England, 1940. “Hello Gracie,” Louisa reaches out a trembling hand to the six-year-old little girl. Her dark eyes are wide with fear and Louisa’s heart shatters. She is devoted to the children in her new boarding school. But when the war comes closer than ever, can she keep them safe?
Louisa Brightford is anxiously preparing to turn her home into a boarding school when with a bang of the exhaust, a car carrying nine evacuated children arrives. As they tumble out and run around the sun-kissed fields and her rambling mansion, the children capture Louisa’s heart. They need love and care, and she is glad to play her part while her only son David fights in the battle for Britain’s skies.
Wide-eyed Gracie, who lost her mother in the bombing, clings to Louisa like a shadow. Can she be the parent she needs? And, though she thought she’d never find love again, she finds herself drawing closer to Jack, the children’s handsome, kind teacher who dances with her to gramophone music in the long summer evenings. But when the governors threaten to close the boarding school, it seems she might soon lose them all…
Then Louisa receives terrible news about David. Through the depths of her grief, she must find the strength to fight for her beloved lost children. But is there a future where she and Jack can be a family for little Gracie? Or when German planes fly over their peaceful village,will they be torn forever apart?
My Review:
Heart-wrenching but still hopeful. A moving story about ordinary people overcoming impossible odds. I find Homefront stories so inspiring. They invite us into the lives of the everyday heroes left behind during wartime. And, oh my goodness, but Wingate has assembled a cast of memorable characters in this immersive read that had me laughing and crying and cheering out loud.
Louisa makes an indomitable heroine, tenaciously facing down insurmountable obstacles. From disagreeable characters to the harsh realities of war and an odious ex-husband’s nefarious plans, she’s besieged on every side. I was fully engaged, fighting every battle and crowing over every victory right along with Louisa.
There are characters to love and hate and the author deftly reveals a multitude of emotional layers, not only in our heroine but in many other characters as well. Little Gracie stole my heart and the antics of the rambunctious evacuee children kept me grinning while the tender closed door romance had me swooning!
Loved the way the author offered us a slice of real life in an English country village during this time period . It has all the highs and lows you might expect to find, along with some astonishing plot twists! The kind of book you want to race through to find out what happens but at the same time need to slow down and savour every word to make it last longer! Happy, blissful sigh of utter bibliophile contentment!
Exquisite storytelling made listening to ‘The House for Lost Children’ so pleasurable. Yes, another audio book for me and Joan Walker’s narration breathed life into an eclectic mix of characters from the youngest child to the crotchety head teacher. Her performance kept me enthralled and anxiously engaged to the very end.
My thanks to Bookouture Audio and Net Galley for providing me with an audio copy of this book.
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