Susan Meissner's Secrets of a Charmed Life Summary

Secrets of a Charmed Life is a novel about two young sisters in London and how they survived during World War II.

It’s the year 2015 and Kendra Van Zant, a student majoring in history, is interviewing ninety three year-old Isabel McFarland in the English countryside at Stow-on-the-Wold. Kendra quickly discovers Isabel is not the woman’s real name, nor is ninety three her real age. Isabel, a well-known artist, tells Kendra the story of two young girls living in London right before the start of what later became known as the Blitz, the strategic bombing campaign by the Germans against London in the spring of 1940. The story revolves around seven years old, Julia, and, fifteen years old, Emmy.

As a work of historical fiction, this book seeks to not only tell a compelling story about characters and their circumstances, but also to create an intimate connection to an historic event. Through her description, sometimes in stark detail, about the suffering, loss, and confusion of London during the Blitz, Meissner creates a greater understanding of the impact of war and its impact on people, family, and culture.

This summary is aimed for those who want to capture the gist of the book but don't have the current time to devour all 350 pages. You get the main summary along with all of the benefits and lessons the actual book has to offer. This summary is not intended to be used without reference to the original book.