated than Ethel.

The course of Eva's is set the day she and Precious model gowns for Sophia St. John and her mother. Sophie is engaged to David Eliot, and her brother, Graham, accompanies the women to the showroom. A few days later when Graham and Eva meet again on the street and recognize each other, their relationship begins. She concocts a story about her upbringing, confident that if Graham knew the truth about her family, he would never be interested in her -- and his family would shun her. Soon she is re-introduced to Sophie, along with David and his old friend from school, Alexander Grof. Eva is immediately unsettled by the way he looks at her with his piercing gray eyes that seem to see right through her. "He was an attractive, magnetic man, but he was like the luscious red apple hanging from the tree, beautiful to look at, possibly poisonous if eaten." She has no way of knowing at that moment that he will play a prominent role in her life.

White relates that the friendship of Eva and Precious, which is the centerpiece of The Last Night in London, was inspired by her relationship with her own best friend. The two met in London when they were sixteen-year-old juniors in high school and remain best pals. She fashioned the relationship of Eva and Precious after their personalities and interactions, explaining that while her friend is "very calm, I can be very dramatic and excitable. We fit together nicely, complimenting each other’s personalities,. . ." Precious likewise tries to keep Eva grounded when her fanciful and lofty dreams threaten to carry her too far from reality. But she is happy for Eva when she meets Graham.

The story was also inspired by readers clamoring for the completion of Maddie Warner’s story. Maddie was a teenager when she appeared in two of White's previous novels. Their urging dovetailed with White's desire to craft a story featuring an American living in London. So in a separate first-person narrative, commencing in May 2019, Maddie, now a journalist living in New York City, arrives in London to work with her long-time friend Arabella to interview Precious, sort through her collection of vintage clothing and select pieces for an exhibit on 1940s fashion at the Design Museum, and write an article. Maddie quickly realizes that although physically frail, Precious's memories are intact . . . and punctuated by grief. Precious instantly recognizes that she and Maddie have a great deal in common, asking Maddie if she lost someone she loved and observing, "Whoever said time heals all wounds is a liar. Grief is like a ghost, isn't it? Haunting our reflections."

White deftly alternates the narratives, detailing the experiences of Eva and Precious as England inches closer to a declaration of war on Germany, while, in 2019, Maddie is assisted by Arabella and Colin in her quest to learn the fates of Eva and Graham. Precious maintains only that she lost touch with them. "It was the war, you see. So easy to lose touch with friends." And she is not forthcoming with details about what happened to her and her friends during those fraught days before they were finally separated from each other, cryptically observing that "just because a person is lost doesn't mean they want to be found." Maddie ponders whether Precious has actually been waiting to be set free of her ghosts while there's still time, even as the ghost of her own mother's demise and memory have fueled the decisions she has made about her own life.

Eva learns that first impressions are usually accurate and one can never fully escape their past as, largely due to her naivete, she is involuntarily entangled in a dangerous web of espionage, deceit, and despair. As White reveals the pre-War developments, she injects clues that inform the modern-day search for the truth, cleverly linking the storylines and compelling both forward and sparking readers' interest in their resolution. Of course, it wouldn't be a Karen White novel without romance, and she compassionately reveals Maddie's inner torment as her attraction to Colin grows. Maddie decided long ago not to risk a long-term, committed relationship because she believes she knows how her own story will play out. But she finds it increasingly difficult to deny her deepening feelings for Colin. Meanwhile, her Aunt Cassie constantly calls and texts, seeking updates about Maddie's romantic life and insisting that she come home to Georgia to attend her sister's wedding. Their exchanges are frequently hilarious and relatable.

White says she hopes readers of The Last Night in London will gain "a new awareness of the sacrifices and bravery of ordinary people who would not surrender even during a time of great strife." The story of Eva, Precious, and Graham is heartbreaking and haunting, populated by a cast of supporting characters who are equally fascinating and play important roles in plot developments. Readers may figure out the tale's biggest twist quickly, but that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of discovering how expertly White has constructed a complicated story set in two different time periods.

White has many devoted fans and, for them, The Last Night in London will not disappoint. But she will undoubtedly garner new readers, as well, because of the masterful and captivating way she relates a story of friendship, sacrifice, selflessness, betrayal, grief, and, ultimately, love. And illustrates that, in order to reinvent oneself, it is only necessary to believe we are worthy of love.

