This story is told with dual timelines. I thought the story set in the past was more interesting. It had some heart breaking moments too. It was a good historical fiction book.

The Girl from Normandy is a powerful story of love, friendship, bravery and survival.
The two timelines and the family connections are beautifully woven together.
The historical aspects of the story are informative, well-researched and bring so much relevant depth to the story. And the book cover is truly stunning!

Marie-Claire is my favourite character - despite such heartbreaking loss, she displayed enormous strength; care towards others and achieved so much, through both her French Resistance efforts and her family legacy. I like the way this story really demonstrates the power of teamwork between the French Resistance and the Allies - together they were able to do amazing things. Marie-Claire’s story is proof of why they fought for freedom; for peace, and for the future happiness of later generations.
“Be grateful for the blessings you have today.”

Thank you to Boldwood Books for an advance digital copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Set in France during ww2 and also in the present day with a dual PoV this could have been a good historical fiction read. I did find the historical part interesting, set in a town in Normandy. However, the story felt flat and focused too much on the romance side rather than the resistance. I just felt too light and fluffy for a war book, it didn’t go into detail on the horrors people endured during the war. I also found the dual PoV very annoying, switching between the two every other chapter. I did find the ending good and satisfactory.
Probably wouldn’t recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this bok, all opinions expressed are my own.

The Girl From Normandy is a dual time-line story set during WWII in Normandy and the late 1990s in Dorset and France.

In the 1940s we meet Marie-Claire who has become separated from her family as they try to leave Paris for the South of France. To avoid the occupying forces, Marie-Claire heads north and ends up taken in by a group of resistance fighters. She agrees to help this resistance cell and is sent to Sainte-Mère-Église where she works in a café gathering information and helping with "Petite Résistance" to hinder and undermine the occupying forces.

In the 1990s we meet Esther, an Englishwoman, who as a school-girl visited Sainte-Mère-Église on a school exchange. Esther has kept in touch with the family she stayed with and has returned for her penfriend Giselle's baby's christening. Originally, Esther was not able to converse with Giselle's grand-mère, Marie-Claire, but now that she is proficient in French, she is better able to understand the older woman's dialect. A scribbled note unlocks secrets from Marie-Claire's past.

I loved this story. The war years in particular had me gripped. Marie-Claire was exceedingly brave and selfless in her undercover activities. In common with many of her time, Marie-Claire has not divulged the part she played during these dark times to her family, but the note that Esther found in a cookbook encourages Marie-Claire to talk a little about her early life.

I thought the WWII years of The Girl From Normandy were well researched and delivered, and that the plot felt very plausible. This part of the story really tugged on my heartstrings. I felt great sadness at each loss Marie-Claire experienced and hoped against hope that she would find her own happiness.

The Girl From Normandy is a story for lovers of historical fiction, in particular the WWII years, with a strong female lead in Marie-Claire, which takes the reader on an emotional journey, and one that I would whole-heartedly recommend.

A dual time line read set between World War Two and the late 1990’s. The years are seamlessly wound together to create a story of courage, loss, love and resilience. I got totally engrossed in the story, the characters and their lives that I read it in a sitting. A lovely read that pulled on all my emotions. A definite recommendation.

Whilst this is a predictable read, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Set mainly in Normandy during WW2 and in 1998, it was beautifully written. I’m prone to a good resistance story and this book was definitely one for me.

This is the very moving story of Marie -Claire who is having to leave her home in Paris in 1940 with her husband and 2 year old son as the Germans start to occupy it.Soon she finds herself in the countryside of Normandy and helping the resistance. In 1998 Esther is returning to a Normandy village for a christening that she last visited as a teenager. Secrets start to come to light that intertwine Marie-Claire with the place where Esther is stopping.Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books.

Decent dual-timeline WW2 fiction. Fairly predictable, but still enjoyable.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

A wonderful book by Rachel Sweasey. Set between WW2 and 1999-2000 the storyline follows the life of resistance fighters Marie Claire and Louis-and their families and Esther and Jules in 1999. Whilst there is a lot of jumping time zones it is very easy to follow and some amazing people. Whilst at some points you think you know the direction the author will take you in you are surprised. Thanks to Rachel and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

The girl from Normandy is a heartwrenching and powerful novel that I read in one sitting!

Parts of it did feel rushed and I would have loved more detail - particularly about the work Marie-Claire did for the resistance. However, I loved the dual timelines - the ending had me in tears!!

Overall a great read, and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

4 stars out of 5 ⭐️

Paris, 1940: Marie-Claire is married and has a young son and life has become unbearable in the capital since the Germans invaded and they make plans to leave. This unravels at the train station and Marie-Claire is forced to travel to Normandy alone, and stumbles upon a chateau near Caen and joins growing resistance movement.

