The Forgotten Village: Absolutely heartbreaking World War 2 historical fiction about love, loss and secrets

Charming. Captivating. I love books set in England so it was a perfectly relaxing read for me. Story held my interest with love, mystery, and no blatant violence.

gift

Eigentlich findet sich hier eine spannende Story in zwei Zeiten erzählt, die sich sehr gut liest, spannend geschrieben. Allerdings ist sie doch sehr vorhersehbar, wie Chicklit ohne Humor. Das fand ich extrem schade, auch wenndie Autorin definitiv schreiben kann. Manche Stellen fand ich irgendwie seltsam, auch wenn das vielleicht Parallelen der Heldinnen hätte darstellen sollen, es hat mich aber mehr gestört. Ein Buch für einen regnerischen Sonntag, aber weit unter dem Potenzial. 3.8 Sterne.

I love history and a bit of a mystery, so this book was right up my alley. Just the lure of poking around a WWII re-requisition village and learning about the lives of those affected was enough for me to pick up this book, the brilliant characters and engaging story made me not want to put it down!Melissa is a woman I could easily be friends with (her ability to consume custard cremes is admirable) and Guy is definitely the kind of bloke I would like to know! They have a great chemistry and I love the way their story unfolded with all the realism of a real relationship. The story in 1943 was just as engaging as the moment of handing over of the village to the army draws near, however Veronica's narrative is much more sobering. You get a real feel for her situation and for those who were dealing with the upheaval and how this affected them. I really enjoyed all the characters and their interactions as the secrets of the events in Tyneham Village started to be revealed.Cornwall is beautifully captured and is the perfect background to the drama that unfolds in both the present and the past, which the story moves between smoothly. There is plenty of mystery with twists and turns along the way that make the story very engaging and well-paced. There is a serious theme that runs through the entire book which I thought was explored carefully and appropriately addressed, but overall it is a romance story with a mystery to solve. What I enjoyed most however was the well-rounded, believable characters and how they interacted in a realistic world. This was a very enjoyable read!

I bought this book a bit by chance. I was looking for a dual time story and this one seemed quite original, talking about a requisitioned village. The historical part was a bit light but the story quite nice and entertaining. It was difficult to quit the book, which is generally a good sign :-)I would say it's more a book for those who like a romantic story and who like learning about historic facts.