Oh I am just so jealous. Natasha writes like a dream she is fantastic. I loved her previous novel, Mr Rosenblaum's List. This book is set during the Second World War in Austria and Dorset, UK.
It is the story of Elise, a middle class Jewish Girl, born into the glamorous world of her opera singer mother and writer father. They send her to England before the outbreak of the war on a domestic ticket. This girl who has never had to lift a finger before, who speaks little English arriving from the bustling Austrian city of Vienna coming to rural Dorset as a servant. A village in Dorset that is going to be requisitioned by the army.( This really happened, a village still sits there on the coast, bombed out for target practise, a village of ghosts)
This is a novel of many genres, historical, coming of age, romantic, sad and above all brilliant. Again this book is as much about, what is the essence of being English as it is about being a refugee.
It would make an excellent reading group novel, there is a wealth of discussion points to delve!
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