September 1, 2019
Helen is quite surprised to learn that she's inherited her great-aunt Alice's cottage when Alice dies of a sudden heart attack in 1990. Although she had been saving up for a place of her own near Blackpool, Helen decides instead to move to Thornbeck, where she'd previously spent some time caring for Alice. Alice had always been somewhat of an enigma in the family, after a falling out with her mother and her sister, Lizzie, Helen's grandmother. In the cottage Helen discovers letters and photographs related to Alice's wartime romance. As Helen delves further into Alice's past, she discovers long-buried family secrets and distant relations. Moving back and forth between Alice's life during the war years, and Helen's own life in the early 1990s, Thornton combines the everyday lives of women during World War II with a sweet romance. Fans of Debbie Macomber who enjoy historical fiction will enjoy this breezy read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)
January 1, 2016
Get out your bobby socks and 45s. Thornton (First Impressions, 2015) takes us back to August 1955 as three young ladies search for love along the British coast. Cissie Foster and Valerie Horrocks can't wait to board the train from Halifax to the seaside town of Blackpool for their summer holiday. Once they arrive, they quickly make friends with Janice Butler, the daughter of the hotel proprietor. As the three explore Blackpool, each finds a young man. Val meets Sam Walker, the son of the owners of the mill where both she and Cissie work back home, while Cissie meets Jack, also a mill worker from a neighboring town. Janice finds herself keeping company with a soldier, Phil, who was stationed nearby. The book follows the girls as their summer flings blossom, only to be feel trepidationas they all return to their regular lives. Will their relationships continue or fade away? Join Cissie, Val, and Janice for summer excitement as they explore love and friendship and the boundaries that go along with both.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)