The English Wife
by Adrienne Chinn

Amazon / B&N / HarperCollins / GP/ Apple

Publisher: One More Chapter (February 16, 2021)

Paperback: 448 pages

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.

Traveling 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…

This is a timeless story of love, sacrifice, and resilience perfect for fans of Lucinda Riley, Lorna Cook, and Gill Paul.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

The crossing had been awful, the waves a seascape of mountains and valleys, the ship like a cork bouncing and tipping its way across the Atlantic.

She imagines him in twenty years’ time, jowls dropping from his square jawline, his eyes drooping and watery. By then he’d look like a vulture. Turning into his spirit creature.

You look fine. You could wear my grandfather’s pyjamas and you’d look amazing. If I wore my grandfather’s pyjamas I’d look like my grandfather.

Those chaps could find a diamond in a glass mountain.

My Review:

This captivating tale was quite the saga, I couldn’t seem to put it down and despite its impressive length of 450 pages, I absorbed most of it in a day and savored every well-chosen word. The storylines were skillfully nuanced, devastating, cunningly contrived, and brilliantly paced; my curiosity was well and truly tipped from beginning to end. The characters were cleverly constructed, curiously compelling, and realistically flawed. Poor Ellie, she was forever to be screwed over by her sister, as dramatic Dottie was a piece of work.

I realized I was woefully unenlightened of Newfoundland other than a vague awareness of where it resided on a map. I adored the frequent use of their Creole and argot with such colorful and imaginative phrasings, although their gut-foundered menus of scrunchions and cod and brewis, as well as their frigid weather, sounds simply ruinous. And while I was quite taken by their belief and understanding of fairies, personally, I much prefer Tinkerbell.

I was provided with a review copy of this absorbing tale by TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

About the Author

Adrienne Chinn was born in an old paper-making town in Newfoundland and grew up in rural Quebec and Montreal. She retraced her English father’s footsteps back to England, where she now lives and works as an interior designer.

She travels all over the world to speak at international events, and leads design retreats in her beloved Morocco, which she has been visiting regularly for over ten years.

When not writing or designing, Adrienne can be found puttering in her Sussex garden; trawling flea markets; swimming anywhere she can find a lake, sea or pool; or in the queue at Gatwick heading off somewhere new.

Find out more about Adrienne at her website, and follow her on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.