Marie-Claire is a wonderful cook and later she begins working in a cafe in the small village of Sainte-Mère-Église, here she’s to pay attention to what the Germans movements and what they are talking about and pass it on and as the war drags on Marie-Claire becomes more involved and is prepared to fight.

The story has a dual timeline, it’s told from both Marie-Claire and Esther’s points of view and almost six decades apart and is easy to follow and ties together perfectly.

1998: Esther had a wonderful time staying with the Joubert family as a teen at their farm near Sainte-Mère-Église, drinking hot chocolate and she had a massive crush on Giselle’s older brother Jules. Esther is returning to have a much needed break from work and be her long-time friend Giselle’s second child’s godmother and while visiting she discovers an old cookbook and inside an odd note in the family kitchen. Someone at the farm and possibly members of the family must have been involved in the French resistance during the war, intrigued she looks for more clues and wants to solve the mystery.

I received a copy of The Girl from Normandy from NetGalley and Boldwood Books in exchange for an honest review. The inter-generational narrative covers topics such as the Second World War in France, treatment of Jewish people and how families were torn apart, and many kept what happened to them a secret or was too painful to share?

I liked reading about Esther’s and grand-mères growing relationship, and the unexpected links to Dorset Coast and Poole and the D-Day landing.

Rachel Sweasey's writing quality has improved, and the structure and the flow of her plots, since she wrote her first book The Last Boat Home and five stars from me and I highly recommend The Girl from Normandy.

This is a dual time novel and a sweet story. As far as WWII is concerned, don’t get your hopes up. There is an ugly event at the very beginning of the book. The main character has to flee and runs into all the right people at the right time, who soon feel like family. The subversive activities go very well, all the time. They’re sharing classified information as if they’ve read it in the newspaper. There is little talk about lack of food. They keep drinking coffee throughout the war. Except for the beginning, there seems to be no hardship, which contributes to a lack of authenticity. Character development is minimal. Marie Claire loves to cook. That’s about the only one who feels strongly about anything. The others exist, fall in love, get married, have kids, but there’s not much excitement. The story strolls along. WWII is used to illustrate the story, but it has nothing of the fear and suspense that you'd normally find in a book of this genre. If you’re looking for an easy and sweet beach read, you’ve found it.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for an ARC. All opinions are my own. I was not required to leave a positive review.

My thanks to Net Galley, Boldwood Books, and the personal invitation I received to review this book!

Wow! What a read! I loved this! Two timelines.
1940s. Marie Claire is about to travel with her family and suffers a devastating loss. 1998. Esther returns to visit old friends in Normandy and discovers a connection to Marie Claire thru a cook book. Great read, well constructed story with characters that have depth. Highly recommend.

The Girl From Normandy, by Rachel Sweasey, is a dual timeline story of courage, family, and love during WWII and the generations that follow. Secrets kept from the younger ones are revealed and serve to draw the family closer. From Sainte-Mere-Egilse to London to Paris this story of French resistance works and their families will touch your heart. I was able to read an ARC in #NetGalley.

The Girl from Normandy is a historical fiction featuring a dual timeline, set in France during WW2 and in the late 1990s. It tells an emotional story of resilience and strong women. Rachel Sweasey has written a page turning novel. The inclusion of the cookbook joining the family together was a thoughtful addition, and the ending a surprise. 4 stars
I would like to thank the author, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for my free copy of this novel, in exchange for my honest review.
#TheGirlfromNormandy #NetGalley

In a well-researched historic fiction, The Girl from Normandy from Rachel Sweasey takes a step back to a time when the world was a dark place, evil roamed throughout Europe in the form of Nazism and to be of the Jewish faith was a death sentence.
Marie-Claire and Benjamin Debois have just become parents welcoming their son Antoine into the world on the eve of Kristallnacht. They were concerned as Benjamin was of Jewish decent but hoped they would be all right.
1940 saw the German army invade and win Paris beginning their steady but systematic search for anyone of the Jewish faith, no matter how small. Deciding now was the time to leave Paris; they arrive at the station only to find the Germans there checking and rechecking everyone’s documents.
In a fleeting moment Benjamin is shot and killed by a German soldier, baby Antoine passed through a window to friends on the departing train and Marie-Claire left a widow. As she flees Paris to try and follow her son, she is caught up in an incident which will change her life forever as she learns to fight back and make a difference.
1998 sees Esther deciding to return to France, a place she loves and learned to love as a young teenager on a school trip. While there she met Joules Joubert, handsome, charming, the brother of Giselle her penfriend and fell instantly in love.
Returning to Normandy for the christening of Giselle’s second child they meet up once again and hope that what they had young teens has stood the test of time.
As both stories slowly come together Marie Claire, the grandmother of Giselle and Joules begins to slowly tell her family about the War years in Normandy and a little about the role she once played. A chance conversation with an old friend of Esther’s in Poole also helps the pages of time to a heartwarming conclusion.
Well written and constructed Rachel Sweasey brings to life the dangerous days of the French Resistance, the bravery of the people who fought and died and the life-changing circumstances face by many throughout Europe and Britain during World War 2.

