Publisher: Moa Press (Trade Paperback – 14 November 2023)
Series: Standalone
Length: 314 pages
My Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Fantastic New Zealand author Olivia Spooner presents her first dive into historical fiction, with the intriguing and clever historical drama, The Girl Form London, an outstanding read that proved quite fascinating.
Plot Synopsis:
London, 1940. Ruth, a young schoolteacher, volunteers as an escort helping to evacuate children from war-torn England to Australia and New Zealand. Her three-month voyage is fraught – their passage is perilous, and the children anxious and homesick. Nine-year-old Fergus is more troubled than most and Ruth forms an unexpected bond with the boy.
It’s not just Fergus who captures Ruth’s attention. Bobby, a fellow volunteer who initially infuriates Ruth with his laidback charm, somehow gets under her skin and throws her ordered life into chaos.
Tragedy strikes on their return voyage, when the Rangitane is attacked by German raiders. As the ship goes down, the surviving passengers are taken as prisoners of war aboard the German vessel. To the rest of the world, they are missing, presumed dead.
New Zealand 2005. Hazel boards a plane to London, eager to explore Europe. Sitting next to her is a man named Joe. On her lap is a treasured book from her grandfather, Fergus. A book that will finally reveal Ruth’s story.
A captivating, heart-wrenching story of love, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit that will stay with you long after you turn the final page.
This was an outstanding novel from Spooner that took the reader on an enchanting and tragic adventure during some very distinctive moments from World War II. Spooner chose to tell The Girl From London’s narrative through the somewhat overused medium of a young person in modern times learning about the struggles their older relatives went through during the war. However, I rather enjoyed Spooner’s take on this writing trope by having her modern characters getting invested in a novel that covers the adventure of Hazel’s grandfather and the people that were important to him as a child. This not only allowed the author to dive back into the unique story generated in the past but also allowed for a quite good and heartfelt romance story to occur in the present as Hazel and Joe have a meet-cute which develops naturally into a compelling, complex relationship.
While this modern storyline was interesting, I much preferred the storyline set in the past surrounding Ruth’s journey from England to Australian and New Zealand and then the tragic events aboard the Rangitane. That entire journey away from England was pretty darn fascinating, and I loved the captivating details of how the children were being transported to safety, the inherent tragedy of their journey, and the complicated figures who volunteered to help escort them to a new life. Spooner covers the historical aspects of their journey extremely well and the first half of their story is quite powerful and lovely, especially as she takes the time to explore the various characters, their developing relationships, and their complex motivations for being on the ship.
The Girl From London takes a fascinating turn once the main characters start the second part of their journey aboard the Rangitane. The historical events covering the sinking of this ship off the coast of New Zealand during the war is absolutely amazing, and despite a love for history and a good knowledge of World War II history, I had personally never heard of the Rangitane before. As such I was really enthralled by this real-life tale, and Spooner told it magnificently, examining the taking of the ship in detail and showcasing all the remarkable events that followed. While these events in themselves are fascinating, Spooner makes them even more compelling by tying her great characters into this historical event. By this point of the book, you’ve come to care for the characters, so having them involved in this tragedy really raises the stakes for the reader, especially as you know something bad has to happen to Ruth at some point. This entire part of the book was pretty remarkable, and I really got caught up in how everything unfolded.
I think that Spooner did a pretty good job of bringing the two separate storylines together in an effective and enjoyable way. As I mentioned above, I liked Spooner’s version of the relative finding out their grandparent’s story here, and the constant breaks in the World War II storyline to explore Hazel and Joe’s burgeoning relationship gave the story a distinctive flavour. Honestly having her grandfather’s story not become Hazel’s entire identity was quite refreshing compared to other historical dramas I’ve read and I liked the mixture of storylines that emerged. Still, it was good to get some closure on the main storyline surrounding Ruth, and I liked the emotionally powerful way that Spooner chose to have her story be told. The ending is both tragic and heartwarming in all the right ways and this ended up being quite an excellent read.
Overall, The Girl From London is a wonderful and compelling historical drama that I had a fantastic time reading. Olivia Spooner produced a compelling and emotionally charged narrative, that examines romance, sacrifice and the power of choices across the generations, while also diving into a fascinating historical event. This ended up being an amazing book and Spooner definitely showcased her ability as an author in her first foray into historical fiction.
The Unseen Library 