I whole heartily enjoyed this book! This author made me feel like I was right there I adore historical fiction and this one is on the top of that list! If you have this on your self pick it up!

This is a very detailed story told in two timelines. This book is well written.
The characters are well developed.
I enjoyed this book a lot

I love historical fiction, especially the stories of women that have not been told. This was no exception. I was enthralled by the story of Joyce and the two periods of her life. I cannot imagine plotting points of destruction on a map only to be plotting your own neighborhood. Her resilience was amazing.

The Woman with the Map is story told in dual timeline, the past thread centers around WW2 London as our protagonist, Joyce Cooper, is tasked with plotting the devastation that ensues in the wake of the blitz. The present day thread takes place in 1974. What sets this dual storyline novel apart from others I’ve read is that both storylines follow the protagonist, Joyce Cooper and her life events from both time periods and the affect her past experiences had on who she became in the future. The author successfully stitches together the threads from the two equally compelling plot-lines, taking the reader on a journey through one woman’s life that will truly touch your heart.

I highly recommend this emotion and compelling historical fiction novel for fans of Pam Jenoff, Fiona Valpy and Diney Costeloe.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

Anybody who knows me well, knows that not only am I a book geek but I am also a history nerd, with a particular interest in the Second World War. I also love discovering new authors. I read the synopsis of ‘The Woman With The Map’ and it certainly sounded like just my kind of read. I was spot on too because I really enjoyed reading ‘The Woman With The Map’ but more about that in a bit.
I have to be honest and say that it took me a little while to get into this book, which has probably more to do with the fact that I was tired when I started to read and finding it hard to concentrate and should not be taken as a criticism of the book itself. Once I got into the story then that was it and I was away as the saying goes. I wasn’t able to read the book over the course of a day but I managed to binge read the book over the space of three or four days. I would become so wrapped up in the story of Joyce Cooper’s life that I would lost all track of time and just how quickly I was getting through the story. All too quickly I reached the end of the story and I had to say goodbye to Joyce. I found ‘The Woman With The Map’ to be an intriguing and emotional read, which kept me guessing and which kept me on the edge of my seat.
‘The Woman With The Map’ is well written. Jan has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. The story is told using two timelines – one timeline narrates Joyce’s story as it was during the Second World War and the other timeline describes life for Joyce in the 1970s as she faces eviction from her safe haven, her flat. The timelines interlink and the story flows seamlessly as a result. Jan clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. Jan has clearly done a lot of research into the Second World War period and this shines through and makes the story seem that bit more authentic. Whilst reading this book, I felt a bit like I was on an emotional rollercoaster as I shared the feelings that Joyce was going through. I love the way in which Jan makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action.
In short and overall I did enjoy reading ‘The Woman With The Map’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Jan’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

Firstly I love the front cover. It really drew me in to want to read this novel by Jan Casey. Based in 1941 London and in the time of 1974, read about how Joyce stood up to what was needed in the war and how she deals with a forced move many years later
A truly emotional read and I couldn't put it down.
Thanks to#NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

There are two versions of Joyce in this story: stoic and determined to survive the Second World War; in the 1970s, she has retreated from the world in order to protect herself. It is Joyce’s experience of the war that allows readers to understand how Joyce has altered to become the woman we see in the more modern narrative.

This is a very detailed story and I was fascinated by the concept of marking bomb sites on a large map. It’s not something I knew anything about and the way that Casey describes it all was so interesting and vivid, it is clear that the writer has done their research. It sounds like an involved job with meticulous attention to detail whilst the world is falling apart around you.

One thing I don’t think I was prepared for was how long Casey’s chapters are. The more modern narrative, alternating with the 1940s, are shorter chapters and I found these sections to be the least interesting to start with. Switching back to the war, these sections took a long time to get through; I was grateful for then narrative breaks that were interspersed throughout these sections. However, the more I read of this book, the more I found 1970s Joyce to be appealing and I think this is because I had an even greater understanding of what happened to her during the war.

As I read the book, I gradually became aware of the significance of the chapter titles. I could not foresee how Casey would develop the story and the amount of tragedy that surrounds Joyce is devastating. At the same time, it is undoubtedly a reflection of what so many experienced during the Blitz and I could not even begin to imagine how Joyce pulls through. Yet, it also helped me understand why Joyce behaves the way she does after the war has ended.

