Jennifer RobsonRezensionen

American journalist Ruby Sutton moves to London to report on WWII. There she joins the writers of the Picture Weekly to put her unique slant on war time trials and tribulations. She also develops a friendship with photographer Mary and editor Kaz. As the Blitz takes out her apartment, she finds herself leaning on mysterious Bennett, a soldier.

I really enjoyed the storytelling and character development throughout the novel. It was not a typical wartime romance where the female is left helpless and afraid. Instead Ruby is a dynamic woman who is determined to succeed. I would love to read more from this author. Overall, highly recommended.

“She and Nico had danced under such a sky. They’d sung of love and stardust and the promise of brightening dreams, and she’d been so stupidly certain their happiness would endure. Yet how could goodness endure, let alone flower, in a world that emboldened and embraced men such as Karl Zwerger? And how was she meant to survive when her Nico was no longer a part of it” (269)?

The heart of Our Darkest Night seeks to answer this hard question: How can goodness thrive in a dark and broken world, a world that at times embraces and empowers hate and evil, like the rancorous power of Nazi ideology? The answer comes in the voices of Nico and Nina and Father Bernardi and so many other characters in this Italian-set WWII historical fiction story. The answer comes through their voices and their stories that carry—sometimes the smallest—seeds of hope. In small mercies that make big impacts, like the bright stars that pierce the deep midnight-darkness, each of these characters shows how goodness thrives. They put one foot in front of the other, they hold a stranger’s hand to offer comfort, they cling to memories of better yesterdays, they boldly believe in promises and miracles and hope—even in the face of despair.

I desperately wanted this book to move the way that it did, but I’ve read too many hopeless historical fiction novels. I was afraid to hope. But I’m so glad it circled around in the end with Nico and Nina sojourning side by side back to their beloved Italian farm just as they did in the beginning when they were merely strangers. He became the hero of her story, and their journey was such a satisfying circle—a true hero’s journey with both Nico and Nina returning with their reward—home and family and the promise of joy.

“‘The soul unto its star returns’” (267).

“What are we fighting for, if not for things of beauty like music and art” (79)?

This is a story of small, sweet moments between long descriptions of blitzes and bombings. It’s the story of the kindness of strangers, of finding a home and a family and a purpose, and of a tragedy bringing people together.

This is the 3rd book in the Great War Books by Jennifer Robson. It follows Helena Parr, the woman to whom Edward, Lord of Cumberland was engaged for five years during the great war. Following the cancelled engagement, she was looked down upon by her peers. After a severe illness a few years later, she decides to go to France and live with her Aunt Agnes while she attends art school. There she makes several friends while they labor under a very hard instructor. She also meets Sam, an American correspondent for the Chicago Tribune, and falls in love with him. He is from a wealthy family in New York. The story is about her relationships with her friends, Aunt Agnes, and Sam.

The second book in this series is primarily about Charlotte Brown and her life after the war. She went back to working for Miss Rathbone, a ward councilor from Liverpool. Charlotte works in her office as a constituency assistant, speaking with and providing support for people. When Lilly (Lady Elizabeth) marries Robbie (Dr. Robert Fraser), Charlotte is again brought into contact with Edward Ashford, who is now Lord Cumberland. Edward is still experiencing the results of his 4 years in the trenches and a period as a prisoner. He has broken his engagement and wants no help. His mother asks Charlotte if she could try to help him. Lilly and Robby are back from their honeymoon and asks her to stay with them. Shortly, Edward, with Charlotte as his nurse, goes to a quiet cottage on the Cumbermere Estate. Question for the rest of the book, does Lord Cumberland marry Charlotte Brown?

Lady Elizabeth Ashford (Lilly) was to be forced to marry someone she did not love. Since her parents had also not allowed her to go to college, prevented her from pursuing a relationship with Robert (Robbie) Fraser, a surgeon, and refused to let their former chauffeur who taught Lilly to drive continue working for them, she left and struck out on her own. Fortunately, she could stay with her former governess, Charlotte Brown, who was studying to be a nurse. Due to her driving experience, she was able to join the WAACs and maneuver her way to the 51st hospital in France where Robbie Fraser was stationed. Unfortunately, fraternizing with the medical staff was strictly forbidden, so they continued to write letters. When her brother Edward was pronounced missing, she managed to travel to Paris where Robbie was meeting her brother to let him know what happened.

