I love Julia Kelly's readable style and obvious research. The complicated relationships and the very real challenges of relationships rattled by war are at the heart of this thoughtful, superbly executed tale.

A treat to read and destined to appeal to new fans of Kelly's as well as those, like me, who have followed her since her debut.


If you love Kristin Harmel and Patti Callahan Henry you will love this book.

I love Julia Kelly's writing! She fully captured my attention with this stunning story!

Viv Byrne comes from a strict Catholic Family. She meets Joshua Levinson one night at a dance in Liverpool, England. He's an aspiring Jazz musician and it's Pre-WW II. One night they get carried away and Viv finds herself pregnant. They get married but little does Viv know that her wedding day will be the last time she will see her groom in a very long time. Viv is determined to raise her daughter on her own (while still living at her parents house.) WW II strikes and children are being evacuated from the big cities in England to the safer parts of the countryside. Viv's daughter, Maggie is only 4 years old and the local Parish Priest makes private plans to find Maggie a foster family. Viv is devastated to send her daughter away. Will they ever reunite?

There's so many parts to this story and it's beautifully written. The story is told in alternating parts. One is Joshua and Viv's meeting and the time they spend together before she gets pregnant. Then it jumps to the War years and Viv and Maggie's story as well as Joshua's story. I was fully invested from start to finish. I enjoyed the Author's notes on her own family history and how that inspired the story.

This is a WW II story that is not all about the hardships of war but also the hardships of family dynamics. I can safely say that I did not care for Viv's Mother at all and to some extent Joshua (although he did redeem himself!)

I'd like to kindly thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for granting me access to this Advance Reader Copy.

Available from March 7, 2023 and onwards

I am unable to read this book on the NetGalley shelf app due to the font size. I would like to thank you for the copy but I could not read it.

Read if you like: WW2 fiction
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Viv and Joshua find themselves expecting a baby, which is a problem because Viv is Catholic and Joshua is Jewish. A snap decision changes their lives. Five years later, WW2 forces them to make more difficult decisions.
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I loved this book. I appreciated the research that went into his book and the story itself. I enjoyed Viv and thought she was a great protagonist who has to make some tough decisions. Overall a good WW2 story!
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Thank you Simon and Schuster Canada for the gifted copy of this book.

Another amazingly emotional WWII historical fiction novel that follows the lives of an interfaith couple as they're torn apart by their families and the war and have to face the absence of their daughter when they send her off to the country for her own safety. Extremely moving and great on audio narrated by Danielle Cohen and Raphael Corkhill. Recommended for fans of Pam Jenoff or Kelly Rimmer. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books for the chance to read The lost English girl by Julia Kelly. This was a wonderful and emotional story of Viv, Joshua and their daughter Maggie. After Joshua leaves Viv pregnant, to go to America to become a jazz musician, Viv is forced to stay with her parents and raise her daughter. When the government decides to evacuate children to the countryside (known as Operation Pied Piper) to keep them safe from bombings, Viv is forced to send her daughter away, but tragedy strikes, and Viv fears she has lost her daughter. Told in two POVs, Viv, and Joshua's, as they struggle to become a family during the war.
The story is well researched and written by Julia Kelly who has become one of my Must read authors,

Another wonderful book by Ms Kelly

This is another great read by Julia Kelly, about a child evacuated during WWII, her mother and her estranged father. The situation is made more complex by the parents' divergent backgrounds, forced marriage and estrangement and society/family pressures. I don't want to reveal too much, you need to immerse yourself in the whole experience of this rich, well-written novel. Highly recommended!

Thank you to the publisher who lent me an e-arc via Netgalley. This review is optional and my own opinion.

I love the way Julia Kelly tells a story and brings her readers in. The Lost English Girl is inspired by true-life events which is a superb choice for someone who loves to be swept away into a well-written historical fiction novel that digs into the unthinkable sacrifices and intensely emotional choices people must make during wartime.
This is a story about actions and reactions and the consequences they have. It’s about love, loss, and conquering fears.


Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

As Hitler's bombs fall onto the city of Liverpool, Viv is faced with saving her child by sending her to a safe home in the country. Unknown to her, there is some plotting involved in this decision and she finds she must fight to find her daughter again.