London 1939, Eva and her American friend Precious are trying to become fashion models. Eva falls in love with a Royal Air Force pilot. Then the Blitz comes and she gets involved with spies and secrets. In 2019, Maddie travels to talk to Precious and learns about her past. Friendship, kindness and love.

Thank you Uplit Reads and Berkley for the gifted copy.

Karen White, WW2, dual timelines/POV...what more could I ask for in a book? The dual timelines and POVs sucked me in immediately, and I found myself wrapped up in both Maddie and Eva’s stories. I started putting pieces together, and as always, the author wove together a seamless ending with beautiful writing.

This book deviated from her normal southern fiction genre, but it goes to show that this author can write anything. I loved the details about the fashion of the time, and all of the little bits about the Savoy, the fashion industry, and even the Blitz. I liked how it was focused on WW2 but took a different approach. Reading about Maddie fitting all of the pieces of Precious' life together and solving the mystery of Eva and Graham was Karen White at her best.

One of my favorite types of historical fictions to read is when there is a historical storyline and a current storyline and they will weave in and out of each other throughout the book. In this book, both take place in London, one in 1939 where Precious Dubose and her best friend Eva Harlow are trying to make it with the impending threat of a war and the other is in 2019 as Maddie Warner has traveled to interview Precious about the fashion that happened before and during the war and she gets much more than a story about fashion.

This book has quite the cast of characters because of the two timelines and they overlap a bit, but this was one of those books that I definitely took notes so I could make sure I knew who was who and major defining characteristics of each. Without spoiling, it was good to have notes when the characters started partaking in nefarious activities and I wanted to keep alliances and enemies straight!

This was one of those books that I would recommend to people who don't tend to read historical fiction often as the present storyline infuses some moments where the reader can get into present day shoes and enjoy them for a minute. There were some great twists and turns throughout the book that kept the book pacing moving and moving, so this book read quick and easy and I loved that!

Karen White writes broadly so I love that she can write some straight women's fiction, but can also do historical fiction with the same great women characters just in a different moment in time!

One of my favorite books for sure - I am always in awe at authors who master dual timelines and multiple characters. There’s so much intricacies to this story - you may guess parts of the plot, but I doubt you will guess it all!

This book tells a masterful story of reinvention and allowing second chances in this multigenerational family. It’s a puzzle that wraps up so well in the end, and the characters are all well-rounded and lovable.

It tells a different side of WW2 you likely haven’t read before, so don’t let that deter you from the story.

If you enjoyed “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” you’ll find this story is similar in style and ends masterfully just like TJR did!

This was such an amazing dual timeline, historical mystery read! As soon as I started this book, I knew I was going to love it. Karen White is one of my auto buy authors, and I was so excited to have the chance to read her newest book early!

The first half of the story is a little on the slower side, just setting you up for the story. By the halfway mark it really starts to pick up. By the point, you won’t want to put it down. I became so invested in the characters and I was so curious to see how the book was going to play out. I had my own ideas of what might happen, and I was completely wrong. This book touches on so much, friendship, grief, family, betrayals, and so much more. I loved the characters in this book and the dual timeline. If you’re a fan of historical fiction books, I highly recommend checking this one out!

I do enjoy this author very much. Overall I really enjoyed the story. However I did feel at times that it was a bit slow moving. But that tends to be with books about this time period.

So you have two different timelines and to narrators. The first timeline is 1940s world war two and the second is 2019. Precious is a clothing fashion model in the 1940’s and beyond. In 2019 she is 99 years old and does not have much life left. So one of her distant relatives comes to England to help write a piece about her. About her life in high society and fashion. However they didn’t know the turns it would take one uncovering ones past.

You will fall in love with the characters of this book. Thank you for this gifted copy!!

I enjoy WWII historical novels, and especially the current trend of weaving together characters from one era to another and highlighting events from the past that have influenced the present. The Last Night in London is an outstanding addition to this group of novels.

The book opens in March 1941 with an unidentified woman trying to get an infant to safety in war-torn London. It then jumps to May 2019 London and a trio of friends who went to college together. The initial link between past and present is that Maddie Warner, an American journalist, is going to interview her previously unknown distant relative 99-year old Precious Dubose about her and her best friend Eva Harlow’s experiences as fashion models in London during the war.