The novel finishes on a welcome note of optimism in both timelines. Of course, the end of the war was met with jubilation and celebrations, which Joyce experiences on a very detached level. Therefore, for her, the victory is bittersweet because it marks a new period of her life. Consequently, the final chapter of the novel were particularly poignant for me because it showed that Joyce finally felt able to reinsert herself in life around her, rather than watching from the side lines. In my opinion, the ending reminded me of the youthful, hopeful Joyce that we meet at the beginning of the story.

I liked this book and the attention to detail that Casey provides. It was not a story I was expecting and it provided another, new insight into the experiences of living in London during the Blitz. The grit, determination and heart-ache surrounding Joyce and her companions became a symbol of survival during this time, which I think Casey expertly captures in this story.

With thanks to Aria fiction and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thought I had already reviewed this book but apparently had not. What a wonderful book...another one set in WWII London but a dual timeline with the setting also in the 1970s. While many books have dual timelines recently, this one seemed different. The same person was the main character in each time period and it focused solely on her life in the two time periods.

This book introduced me to the life of those in London who were out at night keeping track of air raids, bombs dropped and their location, damage done, people hurt or killed....It was something about which I had not really thought but the things these people saw had to be devastating. Obviously, the woman lived through the war but to see her life afterwards...how the young happy woman became someone else. And how do you not change after living through London during the worst of the bombings?

It has already been a book I recommended to others. What a good book it would be for different generations to read especially those who survived WWII in Europe and their children.

Also, as an educator, I would recommend this book for teachers to read excerpts when studying WWII and what life was like. I think the author told of the devastation of property and emotions well and in a way that was not too descriptive or too graphic. Personal relationships were also handled well. While it would not be a book to be read in a class, it is a wonderful resource for teachers and good for students who enjoy historic fiction.

I did receive this book early through #NetGalley and #AriaFiction.

The Woman with the Map takes place in London during WW2. It is a dual timeline, with both timelines following Joyce Cooper. Joyce was a bomb plotter during WW2 in London. She was tasked with marking the locations where bombs landed on a map. It was interesting to learn about life in London during the war.

Joyce’s experiences during the war were completely heartbreaking but yet there is still a feeling of hope. This one is a slow read and meant to be savored.

I loved this dual time-line. It was so different from the usual WW2 books as it dealt with the women who risked their lives during the blitz and worked through the night to help people and then went to their jobs during the day without having any sleep. Set in 1941 and 1974 this was such an interesting book and I was sad to finish it. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I am always filled with admiration, but also some nervousness when I begin a historical fiction book with a dual timeline. Though an engaging feature, it takes some talent and planning to ensure that the reader feels both timelines are engaging and worthy, without being able to express a clear preference.

I can confirm that I was easily lost in, and intrigued by, both timelines in this book and can see how they give the book more impact when deliverer together. This is a woman who faces homelessness, placelessness and devastation not once, but twice in her life. The themes and strength of character displayed by Joyce in both scenarios mean that the two timelines seamlessly and effortlessly link.

I was pulled into the story straight away and Jan’s emotional and poignant narrative ensured that I was able to feel a sense of place very early on, as well as the trepidation, dread and anxiety that she surely must have felt in both scenarios. There is no holding back when it comes to putting the reader in direct contact with the horrors and devastation of war. I have felt like I have gone on these tumultuous journeys with Joyce.

I thoroughly enjoyed this poignant and emotional read, and I will definitely be looking to read more by this author in future.

Jan Casey’s The Woman with the Map is a complex, immersing and fascinating historical novel of love, loss and courage.

It’s 1941 and the Second World War continues to rage on. Determined to do her bit for king and country, Joyce Cooper joined the Civil Defence where she works tirelessly to assist the people of Notting Hill as Hitler’s bombs relentlessly attack London night after night. With the Blitz continuing to wreak further havoc and destruction, Joyce is called upon to plot the devastation that follows in its wake. With her trusty map, Joyce watches the homes, buildings and businesses that she knows so well being obliterated by war.