I is 1940 and Ruby Sutton is a journalist in the US for The American during WWII. Walter Kaczmarek, the publisher of Picture Weekly in London sent a letter asking if Mike Mitchell could send a woman journalist to London to work on Picture Weekly's human interest stories. They would split her salary. Ruby was chosen because she had no family and WWII was waging in England and throughout Europe at this time. She arrives safely in London, is met by Bennett, a friend of the publisher, and takes up residence in The Manchester near the Picture Weekly's office. Bennett was very helpful, getting her established in The Manchester, explaining the ration books, and the IDs needed as well as taking her out to dinner the first night to a small Italian cafe. Just as she was settling in the bombs start falling in what comes to be known as the Blitz. One night her hotel is burned to the ground. Bennett again comes to the rescue and installs her in the home of his Godmother where she is welcomed. The rest of the story revolves around Ruby's setting in with this family, getting and writing stories, and wondering what Bennett actually does for the government as he comes and goes. As the occupation of France comes to an end, she is able to travel to there and report on the war for 30 days.

Nice bit of historical fluff. Competent writing and storytelling, but the ending is a little too pat for me.

Lady Elizabeth is in her early 20s(?) and has not had a real education, although she would have loved that. She is expected to marry, be a wife, and mother. When her brother’s friend, Robbie from university, visits, “Lilly” is swept away. But he is far below her “station”, and her mother sends him packing (with a lie Lilly doesn’t know about). Lilly thought they were getting along very nicely and was very disappointed Robbie left without a word.

WWI arrives, and Edward (Lilly’s brother) heads to war, and Lilly learns that Robbie is a doctor and has gone to France to perform surgeries on wounded soldiers at the front. Lilly wants so badly to help, but is forbidden by her mother. She finds a way to secretly learn to drive, and when things blow up with her parents, she leaves to live with her former tutor in London. From there, she manages to get a job driving an ambulance in France to help shuttle soldiers from when they were wounded to the makeshift hospitals.

This was also a romance, which is not usually my thing, but I got swept away in this one. I really liked it. I really liked both Lilly and Robbie. And it was interesting to learn about the women ambulance drivers in the war. The author’s father was a historian with an interest in the two world wars.

Romance

World War, 1939-1945

Jennifer Robson has a wonderful way of creating authentic characters like Edie, Jamie, and the staff and guests of The Blue Lion. She blends them into real historic events ( theCoronation in 1953 of Queen Elizabeth ) and creates a great tale.
I enjoyed this novel very much and had to laugh at the epilogue where she tells us that The Blue Lion is not a real place so don’t go looking for it.

Another one I’d put in the category of books it would be safe to recommend to your Mom or Grandma.

It starts out ok when we meet two of the women working on the embroidery for Princess Elizabeth’s wedding gown in the late 40s. But then it gets bogged down some in the actual embroidery work and it gets a little boring and then they add a third woman, decended from one of our protagonists, and that adds an altogether unnecessary element to everything, in my view. I’d have rather the story just remained in the 40s.

The writing is fine but nothing especially moving or memorable and even stilted at times — not sure if that was intentional because of the stuffy rules at play in London society at that time.

Somewhere in France was Jennifer Robson's first novel.  Set in World War I, it demonstrates a depth of knowledge of that conflict thanks to the author's father, Professor Stuart Robson, an expert on the topic.

Lilly (aka Lady Elizabeth Neville-Ashford) always wanted a life beyond the expectations of her titled parents.  Robert "Robbie" Fraser, who met Lilly's older brother Edward at university and became his best friend, has encouraged her.  When he, a surgeon, is sent to France at the outbreak of war, they correspond, and he further encourages her.  Lilly secretly learns to drive on the family's country estate, and ultimately leaves home and moves in with her former governness, Charlotte.  She manages to become an ambulance driver with the British Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC), and to get sent to the same field hospital as Robbie.

