Review: The English Wife

I've read a lot of books that take place during WWII and I'm always interested in reading even more. What I haven't read before is a dual timeline novel that follows one character through the war and another through 9/11 and being stranded in Gander, Newfoundland. That's the basis of Adrienne Chinn's new novel The English Wife, out tomorrow, and it definitely intrigued me.

Here's the synopsis:

Two women, a world apart.
A secret waiting to be discovered…
VE Day 1945
As victory bells ring out across the country, war bride Ellie Burgess’ happiness is overshadowed by grief. Her charismatic Newfoundlander husband Thomas is still missing in action.
Until a letter arrives explaining Thomas is back at home on the other side of the Atlantic recovering from his injuries.
Travelling to a distant country to live with a man she barely knows is the bravest thing Ellie has ever had to do. But nothing can prepare her for the harsh realities of her new home…
September 11th 2001
Sophie Parry is on a plane to New York on the most tragic day in the city’s history. While the world watches the news in horror, Sophie’s flight is rerouted to a tiny town in Newfoundland and she is forced to seek refuge with her estranged aunt Ellie.
Determined to discover what it was that forced her family apart all those years ago, newfound secrets may change her life forever…

I did read an egalley but these bonkers times mean I can't easily and safely pop out to a bookshop just to double check a print copy So. Do you see how the synopsis references VE Day? That was May 8, 1945. (We just celebrated the 75th anniversary this year, which prompted me to post this photo on Instagram back in May.) Here's the thing...not a single chapter in this book takes place during 1945. The mind is boggled.

Related to the dual narrative/time period...it took a bit to get my head around. The novel starts with Part One in 1946 with Ellie leaving England to move to be with Thomas in Newfoundland. Then chapter two and three introduces Sophie in September 2011. And then it goes back to Ellie in 1940, and then Sophie in 2001. While it might be nitpicky, I would have liked the first three chapters as a prologue, especially given part one is so long. It would have helped ground the story and helped the time jumps seem more seamless.

At first I was wondering how on earth there were so many secrets in a family. And that there was such a conviction to keep those secrets buried. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the generation who lived through the war really tended not to tell their stories. Further, many of us in later generations just...didn't ask questions. My grandma would have been five when the war began and while things would have been different here in Canada, she still would have remembered some things about the time during and especially after the war. But I never asked. All that to say, perhaps it would have been easier to hide things than I first thought.

One of the secrets I managed to figure out before it was revealed so I was sort of like, ok ok get on with it already. Unfair? Perhaps. That said, there was one final twist that I was surprised about. (Yes, vague. Can't really say more without giving it away and we don't want that!)

I'm not really sure what I thought about this novel, to be honest. I didn't dislike it. But it was just...fine. For a novel that features two of the biggest moments in recent-ish history (I'd say THE two biggest but this whole COVID-19 thing is pretty intense), it's going to be a pretty forgettable book for me.

What I did absolutely love was that so much of the story took place in Newfoundland. I've never been there, haven't been to the east coast at all, but I love when my country gets to be featured in any novel. It doesn't happen nearly enough, in my opinion. Given the author was born in Newfoundland, the description of the province rang true and it was as magical as I expected it to be.

Adrienne Chinn's new novel was well written even if the story and characters failed to completely captivate me. The English Wife tells the tale of a number of ordinary people trying to make their way through extraordinary times. If nothing else, it allows the reader a glimpse into other peoples' lives which is, really, why a lot of us turn to books - to experience other things that are different than our own life.

*An e-galley was provided by the publisher, HarperCollins Canada, in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*