The English Wife by Adrienne Chinn
Genre: Historical fiction, WW2
Read: 20th March 2021
Published: 25th June 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Two women, a world apart.
A secret waiting to be discovered…
VE Day 1945: As victory bells ring out across the country, war bride Ellie Burgess’ happiness is overshadowed by grief. Her charismatic Newfoundlander husband Thomas is still missing in action.
Until a letter arrives explaining Thomas is back at home on the other side of the Atlantic recovering from his injuries.
Travelling to a distant country to live with a man she barely knows is the bravest thing Ellie has ever had to do. But nothing can prepare her for the harsh realities of her new home…
September 11th 2001: Sophie Parry is on a plane to New York on the most tragic day in the city’s history. While the world watches the news in horror, Sophie’s flight is rerouted to a tiny town in Newfoundland and she is forced to seek refuge with her estranged aunt Ellie.
Determined to discover what it was that forced her family apart all those years ago, newfound secrets may change her life forever…
This is a timeless story of love, sacrifice and resilience perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Lorna Cook and Gill Paul.
MY REVIEW:
A beautifully written dual timeline historical tale THE ENGLISH WIFE begins at the end of the war and follows the story of war bride Ellie as she embarks on a journey of discovery from England to Newfoundland to join her veteran husband Thomas Parsons. It is told over time in different perspectives which all build into the present story set in 2011. There are several timelines over the course of the novel though every chapter is titled clearly for each timeline as the reader journeys alongside the two main protagonists.
Liverpool England, 1946: Ellie Parsons looks up at the imposing bulk of the RMS Mauritania berthed at the dockside as she bounces baby Emmett in her arms. His one blue eye and one brown eye gazes at his mother impassively whilst Ellie's 16 year old sister Dottie prattles on about icebergs and Newfoundland. Ellie looks lovingly at her father, Henry Burgess, wishing she wasn't leaving them but knowing that her new life awaits her in Newfoundland.
Ever since she met Thomas at a dance almost six years ago, her life had changed course from the practical marriage to George that was expected to an elopement to London with Thomas. When he was critically injured during the war, Ellie had no idea if he was alive or dead...until she received word that he was a prisoner of war. After that, he had spent four months in a hospital in London which she knew nothing about before being sent back home to Newfoundland.
Now here she was, about to board the imposing vessel that was to transport her and Emmett across the raging waters of the North Atlantic to a new life in a new country. And away from the one she knew and had loved. Ellie had no idea what awaited her in Newfoundland. She only knew that she would be with Thomas again...after two years of being apart. Would he be the same man she fell in love with?
En route to New York, 2001: A diversion to Gander, Newfoundland due to the attack on the World Trade Centre in New York has Sophie Parry worried. She is meant to be in New York for an interview at a top architectural firm tomorrow but this tragic event has put paid to those plans. Her aunt Ellie lives in Tippy's Tickle on the rugged coastline of Newfoundland and so after a battle of wills with someone called Sam, she arrives to meet her aunt for the first time. Her mother Dottie bore some unspoken grudge against her older sister to the point that Ellie's name was forbidden. Sophie had no idea what to expect when meeting Ellie...going only on what her mother had said over the years, none of it complimentary.
But Sophie was pleasantly surprised when she was welcomed with open arms by Ellie and her partner of some several decades, Florie. Ellie was nothing like her mother had described at all. She was warm and kind and Sophie felt at home in the cottage perched high up on the rugged coast with her aunt at once. She wasn't so thrilled to discover the man she'd had the run in with at the airport and who drove her up to her aunt's was actually Ellie's son-in-law. And during the time she spends there, Sophie gets to know the family that she never knew.