Three decades later, Joyce lives in her basement flat where she is perfectly happy to watch the world go by from the safety of her home. Having suffered terrible pain and loss during the war, Joyce’s basement flat is her refuge and her salvation. She cannot imagine ever leaving her safe haven – until she discovers that the council plan to tear down her block of flats and are rehousing her. This unexpected turn of events is a cruel blow for Joyce, but will it provide her with the second chance she so desperately needs? Or will the loss of her beloved home prove to be the final straw for Joyce?

Brilliantly observed, powerfully written and wonderfully poignant, The Woman with the Map is an atmospheric and moving tale of a woman’s journey through life during the twentieth century that cannot fail to touch readers’ hearts. Jan Casey vividly evokes the periods she is writing about and in Joyce has created a brave, bold, flawed and believable heroine whom readers will take to their hearts.

Jan Casey’s The Woman with the Map is high quality historical fiction from a master storyteller.

Oh my goodness, did this book put me through the emotional wringer. I’ll freely admit to shedding tears at some points. Alternating between 1974 and the period of the Second World War, we gradually come to see why the devastating losses Joyce experienced during the war have made her the way she is, reluctant to get close to anyone for fear they may disappear from her life and preferring to live a solitary, self-contained existence following her established routines. Her little basement flat has become her sanctuary, the place that gives her a sense of stability. Gradually we come to understand just why it is such a wrench for her to leave it.

The details of Joyce’s wartime work, plotting the location of bombs dropped on London during the Blitz, was fascinating. I was struck by the contrast between the chaos in the streets above and the methodical operation of the Report and Control Centre with its forms, log books and detailed procedures that define the colour of pins to be used to denote the various levels of destruction and casualties, or the precise diameter of the circle to be drawn to identify V1 rockets.

It was impossible to read the descriptions of the horrific damage and loss of life inflicted on London (and other cities) by German bombing raids without thinking of the atrocities being committed in Ukraine at the moment. As the war continues, Joyce’s experiences reflect those of many Londoners during the Blitz – never knowing whether this moment might be your last, homes damaged beyond repair, people desperately scrabbling in the rubble of bombed-out buildings, finding yourself left with just the clothes you stand up in and reliant upon the kindness of strangers, loved ones injured or literally blown to oblivion. And it never stops, for year after year. ‘Everyone was hungry; everyone was cold. They all had spots or skin the colour of the pall of smoke that hung over the city and stomach upsets and earaches and missing fingers and swollen joints…’ Although there are snatched moments of happiness they prove transitory. And, just when you think it can’t get any worse for Joyce, it does. (The chapter headings become positively chilling.)

I fell in love with Joyce and if she were my neighbour I’d want to give her a big hug and join her in a cup of tea and a vanilla slice. Taking the first tentative steps to remove the protective barrier she has built around her takes courage and Joyce proves once again, as she did during the war, that she has it in spades.

The Woman with the Map is one of the most moving books I’ve read for a long time. The parallels with events in Ukraine make it especially poignant and chillingly prophetic. Attending the celebrations at the end of the war, Joyce listens to Winston Churchill proclaiming that in years to come whenever people had their freedom threatened they would look back at the ‘stubborn determination and stoic endurance’ of the British people and say, like them, that they would rather die than be conquered’.

The Woman with the Map brought history alive for me through the eyes of Joyce, a young woman studying accounting at the beginning of WW11. She is chosen to continuously update a map in a giant map showing the damage done to Notting Hill during the blitz raids. Her enthusiasm and energy flew off the pages as I raced through her story.
Interspersed throughout this are chapters from 1974 from an embittered lonely Joyce who has lost almost everything. She endured so very many losses throughout the never ending war.
She stole my heart as she had to overcome each loss - her family - one by one, her love, her dreams, and her numerous homes. This read clearly depicted the daily lives of people living in Notting Hill during the war. I cannot imagine continuously losing everything you own as well as your house so many times. She remained stoic and continued to do her job, which was fascinating to me.
The ending gave me hope that a new life is right around the corner for Joyce.
Many many thanks to Jan Casey, Aria Fiction, and NetGalley for affording me the opportunity to read an arc of this just published gem.

