We Must Be Brave
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4.2 • 242 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
"A powerful story that proves how love itself requires courage." --Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing
Spanning World War II and the sweep of the twentieth century, We Must Be Brave explores the fierce love that we feel for our children and the power of that love to endure. Beyond distance, beyond time, beyond life itself.
A woman. A war. The child who changed everything.
December 1940. As German bombs fall on Southampton, England during World War II, the city's residents flee to the surrounding villages. In Upton village, amid the chaos, newly married Ellen Parr finds a girl asleep, unclaimed at the back of an empty bus. Little Pamela, it seems, is entirely alone.
Ellen has always believed she does not want children, but when she takes Pamela into her home, the child cracks open the past Ellen thought she had escaped and the future she and her husband Selwyn had dreamed for themselves. As the war rages on, love grows where it was least expected, surprising them all. But with the end of the fighting comes the realization that Pamela was never theirs to keep. Spanning the sweep of the twentieth century, We Must Be Brave explores the fierce love that we feel for our children and the power of that love to endure. Beyond distance, beyond time, beyond life itself.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
British author and translator Liardet's moving American debut, set in WWII England, follows a childless woman discovering joy after she begins caring for a young girl. Ellen Parr is married to Selwyn, owner of the local mill in the village of Upton, near Southampton. In 1940, while helping evacuees of a nearby bombing who have arrived at Upton by bus, Ellen meets Pamela Pickering, a young child left alone on the bus. Ellen treats Pamela as the daughter she never had (Selwyn is impotent) for the next few years, until Pamela is eight and a relative of Pamela's finds her and takes her to live with family members. Though distraught by Pamela's departure, Ellen survives the devastation around her with the love and support of Selwyn, her childhood friend Lucy Horne, and other villagers who have been a constant presence in Ellen's life. Over 30 years later, Ellen befriends Penny Lacey, a lonely young boarding school student in Upton. Ellen glimpses similarities between Pamela and Penny, and they form a life-changing friendship. Readers will be captivated by Ellen's story, which is bolstered by a swift plot and characters who realistically and memorably grow.)
Customer Reviews
We must be brave
Started out really good but bogged down in the middle.
We must be brave
What a tear jerker. Made me think of all those families ripped apart by wwII. Children taken in by families to keep them safe and alive only to be ripped apart again after the war. I loved Pamela I could feel her pain. Zac what a twist with William being her father. Fantastic job creating get family and get history felt like I was right there. Thank You
We Must Be Brave
I had to quit reading this book. Boring!! The author had so many characters I couldn’t keep it all straight. Maybe she was being paid by the number of words in the book—I think she went through the telephone book for all the characters she was introducing. There was even a part where I couldn’t tell if she was talking about a person or a croquet ball. Uhh!!! I was never so frustrated in reading a book. I think I made it to chapter five before I realized this was not going to get any better. I had to rate it at one star which is one star too many.