Robson doesn't shy away from a vivid and unflinching picture of what the war was like for ambulance drivers, surgeons, nurses, and the wounded.  The romance between Lilly and Robbie is sweet, but somewhat predictable.½

Coronation Year - 1953, the year Elizabeth II was officially crowned - serves as the setting for this piece of historical fiction, but the queen and the events of that day (June 2) are peripheral to this story.  It centers on three main fictional characters, who tell the story from their viewpoints in alternating chapters:
- Edie Howard, who owns and operates the fictional 400-year-old Blue Lion, a struggling hotel she inherited from her parents - that has the great luck to be on the coronation parade route;
- Jamie (James) Geddes, a bomb expert during World War II, now an artist of Scottish and Indian descent, who suffers prejudice due to the latter; and
- Stella Donati, an Italian Jewish photographer now working for the fictional Picture Weekly magazine.

All three are living at the hotel, which also has three other (eccentric) boarders as well as a staff.  The book begins in January, bringing the main characters together and also documenting Edie's efforts to prepare the hotel for the upcoming coronation (and Jamie's and Stella's work related to it).  Unfortunately, there's also someone trying to sabotage the hotel - figuring out who is a major plot line.

The story was rather predictable - the villian and the romances were signaled early on - but it was a fun, quick read nonetheless.  I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of characters from some of Robson's other books that I've read - reporter Ruby Sutton and her love Bennett from Goodnight from London, and Walter "Kaz" Kaczmarek and his wife Miriam Dassin from The Gown.

This book was everything! Enlightening, full of history, suspense, love, loss, courage, hope, faith, etc...The dedication and strength that each character had shown through in every situation. A true historical page-turner that left me breathless.

Fluff really. I kept waiting for something to happen. The heroine Helena is vapid. Her hands are always shaking. The obstacle between her and Sam is that he’s wealthy. ( so is she). In this novel it appears to be a shameful thing. I don’t get it.
What I did like is the descriptions of Paris.½

It's London in 1953: Coronation Year. The book begins on 1st January with Edie Howard, the owner of the Blue Lion hotel, looking forward to the year ahead but knowing it's going to be hard work. She needs to turn around the Blue Lion's fortunes and as it has a coveted position right on the Coronation procession route she knows she has something unique to offer potential guests.

The Blue Lion is a brilliantly drawn establishment (the illustration at the beginning is also quite literally brilliantly drawn). It has residents who live there all the time, along with people who come to stay for shorter lengths of time for holidays. I found it really easy to imagine the look, the feel, the smell of the hotel, the wonderful breakfasts that Cook manages to make, even though so much is still on the ration, and the quite eccentric residents in situ about the place.

Edie Howard is only one of the three main characters. The others are Stella Donati, a young Italian photographer taking her first job as such at Picture Weekly, and James Geddes, a talented artist of Scottish/Indian heritage which doesn't always get him the best reception in 1950s England. The stories of the three characters are woven together perfectly and I found them such engaging creations.

At the heart of the book is a plot to spoil everything that Edie has worked for and it adds a touch of intrigue and excitement to the storyline that mostly revolves around planning for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. I was transported completely to 1953 London, the difficult after-war years mingling with the growing excitement of a new Elizabethan age.

Coronation Year was everything I hoped it would be and more besides. It's absolutely my favourite kind of historical fiction, based around some real events, with a royal theme and several different strands coming together. This is my first book by this author but I do also have The Gown and looking at her other books I think I'd like them all. I do hope for more royal stories in the future too. I absolutely adored this book which utterly captivated and delighted me.

Since we are in a coronation year, this title will attract the attention of readers. This book, however, focuses on 1953, the year of Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

It is not the queen but three residents of the 400-year-old Blue Lion Hotel that are central to the narrative. Edie Howard, the owner of the hotel, is struggling to keep it financially viable. The announcement that the coronation parade will pass directly in front of the hotel is a godsend. Stella Donati gets a job as a photographer for a London magazine, and one of her tasks is taking photos at the coronation. James Geddes is an artist who has been commissioned to do a painting of the procession.
The lives of these three become entwined, especially when it seems someone is striving to tarnish the hotel’s reputation and even threatens to disrupt Coronation Day.