This was a new author to me and sadly the book fell a little flat.

It was so slow and so predictable. There was little drama and tension - it almost felt like a dry recollection of a series of events that happened in WW2.than a book about the Resistance.

At first I thought the idea of each chapter - one from the 1940’s and one from the 1990s seemed like a good idea. But, for me, it didn’t work. One chapter would finish on a slight cliff hanger then you would be back with the other main character. But feeling slightly cheated that you had to wait to find out what happened.

For me the storyline was very contrived - the ‘George’ bit didn’t work for me - it was merely a coincidence of name after all and George was a popular name in the 1940’s. The contemporary romance didn’t seem real to me either.

Normally I would commend an author for their research but in this case there were a few factual things that weren’t right for me.
I wanted to like this book - I normally do like WW2 historical fiction but this didn’t work for me.

The Girl From Normandy is a dual timeline story told in two voices - Marie-Claire in Paris during the WWII time period and Esther in 1998 in the UK and France. Marie-Claire and her husband and son are in the process of fleeing occupied Paris to stay with family along the coast when the unthinkable happens - Nazis kill her husband and Marie-Claire becomes separated from her son, who was with friends on the train they were supposed to take together. After learning that the train was bombed and her son is also dead, she finds purpose in her life without her family by working with the French Resistance. In the other timeline, Esther visits her dear friend Giselle who lives in Sainte-Mere-Eglise, France, and reconnects with Giselle's brother Jules, who had broken her heart years before. It took me a while to figure out how the two timelines connected but once they did, the story really took off. No spoilers - but I will say that it gave me the happy ending I love so much. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

this book had me in all the feels. the rawness i felt in parts. the love. the grief and oh so much more was so deep for me that i did feel a little emotional at times. this book is packed with heart and packed with moments that your heart will break for the characters. you can truly feel what these people went through back then. i am never not in awe or almost fear over what lots of people went through, never mind those that were actively doing more than we could ever imagine for the saviour of our countries. i cant fathom it. i dont know what strength and bravery you must have had to just sit at home and wait in those times, never mind go out and do work that there is far more at risk than their lives!
the seamless dual timeline in this was brilliantly done. and i wanted to know more from both. nothing overshadowed the other and you were just as compelled to know both our timeline characters stories as the other.
this book takes us into Marie-Claire's story and the huge raw loss after she sees her husband and son for the last time. this leads her to run away from the enemy in her home of Paris. she travels far into the Normandy countryside. but she wasnt expecting to find refuge in what comes next. refuge which is right in the middle of the resistance going on behind the walls of the Chateaux she lands at. from there she starts work at a little cafe. she has to hold her head up high and be extra brave now as she learns and listens to the enemy's secrets.
i was in awe of her i truly was. her courage to carry on almost fuelled by her grief was something that touched me deeply.

our next timelines take us to much later in the 90s. Esther returns to a place she visited long ago. she returns to the house from her teenage years and the family that she spent that time with.
but whilst there Esther finds and old cookbook. inside the pages are so much more than recipes. and it leads to her unveiling so many secrets from the past. so much more happened at this old farmhouse than anyone could imagine or have known.i almost gasped alongside her as she revealed the secrets of the past.
i really enjoyed how the cookbook linked the two timelines and thought it was so cleverly done. even i could see the coding that could be written inside and was again in awe of the clever clever people we had on our side.

i dont think my review could do this book justice. not the brilliance of the plot, not the brilliance of the characters or the brilliance of just how it made me feel. made me feel so much. these stories are so vital. we must never stop telling them. even in fiction there is so much important truths to them.

A big thank you to NetGallery for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this intriguing historical fiction novel.

I absolutely loved this book! Set over several time lines and in some of my favorite locations - Paris, Sainte - Mere -Eglise, Normandy, Paris and London. I now want to travel to the south of France.

A young woman from Paris loses both her husband and son in a series of terrible events on the same day. Marie-Claire, in her grief, finds a group of Nazi resistors and goes on to join them. The dual timeline is also of Marie-Claire now an old great grandmother and her extended family and their connections to her past.

Thank you, thank you again!! Ironically I read this during the preparations of the Normandy invasion 80 years ago.