Immersive, moving, and sweet!

The Lost English Girl is a captivating, heart-wrenching tale set in Liverpool during WWII that takes you into the life of Viv Byrne, a young catholic girl who, after making a mistake with a local Jewish boy whom she marries in name only to protect her family’s reputation, struggles to raise her child alone under the roof of her cruel, judgemental parents until she is coerced into sending her daughter to the British countryside to live for the duration of the war leaving her wracked with heartbreak, guilt, and a determination to do whatever she can to build a new life for them for when she returns.

The prose is vivid and smooth. The characters are resilient, brave, and endearing. And the plot is a poignant, compelling tale about life, loss, family, secrets, separation, desperation, tragedy, grief, parenthood, friendship, duplicitous behaviours, and the horrors and hardships of war.

Overall, The Lost English Girl is a hopeful, heartwarming, affecting tale by Kelly inspired by true-life events that is a wonderful choice for anyone who loves to be swept away into a well-written historical fiction novel that delves into the unimaginable sacrifices and deeply emotional choices people often must make during times of war.

In her new book, The Lost English Girl, Julia Kelly brings to light an aspect of WWII that I have never read about before. Operation Pied Piper was a program set up to protect British children during the bombings in WWII which sent them out of London to rural England where they were fostered for years by other families. Nearly two million children were involved in this program and through the lives of Viv, Joshua and their daughter Maggie, Kelly weaves a poignant and eye-opening story about a small family that was ripped apart by the war, by the choices they made and by the choices that were taken from them.

Through multiple POVs, Kelly shows the impact of this separation on the child, the parents, and the foster mother. Emotions run high and are complicated between the two women who love Maggie. Viv is thankful her daughter is safe and cared for, away from the bombing, but she also misses her child and fears her growing attachment to her foster family who have grown to love the little girl.

Kelly includes complex themes of religion, antisemitism, complicated family dynamics, the lack of rights and choices for women and the repressive hold the Catholic church held. There are some twists, but the trajectory of the story was predictable, and Kelly provides characters you'll love and some you'll love to hate. Despite getting Joshua's POV and seeing his gradual self-discovery, the book focuses more on the women's perspectives, and I enjoyed learning the impact of the war on women and seeing Viv's strong personal development.

Predictable, but enjoyable and enlightening, this is a lighter historical fiction read that features the resiliency of women and is a story that will appeal to fans of Kristen Harmel, Pam Jenoff, and Natasha Lester. I recommend reading the author's notes at the end of the book for a greater understanding of the impact of the Operation Pied Piper program.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Gallery Books - Simon and Schuster Canada for this advanced copy which was provided in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada and the author Julia Kelly.
This story starts in the ’30s, in England. Two teenagers (Viv and Joshua) go on a date, they are from different cultures, faith and she falls pregnant.
He proposes and tells her he will support and stand by her. They have a fast wedding and as soon as they are married her parents give him money to go away.
Viv gives birth to Maggie and she is all she lives for.
Unfortunately, Maggie at 4 is evacuated to the country side where Viv believes she is safe. Tragedy ensues.
Julia Kelly is such a wonderful story teller, you do not want to stop reading, know the characters, what decisions will they make in time of war.
I loved those characters, even though some of them were crual, I understand where they came from?
Have a box of tissues near you.

The Lost English Girl will capture your heart and have you reading well into the night.

It is not only the story of Viv and her daughter Maggie but it is the story of strong women that face the hardest times.

Maggie is evacuated to safety during the War and Viv is devastated. Her daughter is everything to her.

I cant imagine the heartbreak of both the children and especially the mothers as their children board the train to take them to safety.

Maggie is placed in a very nice home with what seems to be a very nice couple. Some red flags are evident .

In the meantime Viv is still living with her controlling (and that is an understatement) parents but she is determined to make her own way in the world.

Emotions run high in the story and you are soon cheering for Viv and snarling at her parents.

I highly recommend you pick up your copy of The Lost English Girl and put it to the top of your TBR pile. It is a great story that has you crying and cheering .

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada, Gallery Books for a story that will stay with me for a long time to come.