Norwich, England, 1940: Eighteen year old Ellie Burgess is an art student studying under the talented Dame Edith Spinks. She is soon commissioned with the job as Dame Edith's assistant which, between that and her art classes, keeps her incredibly busy. Engaged to childhood friend, George Parry, the couple plan to marry as soon as the war ends whilst in the meantime enjoying nights out at dance halls together or evenings in with Ellie's family. Ellie's little sister adores George and she thinks Dottie may have something of a crush on him which causes her to smile. George is a good man. Stable, reliable and trustworthy.
But one night Ellie meets Thomas Parsons and her whole world changed. Then after a tragedy that rocked her world, she abandoned her art classes and joined the Fire service while the war raged on. Life for Ellie was never the same again. And neither was it for George. Because Ellie had suddenly eloped with Thomas, infuriating her sister Dottie and breaking George's heart.
New York, 2011: It's been ten years since Sophie had been to Tippy's Tickle. Although she kept in sporadic contact with her aunt Ellie, she had lost touch with Sam who had irritated her no end in the beginning but had eventually grown on her in the short time she was there. Now her boss wanted her to head up a development of a resort hotel and spa on the very site of her aunt's house as lead architect. And he wants her to fly back there to break the news to the locals and convince them to sell.
But returning to Tippy's Tickle re-opens old wounds, not just for Sophie, but for her aunt Ellie also. And not to mention Sam. Will Sophie be able to convince the locals that this resort will be good for their little town? Bringing in jobs and money to the local economy? And will she be able to live with the consequences of what she's about to do to the only family she has left?
This dual timeline tale spanning seventy years sweeps us through the war years and its aftermath as well as surrounding the shocking attack on the WTC in 2001. Both Ellie's and Sophie's stories entwine and come full circle by the end in a way that will touch your heart.
I really enjoyed both stories but it was Ellie who I felt for the most. Sophie didn't appeal all that much to me but then I remember she was a product of her environment having been brought up by a very embittered Dottie. As a child, Dottie infuriated me. She came across as spoiled and a little entitled despite their little means. Dottie wanted far more than life could offer her and in the end that made her a very bitter woman. Even her grudge against Ellie was so small fences could have been mended long ago had she not held onto it and fed that bitterness. Ellie was a wonderful character caught an impossible situation. Even in her new life, she had her struggles and nothing was as she thought it would be. Personally, I thought she should have remained in England. The grass it not always greener on the other side.
The one thing that irritated me about the book was the way in which the Newfoundland language was written. It may well be how they speak but I found it distracting. I wasn't sure how it was actually spoken which made hearing it in my head. To my mind, the way it was written made their "language" seem as if they were uneducated or backward. And I doubt they were that.
THE ENGLISH WIFE is a sweeping tale spanning seven decades that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. I love these types of books and I soon found myself lost in both Ellie's and Sophie's stories until they came full circle by the end. There were a few twists, some which left me with my mouth open and others that I saw coming. But either way, the story is one that will sweep you up and keep you embroiled there until the very end.
Perfect for fans of Lorna Cook and Kathleen McGurl.
I would like to thank #AdrienneChinn, #NetGalley and #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #TheEnglishWife in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Failing to secure a job in journalism or publishing during a recession, she found work as a freelance film and TV researcher, where she did everything from finding contestants for quiz shows, acted in pilot TV shows, did film extra work, and sourced Spitfires for a TV movie. All without owning a TV (or telly, as she has learned to say). She met lots of lovely, mad people too, many of whom are still friends.
Switching gears, and deciding to “be her own boss”, she retrained as an interior designer, and has run an interior design business in London for the past 20 years. She now travels abroad regularly to speak at international design shows and colleges (Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan, China, Morocco, Canada), teaches interior design part-time in London, and leads design retreats in her beloved Morocco, which she has been visiting for over ten years.
But, she never gave up writing. She attended the Faber Academy Novel Writing course in 2011; many, many writing workshops and festivals; fielded hundreds of rejections (seriously), until the door finally opened in 2018, with Avon UK’s offer to publish her first two novels.
Life is interesting. Now all she needs is a dog. And a swimming pool.
And chocolate.
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