REVIEW: What Child is This by Rhys Bowen

What Child is This by Rhys Bowen

Genre: Historical fiction, WW2, Christmas, Novella, Short story

Read: 30th December 2022

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Published: 6th November 2018

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

Christmas during World War II is a time for small miracles in this bittersweet short story by the New York Times bestselling author of The Tuscan Child and In Farleigh Field.

Jack and Maggie Harris are adrift on ravaged streets during the London Blitz. Their home is gone. They have nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. With only the memories of their greatest loss—the death of their child during a Christmas years before—Jack and Maggie settle in a seemingly deserted mansion for the night.

Inside they find shelter, warmth, and a bit of cheer. They also discover a surprise. Now, in the darkest of times, the unexpected compassion of strangers will make this Christmas one to remember forever.

MY THOUGHTS:

A delightful short story set in the midst of the Blitz in London on Christmas Eve 1940. A young couple are still grieving the loss of their own child some years earlier when an air raid forces them to take cover, followed by an incendiary which has whole street. With their homes and their lives under threat, Jack and Maggie flee to an underground Tube station which is packed with all sorts seeking shelter from the German bombs.

Distressed beyond all measure, they have lost everything and Maggie takes Jack's hand as the last train of the night passes through the station and they find themselves in Hyde Park. But the night is cold and the wind is icy and they need to find shelter if they are to survive the night. 

And then Jack finds an abandoned mansion with an air of desertion about it. A quick rummage around finds them some food to eat as they get a fire going to keep warm. 

And then a miracle occurs. The kindness of strangers and a sense of hope that all is not lost...even amidst a war.

WHAT CHILD IS THIS is a charming tale set during a horrific and frightening time but offers a sense of hope to those who need it...even at Christmas.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Rhys Bowen is the pen name for Janey Quin-harkin. She was born in Bath, England in 1941, and educated at London University, but now divides her time between California and Arizona. Her books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won twenty of them to date. They have been translated into twenty-two languages, including Chinese and Arabic.

She currently writes two historical mystery series, each very different in tone. The Molly Murphy mysteries feature an Irish immigrant woman in turn-of-the-century New York City. And Lady Georgie, who is 35th in line to the throne in Her Royal Spyness series.

Her most recent achievement has been the big historical stand-alone novels, Above the Bay of Angels, In Farleigh Field, The Victory Garden, and The Tuscan Child. They have enjoyed impressive sales world-wide and brought Rhys many new readers. Her latest stand-alone, Where the Sky Begins, was published in 2022.

As a child, Rhys spent time with relatives in Wales. Those childhood experiences colored her first mystery series, about Constable Evans in the mountains of Snowdonia. She wrote ten books in the series, including the Edgar nominee Evan’s Gate. The Evans series is currently being reissued in the U.K. by Joffe Books.

She has lived in England, Germany and Australia, but has called California her home for many years. She now escapes to a condo in Arizona during those cold California winters. When she’s not writing, she loves to travel, sing, hike, paint, play the Celtic harp and spoil her grandchildren.

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