👶👶👶👶 Secrets of a Charmed Life, by Susan Meissner

This novel really brought the tragedy of the London Blitz to light, and engulfed me in the pain and fear of this tragic moment in history. The characters’ plight was heartrending, and the plot was all-encompassing. I really felt a longing to discover what had happened to these people.

The only downfall of this novel was the sudden change of style and pace. When the novel switched over to a diary format, it lost some of its allure, and quite honestly, dragged on in a more melodramatic way. Although I understand the author’s reason for using this format at that particular junction in the novel, I feel as though the same outcome could’ve been accomplished in a more creative way. It’s always jarring, in any novel, when the style changes so dramatically, and in doing so, the author often reveals key elements of the plot too early.

However, the novel’s core was so strong, that I still felt compelled to continue reading. There was an inherently poignant message that the author conveyed involving the human condition: that sometimes, our own emotionality can make a tragic turn of events, even worse. In reading about choices made in such moments of emotionality, one’s own conscience lurches forward, hoping that these individuals will foresee the tragedy their own actions will cause. It was in these moments that Meissner had my undivided attention.

Read 3/21/17