Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada, July 26th, 2022

Format: ebook

Pages: 328

Rating: 3/5 stars

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

For fans of Kristin Harmel and Martha Hall Kelly’s Lilac Girls — the bestselling author of The Piano Maker returns with a vivid, atmospheric, and deeply moving novel set during the final months of WWII.

London, 1944/45

Kate Henderson is an energetic and spirited young woman. As a trained paramedic and ambulance driver she does her work courageously and with determination, even though underneath she is still wrestling with grief after witnessing the shooting death of her diplomat father seven years earlier. Her father’s murder was never properly investigated and it remains unsolved.

Kate’s life is drastically interrupted once more when she wakes up one night to the sound of the air raid alarm and the terror whistles of a bomb’s stabilizers screaming toward the roof of her house. In the explosion, her mother and her aunt die; Kate survives, but she is injured.

Her house is gone as well, and after her time in the hospital, Claire Giroux, a kind doctor and family friend, invites Kate to live with her as she recuperates. This arrangement works well for them until a few months later when Claire’s husband comes home from the war. Within days the lives of both women are drastically changed, and events are set in motion, both in England and in Canada, that challenge Kate and Claire to their limits.

The Orphan Girl is a moving and powerful story about friendship and courage, and about promises made and kept.

My Review:

Thank you Penguin Random House Canada and NetGalley for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: Post WW2 fiction
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Kate has some traumatic experiences before and during the war. Her father is murdered and her mother and aunt are killed in the Blitz. Kate is injured in the bomb and works hard to get well after. Kate struggles to transition to post war life.
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Overall, it was an interesting book full of lots of plot points, but I couldn’t connect with the characters. I love a good character driven novel, so that’s something that’s important to me! I wanted to get to know Kate a bit more!
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CW: death of a parent, domestic abuse, injury, car accident, war, and violence.