I have one purpose when I read World War 2 historical fiction. I want to know what my relatives went through in order to survive. I want to know what it was like as doodlebugs buzzed overhead. I want to know what it is like to look up and see a Jerry parachuting into the neighborhood. I want to understand their struggles, their determination. The Woman with the Map has given me so many details. I think I am finally beginning to understand why some people are the way they are.

I can't say I enjoyed reading about the V-1 or V-2 and other bombs. What happened was devastating. I do appreciate the insight to what it was like. Reading about the bombs in history books does not describe the devastation that occurred.

The devastating amount of loss gutted me. I can't begin to imagine what it was like to slowly loose all your family members in bombing raids. The survivors would move to a new place only to be blown up again. The sense of hopelessness my have been intense.

The author takes the reader through the struggles of living in war torn London. The reader gets a glimpse of trying to find some sort of normal, trying to find love only to have it taken away. The reader begins to realize that there was no such thing as 9-5. The office of Report and Control had an important job, but I never realized how closely they could be affected.

Years later, survivors are still affected even if they don't realize it. The author was brilliant in weaving the life of Joyce in WW2 with the life of Joyce in 1974. Survivors guilt is a horrible thing. The author made me think. The author had me wanting to know more. What more could I ask of a historical fiction.

There are few authors who can bring the past to life so compellingly... Brilliant writing and more importantly, riveting reading. This was a brilliant read. Set aside plenty of time to read in without a workday.

The book opens with Joyce in 1974 receiving urgent mail. She makes a comment that they don't know what urgent means. This sets the tone for the rest of the book and her experiences in 1941. Most of the book is from 1941, and to me that was the most interesting part. As a plotter, Joyce marked the locations of bombs during the Blitz. I can't imagine what that would have been like. The autor does a great job showing us the emotion Joyce feels. This is a little different type of historical fiction novel. It focuses on Joyce in London and does not bring in the outside war.

This is a fascinating book. I've read many WWII historical fiction books and love when I can find a story that is new to me. I had no idea plotters was a job. I also enjoyed Joyce after the war ended and her return to her pre-war life. It is not something included in many WWII historical fiction novels but it is something everyone in a war has to do. They need to return to normal life.

I did not like this book as much as other historical fiction books. I loved the storyline but struggled to stay interested in the writing at times.

Told in dual time line, this is the story of Joyce, who spent WWII as part of the Civil Defense force- and mapped the locations of deaths from German bombing. Now, in 1974', she's forced to leave the flat where she's lived all the years since- a huge upheaval. This is emotional in so many ways, made all the more so by current events which actually made this hard for me to read in any detached way. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of historical fiction,.

The Woman with the Map is a dual storyline novel that lingers in your mind a long time after you finish reading it and that is due to the frustration and sadness that the main character evokes in the reader.
The first storyline is set during the Second World War in London. Joyce is a young woman working as a warden and later in the offices of the ARP where her organizing skills lend her a job mapping all the bombings and destructions in her area of the city.
The second parallel storyline is set in the 70s and now we see an older Joyce totally alone, living in an old apartment and being evicted by the council that send a friendly officer to try and persuade her to accept a new apartment.
This second storyline makes you realise from the beginning that things are not going to end well with Joyce and it permeates the all story with a pending doom that honestly made the book harder to read at least for me.
The details and writing are impeccable and it captures the spirit of the time but the story is truly brutal and not for the faint of heart.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader copy of this book.

The Woman with the Map started off really strong and engaging. Joyce was a likable character, thrust into WWII in England and supporting her mother and various family members. She's pragmatic, a hard worker, and navigating a world where there is no certainty. The overall plot is good. The characters are charming. The banter between the family members paint a picture of what England was during the constant aerial bombardments of the Nazis. Great job creating connections between a tragic history and characters. However, what made me crawl to finish this was all the death. It almost became comedic and flippant- oh, there's another one gone. A brief interaction between Joyce and a person on the street? Next chapter they'll become friends and then that person- dead. Building the depth of the relationships of a few and really highlighting the impact of those losses would have been better than systematically checking off each person in Joyce's life as dead. Great start, loses steam, and then the little redemption at the end? It's not believable.