I am really pleased to be hosting a Book Tour Review for The Girl Who Never Came Back by Suzanne Goldring and I would like to thank Bookouture for the opportunity 🙂
Book Description:
Someone is trying to hide what really happened to her. I must do anything to discover the truth. Even risk my own life….
Paris 1945. I sent nineteen-year-old Phyllis, my youngest recruit, into a city crawling with enemy soldiers. But she was smart as a tack, and her gold-flecked hazel eyes could capture anyone’s hearts. I was certain she would succeed. But then she disappeared without a trace. And no one will help me discover what happened to her.
I am desperate to find her – the girl I told to lie to her family about where she was going. She was excited to be doing her bit, but she was young and naïve. It was my job to make her understand the peril she would face. Is it my fault she is missing?
Now I creep into a beautiful house on a tree-lined street, the headquarters of cold-hearted German soldiers. It was the last place she was seen. I trail my fingers along the gilded furniture and see the light dance off the glittering chandeliers. On the top floor, I find the dates inscribed by beaten prisoners, and my heart sinks as I realise she was shown no mercy here.
As I search for the answers her family are begging for, I learn that the girl I swore to protect was moved around in secret. And when I find a message scratched on a food tin in a damp cell, I know I am getting closer to Phyllis at last…
But there are some who want the secrets of the war to be left in the past. Someone is sending me threatening letters, trying to scare me to stop… In finding answers about the girl who haunts my dreams, am I not only risking her life but my own too?
A heartbreaking, and completely unputdownable World War Two page-turner about the extraordinary bravery of women in the war. Fans of The Alice Network, The Nightingale and The Midwife of Auschwitz will be utterly glued to this unforgettable novel.
Buy Link:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B0C6QTY3P1social
My thoughts…
The Girl Who Never Came Back follows Sylvia, who spends countless hours after the war searching for answers to what happened to some of the girls she recruited as spies in France. One woman in particular, Phyllis, was the youngest recruit and the mystery around what happened to her haunts Sylvia in the years that follow. This is the story of Sylvia and her protégé, Phyllis.
This is a dual timeline story, set in the present day and wartime, it follows one woman’s life, and her reckoning with a dark past. Part of the story is told in first person from Sylvia’s best friend Peggy’s perceptive. Peggy had no idea what poor Sylvia went through during the war and after until much later in her life. I found the characters very realistic and they kept the story going along nicely.
The Girl Who Never Came Back is brilliantly written, expertly researched and a real page turner! Women are so strong and brave and this book is a great reminder of how important and also how forgotten they are in history. I am sure no one who went through that experience really recovered from it. It is a really heartbreaking story, but very well told and keeps the reader hooked. This is Historical fiction at its best and I highly recommend it.
My Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author Bio:
Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Whether she is working in her thatched cottage in Hampshire or her seaside home in North Cornwall, Suzanne finds inspiration in the secrets hidden by everyday life.
https://suzannegoldring.wordpress.com/
https://www.facebook.com/suzannegoldringauthor
https://twitter.com/suzannegoldring
Follow the rest of the tour here …
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