Set in 1935 to early 1940s Liverpool, The Lost English Girl is an evocative, captivating and heart crushing story about choices and their consequences, relationships (especially mothers/daughters), grief, forgiveness and hope. Every time I see the tender cover my heart aches.

Viv Byrne grows up in a staunchly Catholic home where her mother places supreme importance on following religion by rote rather than love and faith. When Viv tells her parents she and her Jewish beau, Joshua Levinson, are expecting a baby and are to marry Mrs. Byrne makes life for Viv even more impossible. Viv wants what her sister has, married with her own household. But the wedding day does not go as planned and the newlyweds are separated by a large gulf.

When Viv's daughter Maggie is four Viv makes the heartbreaking decision to evacuate her to the Thompson family in the country for safety as the world is on the cusp of WWII. This naturally causes problems.

Jazz-loving Joshua decides to join the RAF and lives the horrors of war firsthand. He also has a change of heart.

Historical Fiction fans, do immerse yourself in this harrowing story filled with vivid descriptions and insightful care. The tenderness of a mother's love is written beautifully and the growth of Viv's character a pleasure to read.

My sincere thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and NetGalley for providing me with an early digital copy of this spellbinding book.

4.5 stars

Julia Kelley writes great historical fiction novels that inform and engage the reader. The Lost English Girl is no exception. The main character, Viv, is very easy to root for and to sympathize with as she sends her five year old daughter, Maggie, away from Liverpool and the Nazi air raids to safety with a foster family in the English countryside. The father of her child, Joshua, is harder to like but this is really Viv’s story about herself, her relationship with her mother, sister, mother-in law and sister-in-law, and her daughter.

I enjoyed the story being told from Viv’s, Joshua’s and Maggie’s viewpoints - the short chapters were a personal favourite and kept the plot moving forward at a good pace.. Religion, anti-semitism, the role of women during the war - Viv becomes a post mistress delivering mail on bicycle - and family relationships are woven throughout the story. My only comment is that the novel could perhaps have been a bit shorter but that is a minor point for me as I enjoyed this well-written, engaging and informative read. As the author notes in the Author Notes, these separations of children from parents during WWII caused long-term trauma for some of these children and families - I cannot even begin to imagine being faced with such a choice. But that is what good historical fiction does - it asks the reader to imagine a different time and place, ans to sympathize with the characters and their choices. Another winner from Julia Kelley!

Thanks to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

This is another book that I was attracted to because of the cover. That, and the review of a fellow reviewer whose taste in books is very similar to mine. The cover and my friend, the reviewer, did not disappoint me.

It did not take long to get lost in this story. Viv gets pregnant before marriage, her beau (Joshua) agrees to marry her but leaves her right after the ceremony (literally) and leaving Viv and her baby girl to live with her extremely controlling mother and father. Due to the dangers of WW2, Viv is persuaded to send her 4 year old girl to live in the country for safety.

The story is mostly told from two points of view. Viv's story details how she gets along during the war, raising little Maggie. Joshua's story tells a little about his life in New York and then how he survives as a navigator in the RAF. There are letters written by the characters too, interspersed, to move the story forward.

The characters are well developed and they evolve. Viv loves her daughter fiercely and dreams of happiness with her. Joshua starts out as an irresponsible and heartless young man but as life confronts him he matures. Viv's mother is beyond loathsome. She thinks she is a devoted Catholic but I think she is the Devil incarnate.

There was a huge twist around the middle of the book, the another twist closer to the end. Both took me by surprise.

There are many themes present throughout: tragedy, anti-semitism, estrangement, family.

The book ended with lots of hope. I was satisfied with the ending.

The author's notes at the end were very interesting. She explains to the reader how many of the incidents were based on family history. That fact always puts a personal touch on a story.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.

I read and so loved The Last Garden in England by this author and was so excited to get this one from NetGalley and let me tell you Julia Kelly does not disappoint. This story broke my heart into a million pieces and then put it back together again. The writing was engaging, I could not put the book down until I was done with Maggie and Viv's story. I loved how fiercely Viv loved her daughter and how she found the strength to push back because of that love.

