The Lost English Girl

In the enticing latest from Kelly (The Last Dance of the Debutante), the lives of two star-crossed lovers are upended during WWII. In 1930s Liverpool, 18-year-old Viv Byrne dreams of expanding her world beyond the restrictions of her Catholic parents and her job at the post office. Viv meets jazz musician Joshua Levinson at a dance hall and gets pregnant after one night with him. Though Joshua is Jewish, her parents reluctantly approve of their marriage. Then, they offer Joshua money to leave her and their unborn child, and he takes off for New York with his sax. Four years later, with Joshua’s career flailing and the war looming, he returns to England to enlist in the RAF. Meanwhile, Viv sends her daughter, Maggie, to the countryside to keep her safe, but the hosts’ house is bombed. Viv and Joshua reunite, trying find out what happened to Maggie and hoping that somehow she survived the blast. In chapters alternating from Viv’s, Joshua’s, and Maggie’s points of view, Kelly unearths her characters’ deepest secrets and emotions. Readers will fall in love with unassuming Viv in particular; when faced with heartbreaking events, she exhibits incredible courage. This will hook readers from the first page. Agent: Emily Sylvan Kim, Prospect. (Mar.)