I found the plot very predictable. That certain characters will become romantically involved is obvious from their first meetings. The villain is also easily identifiable. The only surprise is the villain’s motivation and that, unfortunately, is far-fetched. In fact, the action-packed resolution seems rather ridiculous and not in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book.

I also take issue with the main characters. All of them are so improbably perfect. Edie, for instance, is totally selfless, exceedingly kind and thoughtful with everyone, even troublesome guests. She is non-judgmental and empathetic towards everyone. Stella and James also have only positive traits. In the end, all emerge as heroes. I understand that the author wanted to create likeable characters, but they are too good to be authentic.

There are elements that are described so as to seem important and then are never mentioned again. Why, for example, is Dolly’s illness such a big deal? Is it only to emphasize Edie’s care and compassion for her employees? Edie notices that the cellar has been cleaned up by someone, but then that mystery is ignored? What really happened with the reservation book? The reader can only speculate.

Then there are the unrealistic events. The only explanation given for the professor’s presence in the cellar is that “he must have returned [to the hotel] in the wee hours”? A man who has been “in and out of prison half a dozen times for all manner of offenses” can so successfully operate under his assumed identity? How does Stella manage to get through a locked door?

The book touches on some serious subjects. Stella and James’ experiences during the war have left both with scars. James because of his mixed heritage must also contend with racism. But there are also touches of humour. The portrayal of the eccentric Hons cannot but bring a smile. I also liked the description of Canadian guests at the hotel: “The Canadians were slightly more reserved [than the Americans], though still very nice, and keen that she not confuse them with the Americans.”

Knowing that Queen Elizabeth II reigned for 70 years, it is impossible not to consider the significance of Edie’s thoughts about the young queen: “Edie would wager [Elizabeth] was already sick to death of at least some of the duties she’d inherited. Or maybe she wasn’t? Perhaps she enjoyed it all? Perhaps it truly gladdened the young queen’s heart to know the rest of her life would unfold in an endless succession of plaques to be unveiled, cornerstones to be revealed, ships to be named, trees to be planted, ribbons to be snipped . . . The queen was wealthy and admired and treated with deference, awe, and real affection wherever she went, but was it enough to outweigh her lack of freedom?”

Royalists and lovers of historical fiction looking for a charming, quiet, escapist read will enjoy this book. I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it, but my pleasure was certainly lessened by the too-perfect characters and predictable plot.

Note: I received a digital galley from the publisher via NetGalley.

Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).

Londres, 1947. Asediados por el frío invierno, los británicos padecen el racionamiento a pesar de su victoria en la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Pero Buckingham Palace remontará los ánimos de la nación con el anuncio del compromiso de la princesa Isabel. Para Ann y Miriam, bordadoras en el taller de un famoso modisto, la boda es más que una celebración. Han sido elegidas para un honor único en la vida: crear los bellísimos bordados que adornarán el vestido de novia de la futura reina de Inglaterra. Una oportunidad única para una chica inglesa de clase trabajadora y una emigrada francesa que ha sobrevivido al régimen nazi.
Toronto, 2016. Intrigada por las exquisitas flores bordadas que ha heredado de su abuela, Heather intenta desentrañar el misterio de su origen. ¿Cómo alguien que nunca habló de su pasado en Inglaterra poseía unos bordados de incalculable valor que se parecen tanto a los que llevaba Isabel II en su boda? ¿Qué conexión tenía su abuela con la superviviente del Holocausto, Miriam Dassin?

Are marigolds annuals (yes) or perennials? They are described as both. Far fetched but interesting to learn about the embroidery.

