Want in on a Secret?
Friends! Don’t you love being in on a good secret every now and then? I sure do.
I want to let YOU in on several secrets, all found, oh, you guessed, in a captivating novel...The book?
Secrets of a Charmed Life by Susan Meissner
Being a fan of all the books I’ve read by Susan, Secrets of a Charmed Life did not disappoint. The only disappointment I found was in finishing the book. Smile.
The book opens and closes in our modern day era, neatly tying the plot up in a knot. Susan’s writing packs a punch. For example in the very first chapter these questions are posed,
“What good is remembering an event if you don’t remember how it made you feel? How it impacted others. How it made them feel. You would learn nothing and neither would anyone else.”
This novel takes place during World War II. It’s set in London, and we begin to witness the war’s effect on many families. Most parents send their children off into the countryside to live in foster homes for protection from the Luftwaffe which kept raining bombs on London.
We readers get to meet two sisters, Emmy and Julia Downtree, who live with their mother, Annie. The girls have two different fathers. That alone impacts the story, along with the fact that their mother who works, forcing Emmy to help care for Julia.
When we meet the girls, they’re fifteen and seven. Emmy’s penchant for designing wedding gowns lands her a job at a bridal shop nearby, doing alterations with promise of a meeting with a real designer in the future.
That comes to a sudden halt with the warning of more bombings because Annie decides this time, she must send the girls away. (She was one of the few parents who didn’t send them away the first time threats occurred.)
Soon the girls find themselves on a train bound for Morteton-in-Marsh, with seventy children in total, accompanied by a schoolteacher. Since Emmy was one of the older children, Alice, the schoolteacher, asks her to help her with the others.
Upon arrival, all the children are led to a holding area where foster parents come to choose who they will take home. One couple approaches Emmy and Julia, but they only want to take Julia. Emmy has words with them saying they will not separate.
Alice admonishes Emmy who quickly retorts, “I will not keep my voice down, I will not allow my sister and me to be trafficked like slaves. This is debasing.” Wow! That’s a perspective I’d not considered...
As if God Himself planted an angel-in-disguise, a woman’s voice suddenly says, “You are absolutely right, dear.” Enter Charlotte Havelock.
Susan’s description of her is one of many examples of her gift of writing: “Her skin was wrinkled but in a nice way, as if she had one day started smiling and then had never stopped.”
Emmy and Julia soon get to jump in Charlotte’s car and head to “Thistle House,” her home, which offers one delight after another for the girls to uncover. Charlotte’s home is in Stow-in-the-Wold, just a few miles away.
Charlotte teaches the girls that most homes have names as they’re all in an area called the Cotswolds where limestone and sheep are plentiful. Julia declares “Cots are little beds.” Charlotte says of the Cotswolds, “This place has a way of welcoming you in, even if you are a stranger.”
As hard as Emmy tries not to become attached to anything, we readers get to see her softening: “Still, she sensed the subtle emergence of Charlotte’s seemingly warless world where everything appeared to be bathed in butter.” What a visual!
In spite of the dire situation in London, the girls’ lives become abundantly blessed at Thistle House. Charlotte’s attention to both of them seems even better to me than their own mother’s attempts.
Being a retired schoolteacher, Charlotte insists on frequent library visits, all of them toting multiple books home. The other fun thing to watch is Charlotte’s knack for uncovering the girls’ interests. (It’s a good reminder for us parents and grandparents with our own children.) You won’t believe one thing Charlotte allows Emmy to work on—sorry, not spoiling the surprise...
Faith is important in Charlotte’s life. Prayer and God’s divine touch are often mentioned. This was something new for the girls and it’s lovely to experience with them.
Sadly, this seemingly perfect situation for Emmy and Julia is all too quickly thwarted by an appointment Emmy is supposed to keep with a costume designer in London. Emmy plans an escape on her own, however Julia uncovers it, insisting on going too.
Leaving in the night, will the girls survive the bombings in London? When they become separated, will they find one another again? What will become of their lives? Their mother? Charlotte? Ah, my friend, you must read this delightful novel to find out...
Now run, don’t walk to your nearest bookstore and grab The Secrets of a Charmed Life.
‘Til next time!
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the page above are “affiliate links.”