Literature - 3 stars
A teenaged Elenor is sent to Coventry to care for her elderly aunt. There she meets the Sherbournes and their young daughter, Rose. After Elenor's aunt dies, Elenor returns to Cornwall to take over the family farm. When Hitler's bombs destroy Coventry in 1941, one of the survivors is six year-old Rose Sherbourne. A kind friend delivers her to to Elenor for safe keeping. But is she really safe? ----- This novel has been called "gripping" and "historical," but aside from the background of young English women being sent to help with farm work while the men are at war, and the use of POWs for the same thing, there is very little of historical interest: and I found nothing gripping about the story line. The characters are pretty standard fare--good-hearted Elenor, perky Rose (who is rendered in an off-putting, uneven way. On one hand she's reading an encyclopedia, on the other she writes letters filled with baby-ish language and misspellings), and of course the requisite soldier sweetheart complete with romantic misunderstandings. An average, predictable story with an ending foretold from page one.
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