The Forgotten Girls by Lizzie Page
Genre: Historical fiction, Dual timeline
Read: 25th May 2020
Purchase: Amazon
(publication date: 13th February 2020)
★★ 2 stars
THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is my first book by Lizzie Page but sadly it did not live up to my expectations as promised in the book's premise, which alluded to a photograph of two girls with their backs to the camera on the book's delightful cover. The photograph is said to be the focus of the story but in actual fact it isn't. It is more about the love lives of Elaine in wartime London and Jennifer in present day Spain.
London, 1943: Elaine works for the government typing out letters from prisoners of war to their families looking for secret codes that may have been hidden away within the messages. One night she meets the most agreeable and alluring Robert Capa, a famous war photographer, and despite already being spoken for she finds herself immediately attracted to him. Ending her relationship with Justin, who was an RAF pilot, Elaine is then free to succumb to the charms of Robert Capa.
After their mother died and their father left, Elaine brought up her two younger brothers, Clive and Alan, while living in a small 2 bedroom flat above a bookshop. She is a little embarrassed to bring Robert back to her little flat, particularly when Clive loved Justin and probably wouldn't approve of her having dumped him for someone flashier. As he had a club foot, Clive was exempt from war service but her middle brother Alan was not, his letters often reflecting his desire not to be there. But Elaine would attempt to cheer him with telling him all about her Bobby.
Elaine's friend Annie would often warn Elaine that Robert Capa was not the man for her. He was a player, a playboy, with a girl in every port and she didn't want to see her friend get hurt. But Elaine was in love and while Bobby was in London, they spent every waking moment together. But when he was off in dangerous places and situations, capturing the moments of war, Elaine missed him terribly. But that was who Robert Capa was - he lived for it. But when they were together their relationship was intense. He was her Bobby and she was his Pinky.
Spain, 2016: Jen's marriage is crumbling and she is left feeling unhappy and somewhat redundant. Her brother has summoned her to his expansive villa in Spain where her mother, stepfather Derek and Aunty Barbara have also congregated. Matthew has something big to announce...but what?
He pulls out an old photograph of two girls holding hands with their backs to camera in an ancient silver frame. Jen recognises it as the one that sat on her mother's mantle for years. On the back is written "B and P forever". Everyone wonders who B and P are and what are their ties to the two girls in the photo? Matthew's eyes are twinkling as he springs yet another surprise on them - a documentary on Robert Capa and their Nana's relationship with the famous photographer. Was this photo one of Robert Capa's? It was not his usual type of work. But Jen is curious and begins to wonder where she fits in the grand scheme of things.
I usually love dual timeline stories but this one was bordering on the ridiculous. I couldn't connect with anyone, though I was more invested in Elaine's story than anyone else's...and yet I still found I had little patience with her as well. The premise alluded to a mystery behind the photograph of the two girls when in actual fact there was no real mystery and the photo wasn't even really the focus of this story.
I struggled with THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS so therefore I find it hard to review. I didn't really like any of the characters and the premise was misleading so nothing was what I expected when reading it. The story itself was incredibly slow and it took a 29 minute chapter to depict Elaine meeting Robert Capa. And that was just the first chapter! It left me wondering what the point of it all was.
I love historical fiction and was looking forward to this one but it was nothing like I expected and I honestly didn't really enjoy it very much. I found myself rushing to the end when I uttered allowed "Thank God that's over!" to which my husband replied "That bad, was it?"
THE FORGOTTEN GIRLS is a good story if you are looking for something different but it just wasn't for me.
I would like to thank #LizziePage, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheForgottenGirls in exchange for an honest review.
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