When she dated something September 31, I got too cranky

“Our Darkest Night” is another impactful WWll novel. It enlightens readers to the Jewish ghetto in Venice through Antonina and her physician father. Antonina escapes with the help of a friend of her father’s , a young man Nico who takes her to live with his family in the countryside where they secretly pose as husband and wife only to really fall in love. As far as the story line goes in this novel it’s quite predictable and simple but you me it’s really the background of a story about the treatment of Jews in this region of Italy. Antonina , now Nina, winds up deported to concentration camps and work camps and her husband terrorized as well. The hardship and brutalities the family endures during occupation are vivid and based on research. That’s the thing about this novel and others like it, they may be fiction but they are based on real events that happened to real people.½

I was in England during the week of mourning for Queen Elizabeth. It was a unique experience to see the throngs of people who came out to honor their monarch. There were everyday people from everywhere — she certainly touched a lot of lives. My book club chose The Gown by Jennifer Robson, which didn’t feature the then Princess Elizabeth as a main character, but rather all of the fanfare surrounding her wedding and in particular the making of her gown. The book is told in two timelines with fictional main characters that were true reflections of the era — two women finding a way in the world after the devastation of WWII. The novel brought the time and place to life with rich historical detail. I would call The Gown women’s fiction because of its emphasis on women’s changing roles in a new world, while fighting against obstacles and prejudices from the past. Both characters face struggles, some heart-breaking, with determination and an eye to a hope-filled future. The modern day thread is a smaller part of the book, yet I found it be a wonderful way to bring all the storylines to a satisfying conclusion. (Special note, including a spoiler: there is a scene that features some sexual abuse some may find triggering.)

Recommended.

Audience: adults.

(I purchased this book for my Kindle. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

I won The Gown from Library Thing's Early Reviewer program back in October 2018, but never received a copy from the publisher (William Morrow). It still appeared on my Not Reviewed list (I've been an Early Reviewer since November 2007), so I checked my libraries and borrowed and read the e-book in July 2022. (ETA 16 September 2022: I checked out a print copy shortly after Queen Elizabeth II's death.)

The gown of the title was Elizabeth's wedding gown (from her November 1947 wedding, while still a princess, to Philip Mountbatten), which is pictured on the book's cover. Although the book is subtitled "a novel of the royal wedding," it's really historical fiction about two women who worked as embroiderers on that gown, and the granddaughter of one of them.
In post-war London of early 1947, 25-year-old Ann Hughes, a long-time embroider for designer Norman Hartnell, meets newly-hired 22-year-old Miriam Dassin, a Jewish refugee from France liberated two years earlier from a concentration camp. Miriam has been referred to Hartnell's by Christian Dior, but she is also a talented fiber artist. Ann's widowed sister-in-law is moving to Toronto, Canada, and Ann needs a new roommate to keep her housing, so she invites Miriam to live with her.

Soon, Hartnell gets the commission to design and make Princess Elizabeth's wedding gown. Ann and Miriam are put in charge of embroidering sample motifs ("York roses in several sizes, star flowers, ears of wheat, jasmine blossoms, and smilax leaves" - page 141), and embellishing them with seed pearls, crystals, and beads. Later, they are the lead embroiderers on the gown's bodice, sleeves, skirt, and train - done in a workshop with no windows, as even then the public was eager to learn details of the gown.
In Toronto in 2016, journalist Heather Mackenzie's grandmother dies and leaves her a box with exquisite embroidery samples in it. Losing her job shortly after, she decides to go to England to unravel the mystery of her grandmother.

Heather's story is necessary to fill in what happened to Ann and Miriam after the royal wedding, as the story set in the past ends shortly after that. There's romance (good and bad) for all three women, but it, like the royals, is really a minor part of the story.

In February 2017, author Jennifer Robson interviewed Betty Robson, one of the seamstresses at Hartnell who had helped create Princess Elizabeth's 1947 wedding gown. She even worked Betty in as a character near the end of the book. Robson also spent a day at Hand & Lock, London's oldest and the world's foremost custom embroidery workshop. to see what the work done by Ann and Miriam might be like. This and other research made the book come alive.

What I liked best, though, were the details about everyday British life after World War II. For example, wartime rationing was still in effect - Elizabeth paid for her wedding gown mostly with clothing coupons she had saved.½