It was interesting to see how the author brought all the characters together. Thank you to NetGalkey and the publisher for the early read.

I was delighted to get the opportunity to review The Girl Who Dared To Dream as I love Disney Costeloe book and I was not disappointed! I adored this book and I read it over the course of one day!

Mabel has dreams of going to school to become a secretary in London a few years before WWI breaks out. Due to an accident that impacts her father’s ability to provide for his family, she instead must take a service job in order to contribute to her family’s income. Avoiding the advances of her employer’s son, the ire of the more senior service workers, and the worry of her parents and the new life they are leading, Mabel tries her best to accept her circumstances for what they are. Then she is accused of a crime and her luck turns.

Mabel’s family has a series of misfortunes during the course of the book. Readers who have faced a streak of unfortunate challenges will sympathize with what they are going through just to provide a meal and home for the family. Educations and apprenticeships are sacrificed because during the 1910s this cost families money that Mabel’s family simply didn’t have as a result of losing the decent income her father had before his accident.

Mabel is a young woman who doesn’t give up on herself or her dreams. I found not only her spiritual strength, but mental and emotional strength enlightening. When you look at the obstacles that ere thrown at her in a short time, you truly appreciate the strong female character that she is. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own.

#netgalley #arc #dineycosteloe #thegirlwhodaredtodream #ariafiction #ariesfictionbooks

This book was sent to me by Netgalley for review…thanks to the publisher for an electronic copy. Starting anew…family and friends…historical fiction…this author is talented at weaving a cannot put down story…enjoy…it does move slowly at times but is a great book…

Very honored to receive a chance to review this book. Full review to follow here and on blog. So interesting to read a historical themed book that focuses on pre ww1 life, I can’t wait to read about the diverse cast of characters and to especially read Mabel’s journey.


The captivating new novel from Diney Costeloe, bestselling author of The Throwaway Children and The Girl With No Name.

London, 1912.

It is two years before the outbreak of World War 1, and the Oakley family are typical of their time. Andrew has been clerk at a City solicitors for twenty years. Alice, his wife, keeps the home fires burning. Their sons plan on becoming skilled apprentices. And Mabel, their daughter, says she would rather die than go into domestic service like her cousin. She is going to go to train as a secretary.

Andrew Oakley little imagines, as he sets off for work one February morning, that their lives are about to change in the most dramatic and tragic fashion. In one fateful instant the family dreams are crushed. And Mabel will have to swallow her pride to take that position as in-between maid after all. It is every bit as unpleasant as she expected. But help is going to come from a quite unexpected direction and bring her dreams to life again.

Brilliant storytelling, wonderful characters, here is everything we have come to love about a Diney Costeloe novel.