As the story unfolds and Precious starts to tell her story, Maddie becomes more and more intrigued to learn what happened to Eva and her love Graham St. John after the war, and as a reader I wanted to know the significance of that baby in the prologue. I had a niggling sense there was something more to the story, something that Precious wasn’t sharing.

Author Karen White has populated this story with fascinating characters in both time periods. Maggie, Arabella and Colin were great friend in college, but are not as close these days. Maggie keeps on the move; she has a breast cancer gene that took both her mother and grandmother and feels doomed so settling down is not an option for her. She and Colin could have been close but she is not about to have relationships so shut that door in college. This magazine assignment from Arabella appeals to her but she intends to be on the move again as soon as it is completed. Neither Colin, who is a surrogate nephew to Precious, nor Maddie expected to see the other and tension is high. Colin is solemn, somber and cranky. Maddie is thrown off balance seeing him again, but remember – no relationships even if there is definitely something going on there.

It seems like Precious will be a terrific heroine for the article – came to London to model, stayed during the war, worked with the resistance in France. But again, it just feels like there’s more to that story. As for Eva, well, she’s hard to like. She reminded me of daughter Veda in the book and movie Mildred Pierce: grasping, greedy, ashamed of her roots. Selfish, shallow, thoughtless, careless. She an ignorant liar, unable to control the greed, the coveting, whatever the cost to others. And while you can understand and perhaps sympathize with her desire to improve her circumstances, to escape the poverty of her childhood, it is just not possible to like or feel sorry for her. She’s cunning in her ability to move upward, but she’s not really all that bright, which is what puts her in terrible danger – and what at last makes her seem very human and relatable. She wants what she hasn’t had, and doesn’t want to give it up once she has it. Not your typical wartime heroine, but oh so real. What happened to her after the war? Author White paints a vivid picture of the time and the contrast between the privileged in society, with their luxurious bomb shelters and exciting nightlife that continued as if there was no war, to those suffering and struggling like Eva in her “old” life.

In the present day, the conflict – and caring – between Maddie and Colin and Maddie’s identification with Precious and the grief she has endured is excellently portrayed. These are flawed, human people who make you care what happened to them in the past and what will happen to them in the future. It’s a compelling story with a good dose of history thrown in.

Thanks to Penguin Random House for providing an advance copy of The Last Night in London via NetGalley for my reading pleasure and honest review. I was drawn in from the first chapter and kept engaged by the smooth plot, deep, rich characters, romance, danger and real-life worries about life and love and especially the suspense about what Precious was still hiding and how all these characters and events could be connected. All opinions are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend with without hesitation.

Combine history and mystery with a dash of romance and fashion and you have Karen White’s best book to date – The Last Night in London. Catching up with favorite characters from White’s past books is such a welcome treat, but reading those books is not a prerequisite to be drawn into the page-turning story of The Last Night in London.
If you have enjoyed previous books by the author, you will be thrilled with The Last Night in London. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Karen White is a new to me author and I picked this book up off a Net galley email because the blurb sounded interesting. I was not disappointed!

Told in dual timelines (1939/2019) The Last Night in London reminds me slightly of Rebecca Yarros’s Things We Leave Unfinished. The stories here are vastly different, so if you enjoyed Yarros’ work, this would be worth your time as well.

The 1939 storyline focuses of Precious and Eva as they make their way in the modeling world of pre WWII London. We see them scraping together a life and forging their path into higher society. These are interesting characters and I enjoyed seeing their story unfold both in real time and the through the eyes of 2019 family/friends. We see romance, intrigue, and so much more against a backdrop most of us can’t imagine.

The 2019 story focus on Madison and Colin as they work with Precious to unravel a mystery. I enjoyed seeing the Madison/Precious interactions, but felt like there were times when the author showed her hand a bit as to where the story was going. As a reader, it was fun to find out I was right!

Both timelines have an emotional impact and share important life lessons if the reader is open to finding them. Ms White is definitely a reader I will be looking to read more from in the future.

It was like pulling teeth getting myself to finish this book. I had such a hard time connecting to the characters, the storylines, and this time in history (which is weird because I love WWll). It was such a long book and I just don't believe enough happened to justify its length. I called the twist long before the end and I really wasn't that surprised by it. I was basically skimming pages throughout the whole novel and I was still able to understand what was going on which is a red flag to me in itself.

I don't know. This book just wasn't for me. That doesn't mean it won't be for you. This cover is absolutely stunning, though!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Pub for the #gifted copy