Viv's mother was so manipulative and I loathed her, I love it when a book's character can evoke emotions in me and every single one in this book did that, they were fully rounded, well-developed and believable. I will never understand people who claim to follow God when they aren't kind or compassionate towards others who they believe have sinned. I thought God's teachings were to be loving, kind and forgiving.

The book deals with topics of unwed pregnancy, religion, love, loss and second chances. It is about yet another priest abusing his position but in an entirely different manner than usual. What a powerful story that was complex and well-written, I could tell the author did a lot of research. The book is pure fiction but is based on families sending their child(ren) away to safety during the blitz of WWII and I loved every page. I can't wait to see what this author comes up with next!

This book was beautiful. My only previous experience with Julia Kelley was "The Last Garden in England" and it was so lovely that when I saw this available for an ARC I was so excited. I was definitely not disappointed!

The thing that I loved most about this book is that it took an arguably overdone theme (woman getting in to "trouble" on the precipice of war) but was spun into a different tangent. Not only was Viv made an honest woman by getting married, but for him to leave after? Wild.

The character development in all the characters was incredible, and Viv's growing relationship with the Levinson's was beautiful. The little spin with Maggie towards the end? Amazing! Plus a happy ending without compromising the character growth? Loved it!!

Julia Kelly is well on her way to jumping into my favourite author spot!

Did you ever read the Pied Piper of Hamelin?

Author Julia Kelly highlights a government-led evacuation scheme, code-named Operation Pied Piper, designed to protect children from the risks of aerial bombing by relocating them to areas thought to be less at risk. Her story gave me flashbacks to the German fairytale - a piper leading the children of Hamelin away from the town, never to return.

I absolutely loved this story because it let me experience what it was like to be one of those evacuated children. I’d heard about home children before, but always from the mother’s point of view. This time it was interesting to see how it affected all in the triangle; the birth mother, the foster mother and the child. Kelly examined how the war changed children; from the fear and confusion at being separated to the guilt and experiencing some of the happiest days of their life, to the reunion and readjustments for all involved after the war. It truly was life-changing for all involved. This is just one story, but there were nearly 2M children whose lives were upended by evacuation. Impressionable children.

What impacted me the most was how the immense gratitude was so precariously balanced with such strong emotions of regret and loss.

I also appreciated the exploration of how a single choice can change the course of a life and the deep dive into what we are willing to do to forgive and find a way back to those we love. I voluntarily walked a few hours in the shoes of someone who was pressured to give up the most precious thing in her life, assured safely and congratulated for making ‘the right choice’.... I don’t think I could do it if it was required of me. I have a deeper sense of respect for those who gave all to Operation Pied Piper.

I will remember Viv, Joshua and Maggie’s story for quite some time.

I was gifted this copy by Simon & Schuster Canada and was under no obligation to provide a review.

I barely moved for two days while I was reading this book and I spent a good amount of that time with my heart in my throat.

The book opens in Liverpool. It’s 1935. Viv Bryne is 18-years-old. It’s her wedding day and she’s miserable. She’s marrying a man she barely knows because she’s pregnant and it’s what is expected of her. Her family is working class Catholic, while her husband-to-be, Joshua Levinson is a Jewish jazz musician. The one shining light at the end of this grim tunnel is that at the end of the day she will be a married woman, able to escape her mother’s cruel judgment.

Five years later, at the start of World War II millions of children are being evacuated from city centres to the relative safety of the countryside. Facing pressure from the parish priest, her mother, and her sister, Viv makes the difficult decision to send her daughter, Maggie to stay with a wealthy couple in the country. It was supposed to be the right decision. Maggie was supposed to be safe…

The scenes with Viv and Maggie basically destroyed me. Julia Kelly has written about motherhood with such authenticity. I especially appreciated the contrast between Viv’s strained relationship with her mother and the undeniable bond between Viv and her daughter. I’m certain I will be rereading this book in the future. The Lost English Girl comes out on March 7 2023 and is available for preorder now.

Simon & Schuster Canada provided me with an ARC of this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I cannot express how excited I was to get an early copy of this book. Thank you so much @simonshusterca and @netgalley for making this possible!