Under a Sky on Fire by Suzanne Kelman
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 11th October 2020
Published: 13th October 2020
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The child stood in the road wearing a blue flannel nightie, her feet bare and dirt-splattered. Her blonde flyaway hair was golden, aglow from the fires that lit her up from behind. Stumbling over, Lizzie reached her side. The little girl’s eyes were closed, her palms facing upwards. If she’d been in church, you would have thought she was praying.
September 1940, London
As the German Luftwaffe begin a terrifying bombing campaign that will come to be known as the Blitz, thousands are evacuated to safety. But Lizzie Mackenzie finds herself heading towards London.
She knows she must help in the war effort. But she has another reason for leaving the security of her Scottish village: the illegitimate child she gave up for adoption nearly five years before is somewhere in the city. And – as the bombs rain down – she will stop at nothing to find her and make sure her little girl is safe.
Then she finds herself trapped in a dark theatre during a bombing raid, where she meets Pilot Officer Jack Henson. Against all her instincts, she falls in love. But what chance is there for that love to flourish? Because if he discovers the secret shame of her past, he may never forgive her. And with Jack facing the enemy every day in the sky, and Lizzie’s job guiding pilots into battle – life and love has never felt so fragile.
Until a chance encounter with a little orphaned girl changes everything, forcing Lizzie to ask herself what truly matters. Because, in the darkest days of war, every life counts. And – when tragedy strikes – saving one child’s life might just give Lizzie a reason to survive…
An unforgettable story about sacrifice, love and heartbreak set in World War Two London during the Blitz. If you liked All the Light We Cannot See, My Name is Eva and A Fire Sparkling, you will love Under a Sky on Fire.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Suzanne Kelman's new heartbreaking historical WW2 tale UNDER A SKY ON FIRE.
As an avid fan of Suzanne Kelman's historical fiction, I jumped at the chance to take part in the blog tour. I have loved her two previous books so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with this one either. And I wasn't.
UNDER A SKY ON FIRE is an amazing tale set during one of the darkest times Britons faced during WW2. The Blitz. OMG! I felt the fear and the terror within the pages as if I was there living it. I think why it stands out to me so much is because my dad was a very young child during the Blitz and even just the sound of an air raid siren now brings it all back to him...and I can see the distress it causes him to relive it through just a sound. It would have been a frightening time for anyone but for a 2 to 3 year old child (he was 2 when the Blitz began and 3 when it stopped), it would have been terrifying. So whenever I read stories that bring to life the Blitz, I see my dad there as a terrified young boy. And that brings me to tears.
A story of endurance, tenacity, love and friendship, UNDER A SKY ON FIRE is a story of three women playing their part in the war effort. They meet by pure chance and begin a friendship that lasts a lifetime. Together they share their hardships, their good times, their laughter and their tears. It is about those at home helping to keep their lads' spirits up and those who are left to pick up the pieces the war spits out. It is heartbreaking but it is also heartwarming. I laughed and I cried and by the end I felt I had lived those lives alongside those women.
From the highlands of Scotland, Lizzie Mackenzie embarks on a new journey as she travels to London to join the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, carrying with her a secret shame as she set out to start a new life. When the train pulls into Birmingham, she is joined by Diana Downes who, against her father's wishes, leaves her life behind for one in the WAAF. Both women are nervous as they begin their journey but are thankful to have found each other before arriving in London. They bunk together for their six weeks of training before they are issued with their new positions, which were individually chosen based on their levels of fitness, academia and strengths. Lizzie was thrilled to find herself assigned as a plotter to Kenley airfield while Diana's task was with the barrage balloons.
Despite working and living in different parts of the city, the two women would spend their leave together visiting London's sights or cafes. One evening after a day of brutal training, Diana wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed and sleep for 12 hours. But Lizzie was filled with the excitement of being in the city and coaxed Diana into heading into London and maybe go to the pictures. It was when a woman had come in late, sat next to Lizzie and then at the end inadvertently left with her scarf, that Lizzie caught up with her outside and the women introduced themselves. Julia was ever so apologetic and offered to take the two women to a nearby cafe by way of apology. Upon leaving to catch their respective buses, they discovered that they'd missed the last bus that would take them back to barracks. So Julia offered them a room at her place for the night...and even the luxury of a bath!
From that moment on the three women became close friends. Whilst Lizzie and Diana were in the WAAF, Julia worked as a typist in Churchill's war rooms...even transcribing letters and speeches from the big man himself. She was married but her husband John was away fighting and her two children, Maggie and Tom, she had sent to the Cotswolds to stay with her Aunt Rosalyn for their own safety. London was becoming a hotspot for Hitler's bombs and it was no place for a child. But that didn't stop Julia from feeling guilty about sending them away...especially when Tom was so sensitive and was missing her terribly.
Throughout the course of their work with the WAAF, Lizzie and Diana managed to find love in the midst of war. Lizzie found herself trapped in a theatre one night during a performance and met the handsome RAF Squadron Leader, Jack Henson. After spending the night in darkness in the theatre basement, along with other patrons, Jack invited Lizzie to a dance the following week to which she accepted. When Diana was hauled out of bed one night to fill in as sentry, she didn't bother getting dressed but rather pulled a pair of oilskin trousers on, a mac over her nightie and a scarf over her curlers before setting off for her post. She didn't expect to meet Corporal Len Shelley, whom she thought looked like Cary Grant, at four o'clock in the morning in the rain whilst manning the sentry box. She didn't expect to fall in love with him either. But love can be found in the strangest of circumstances in wartime. And for both women, those snatched moments and hours of happiness bring a contentment that can only be appreciated in wartime.
