Title: The Last Night in London
Author: Karen White
Published: April 2021, Berkley Books
Format: Hardcover, 480 pages
Source: Publisher via UplitReads
Summary:
New York Times bestselling author Karen White weaves a story
of friendship past and present, love, and betrayal that moves between
war-torn London during the Blitz and the present day.
A captivating story of friendship, love and betrayal – and finding hope in the darkness of war.
London,
1939. Beautiful and ambitious Eva Harlow and her American best friend,
Precious Dubose, are trying to make their way as fashion models. When
Eva falls in love with Graham St. John, an aristocrat and Royal Air
Force pilot, she can’t believe her luck – she’s getting everything she
ever wanted. Then the Blitz devastates her world, and Eva finds herself
slipping into a web of intrigue, spies and secrets. As Eva struggles to
protect everything she holds dear, all it takes is one unwary moment to
change their lives forever.
London, 2019. American journalist
Maddie Warner travels to London to interview Precious about her life in
pre-WWII London. Maddie, healing from past trauma and careful to close
herself off to others, finds herself drawn to both Precious and to
Colin, Precious’ enigmatic surrogate nephew. As Maddie gets closer to
her, she begins to unravel Precious’ haunting past – and the secrets she
swore she’d never reveal …
My thoughts: I'm a fan of Karen White's writing, especially when she partners with Beatriz Williams and Lauren Willig. I haven't read too many of the books she's written by herself, though the ones I have read I did enjoy. And once I saw this book, it definitely became an anticipated read...and it absolutely delivers in every way!
Historical fiction has become my favorite type of read lately. There have just been so many fantastic books released in this genre this year and this book is definitely one of them. I was so lucky to have gotten a copy and once I started reading it, I really had a hard time putting it down. I'm such a fan of the dual timeline and both timeframes equally captured my interest here. Sometimes I find I'm more drawn to one over the over but that was definitely not the case here.
Starting with a very intriguing prologue that sets up a little bit of a mystery, this book just keeps dropping little hints and insinuating that our characters have some pretty hefty secrets that need to be revealed. I love books that involve secrets - it's always so interesting finding out why something was held back and how it ends up being discovered and what the ramifications will be.
The characters in both timelines really come to life in the story and I had such a hard time walking away from them in the end. This was definitely a story where I wanted to get to the end to find out all the secrets and how it all comes together, but at the same time, I also wanted to savor every last second with this story and the characters.
Historical mysteries are becoming my favorite sub-genre and this one easily fits into this category. But it's not just that. It's also a story about strong women. It's about redemption and reinvention. This book is definitely not one to be missed.