Read The Secret Orphan Glynis Peters Books

Product details Paperback 400 pages Publisher HarperImpulse (July 23, 2019) Language English ISBN-10 0008348022

The Secret Orphan Glynis Peters Books Reviews

• the book could have undergone at least one more edit, assuming it had already had at least one. Misplaced modifiers galore. Missing punctuation. Transitions? Very few. I could go on. At the end I wondered whether this line of books is supposed to read like the Reader's Digest Condensed version. Or, as I suspect, editors don't edit anymore. The 4 stars are for storyline.
• The Secret Orphan is by Glynis Peters. This book is set in England beginning in 1940 during World War II. It also skips to the present, nearly sixty years later, where a woman is dying and she begins to relive her life.
  Elenor was summoned to her Aunt’s home and reluctantly went. At least she was getting away from being a slave to her brothers. The only affection she had had was when her Mother was alive. Their Dad had a very stubborn opinion that women were only there to take care of their man. Therefore, it was her responsibility to take care of him and her twin brothers. When he died, things just became more difficult for Elenor. Then, their Aunt summoned her to come take care of her. Her brothers simply said goodbye and left it at that. Elenor loved her family farm but knew there was no place for her. At her Aunt’s home, she was expected to take care of her aunt and learn to be a lady. It was difficult for Elenor; but she did her best. Her aunt lived in a house with a housekeeper and her husband and daughter. George, the husband, was a tutor and was gone a lot. Victoria cooked and kept house while raising their daughter, Rose. Other than giving her a place to stay and food to eat, neither paid much attention to Ruth. Ruth and Elenor became good friends as both were lonely. For Rose, Elenor put up with George’s chauvinistic ways. Then, her aunt died leaving Elenor alone. She went back to the family farm for safety and because it was now hers alone since both boys were killed in the war. Can she run the farm by herself?
  Rose was a darling little girl who was very bright and a brilliant pianist, even at five. Her parents gave her food and shelter but didn’t give her love. Victoria was lucky to be able to find a position which allowed her husband and daughter to live with her. Victoria was careful to keep Rose away from the main house when possible. After Elenor left for the farm, Rose and her Mother stayed at the house, keeping it going. George was in London on a trip and died in the Blitz. When bombers flew over Coventry, their house was hit. Rose was found alive in the ruin but Victoria was dead. Where was Rose to go since her family was wiped out. Of course, to Elenor. Can she survive the nightmares of the raid? Will Rose adjust to the country?
  The book is great. It shows clearly the complicated life a woman had during
• The lack of editing is so bad, it takes what might have been an interesting plot & likeable characters & turns them into annoying exercises in patience. There's a reason it was only 99 cents. If you've got nothing else to read, this might do.
• The best parts of the story are scenes of everyday life at the worst parts of the war. The number of people it took to work on a farm, raising food not just for themselves but overseen by officials trying to produce for everyone is fascinating. The fact that the healthy young men that would have been doing this work were away at war or dead, so it was done by women. The Wikipedia article on Coventry has some historical background to explain a few things that probably most British know but most Americans don't - and a particular plot point isn't explained in the book.
• I loved the book. The characters were so real. It was really a good book but I was not happy with the ending, I thought it should of said more. But I still enjoyed it.
• Interesting story. I think the character development could have been done better. I found the writing stilted and some things went totally without explanation.
  There was a mention by Jackson that he had received a picture of a plane from Rose asking about the plane he flew. Rose said she did not send that. The matter was dropped there rather than used as a hint that Rose's father had ulterior motives.
  Elenor left servants she did not like nor trust in charge of her home and belongings. There had even been evidence that the man had been pilfering her aunts belongings.
  Over and over, situations were presented that nothing came of. Too many loose ends.
• How i loved this book!! A story of love and compassion. It had humor and the author had a good knowledge of human behavior. The story line kept moving and was hard to put down. Very goid
• I ound the characters rather weak and although the parts relating to the farming during the war were interesting I think it failed to show how exhausted most of the workers were. What I didn't like was in fact the ending. I would point out that over 20,000 German POW's stayed in the UK after the war along with over 25,000 Italians that even went home and returned with their families. So to imply that Eleanor would have simply lost the child was totally wrong as we know many Jewish children that arrived in the UK were fostered and later adopted without any problems. Nobody would have considered at that time sending any child back to Germany.