But Lizzie's secret could potentially derail her new-found happiness. What will Jack do when she reveals she has a daughter? Will he be like her parents and the folk of the Isle of Barra in the Outer Hebrides, from which she came, and reject her as "soiled goods"? Or will he understand her predicament and help her search for "Annie"?
But when Lizzie comes across a lost little girl in the debris of rubble after a raid, she doesn't hesitate to rescue her. She asks the girl's name, where her parents are, where she is from...but the little girl doesn't speak. Instead she throws her arms around Lizzie and stays nestled in the safety of her arms. Lizzie takes her home to Julia's, where she now lives after a raid destroyed her barracks, and the women try to coax the little girl to speak. They take her to the Red Cross and register her as found in the hope of finding her family, but there are so many children that Lizzie decides to take her home, leaving her address should the girl's family found.
One day, Lizzie plays a little game with her to coax her into telling them her name...by drawing the letters of her name in Lizzie's hand. When the little girl draws an "A" Lizzie's heart leaps. Could this be her "Annie", the name she secretly gave her baby? She asks is her name Annie and the little girl shakes her head and continues...with a "b". Lizzie asks "Abigail" and the little girl nods. Now they have a name for the child but she still refuses to speak. After months living with them, sleeping alongside Lizzie in her bed, too afraid she'd lose her, and Abigail was a fixture in the house. Julia and Lizzie loved having her there and Lizzie knew she was growing attached to the little girl.
So when the WVS (Women's Voluntary Service) knocked to say that all orphaned/abandoned children were to be sent to an orphanage in Wales, Lizzie was devastated. She knew Abigail wouldn't cope there...but she was not her child and she had no legal say in her future. When the day came when she had to bid her farewell on the train platform, Abigail wouldn't let her go but the WVS woman was unsympathetic and prized her free. Lizzie was devastated...but even moreso when as she left, the siren sounded for a raid and when it was over she left the shelter to find the train station decimated and Abigail's train still on the platform. Lizzie screamed in horror. Where was Abigail?
There is so much to this story that just fills you with an overwhelming abundance of emotions. From love to loss, from triumph to tragedy, from happiness to heartbreak...that as the reader, you cannot come through UNDER A SKY ON FIRE unscathed. It will encapsulate you that you will feel that you have lived it too. Whether you identify with Lizzie, Diana or Julia, you will finish this book having walked in their shoes alongside them.
I loved each woman's story but it was Lizzie's that I found the most heartbreaking as she searches for a lost child and finds a bittersweet love. I cried buckets for her and her tragedies. And I loved how she featured at the end in the epilogue, which gave every piece of closure to each story that a reader needs. It was beautiful and it was perfect.
I must admit to googling every so often for some of the aspects of the story...for example the barrage balloons. Although Suzanne Kelman described them thoroughly I still had trouble picturing them because to me balloons are round. So I googled them to see what they looked like and how they actually worked. I loved that Kelman was incredibly descriptive in the workings of the balloons but I was amazed at the video footage I came across of them in action. Kelman was thorough in her descriptions of the workings of plotting, barrage balloons and even Julia's work in Churchill's war office. Imagine transcribing a speech with Churchill sitting up in bed in his jammies! That image made me chuckle. And always with his trademark cigar.
By the end of the story I was so moved and in tears, even my dog scarpered (as he doesn't do tears - they frighten him...lol) But I do recommend that you read Suzanne Kelman's "afterword" that sheds a little more light to the story and how it came about. Of course, I shed even more tears again.
One thing that has always been clear, whether it be through fiction or historical fact, the British people were stoic and remarkable in their strength and their perseverance through all they endured. I cannot imagine living through being bombed day after day and night after night for eight long months, the first of which was 57 days straight out of 58. The staying power of those people to pick themselves up and keep going throughout it all is remarkable. Just the mere thought of it brings me to tears as I think of my own dad as a terrified 2 year old throughout the Blitz. The mere thought is terrifying.
A heartbreaking yet heartwarming story, UNDER A SKY ON FIRE will have you reaching for the tissues as you share in the tenacity of these three young women living "under a sky on fire".
As with all Suzanne Kelman's books, I highly recommend UNDER A SKY ON FIRE. It's a story that will remain with you for a long time to come. I cannot wait for her next book.
I would like to thank #SuzanneKelman, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #UnderASKyOnFire in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Suzanne Kelman is an Amazon International Bestselling author in America, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. Her WW2 historical fiction books "A View Across the Rooftops" and "When We Were Brave," together have sold over 150,000 copies and are published by Bookouture - an imprint for Hachette U.K. Her third WW2 Book, Under A Sky on Fire, publishes October 13th, 2020. Kelman's books have also been translated into five languages.
She is also the author of the bestselling book, "The Rejected Writers' Book Club", published by Lake Union, which is the first book in the Southlea Bay series. Other books in the series include, "Rejected Writers Take the Stage" and "The Rejected Writers' Christmas Wedding".
Kelman is an award-winning writer/screenwriter whose accolades include the Best Comedy Feature Screenplay Award from the L.A. International Film Festival, the Gold Award from the California Film Awards, and the Van Gogh Award from the Amsterdam Film Festival.
In 2015 her script, Held, was recognized by the Academy of Motion Pictures and was shortlisted to the top ten in the Academy Of Motion Pictures Nichols Fellowship competition.
As well as a screenwriter and a published author, Suzanne is also a playwright, and her award-winning comedy play, "Over My Dead Body", had its World Premiere at Outcast Theatre in Washington, Fall 2019.
Born in the United Kingdom, Suzanne now resides in Washington State.
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