3 out of 4 stars
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The Evacuees by Terry Spring is a story inspired by true life events during World War II. It is the first book in the Our Song series. The story follows two sisters, Adele and Tania, who were among the evacuees moved out of London in 1940 as a result of fear of invasion by the Germans. The girls were relocated to Melbourne, Australia to stay with their uncle, Louis, and his wife, Monica. Melbourne was a very nice place. It was sunny, beautiful, and had great food, unlike London. However, the tension between their uncle and his wife, Monica's hatred for them, and the return of an abusive uncle, Edwin, made the girls long for a return to their family in London. The war ends and the girls finally return to London and the changes the war had on their family and London in general. Can Adele and Tania adjust to these changes?
The story starts off in Melbourne with a conversation between Adele and her work-friend, Sarah, about how life in London was. Adele remembers how frightening it was. How there was a shortage of food and bombs were dropped on houses, which forced her family to move to public shelters and then underground train stations. She narrated how they had to use gas masks, and how lessons in school revolved around identifying various aircraft when they flew in low, to recognize which ones would drop bombs. The author does a wonderful job here, expertly using a descriptive and well-detailed writing to take the reader back to how things were in London during World War II. The writing conveyed Adele's emotions very well, and it will help the reader feel what she felt. This was a good way to set the tone for the book.
I also found the author's way of writing dialogues interesting. Terry used mispronounced words to write in English and Australian accents, depending on the background of the character speaking. This made the story realistic. The book also showed the effect sexual harassment can have on someone's love life with the relationship between Adele and her abusive uncle, Edwin.
Furthermore, The Evacuees doesn't go in-depth to discuss how Adele and her family coped during the war, which made the book lack the suspense I hoped for. The only point I felt suspense was when Adele was almost raped. While the author does a good job on Adele's character development, the same cannot be said for other characters. I hoped to get to know more about Tania as she was one of the main characters, but I was disappointed in that regard.
The book is well organized with each chapter beginning with the location it is set in. Grammatical errors were few and far between, and this helped me navigate my way through the book easily. In the book's description, I read that it contains elements of romance, which was one of the things that drew me to this book. Even though the romance scenes surfaced only towards the end, it was worth the wait. I would recommend this book to lovers of historical nonfiction. It may also appeal to fans of romance novels. I enjoyed reading The Evacuees, but poor character development helped me make the decision to rate it 3 out of 4 stars.
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The Evacuees
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