The English Wife is a romantic historical fiction book that takes us from 1940 then sweeps the decades all the way through to 2011. It concentrates on young Ellie Burgess from England who meets and marries a young soldier from Newfoundland called Thomas Parsons. He is away at war for a few years but when the war ends she has to travel to Newfoundland as a nervous and new young mother, to finally see her husband again and start a new life.
2011, Sophie Parry, Ellie’s niece is forced to land in Newfoundland as she is flying as the Twin Towers have suffered 2 terrorist attacks. She has to take refuge at her Aunt Ellie’s and decides to discover what blew their family apart many years ago, but is she really ready for the secrets she may find out?
The story is written from a few perspectives so you get each side of the story as you read. Just need to get to grips with the narrative but it adds something to the story that causes you to want to keep reading to find out.
A story emphasises how love can cause us to make sacrifices we never thought we would in our lives and just how much damage lies and deceit can cause to each other and our family. Damage that can take decades to correct.
I thoroughly loved this story, I was discovering Newfoundland with Ellie as a young mother and was so caught up in the past with all the bitterness that had been created over the years. Thanks to Rachels Random Resources and Netgalley for the copy of the book and allowing me to be part of the blog tour for this sweeping romantic historical fiction story.
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