AN ORPHAN IN THE SNOW

Her childhood was not an easy one, her father was a violent drunk and her mother died way too young. Haunted by her younger sister's death, June can't take home life anymore and travels from her home to accept at job in Liverpool at Dr Barnardo’s orphanage. June couldn't save her sister from their father's violence but she feels the need to try to help the evacuees and orphans at the orphanage. Matron as she insists on being called is in charge of the orphanage. She hasn't a compassionate bone in her body. There is no talking to her and running an idea by her that suggests a change in something, no compromises. It's her way and that's it. June meets a young man on the bus on the way to Dr Barnardo’s orphanage, Flight Lieutenant Murray Andrews. Is there a chance for a romance to take off for them when bombs are tearing their world apart ? My favorite character of the book was Lizzie. She is a child who has become mute because of a fire wiping out her entire family while she was at her grandparents house. This child is only 3 and has no one except June at the orphanage. She is in everyone's corner and always takes an extra moment to talk to and comfort the children when they need it. Matron meanwhile is just plain mean and believes in harsh discipline. I loved seeing the progress Lizzie made and seeing her come out of her shell and act like a little girl again that is full of excitement all with June's kindness and compassion. As the book progresses I learned some interesting things about Jane's family and Matron. I enjoy reading about children in orphanage's and seeing them get help and have a happy ending.<br />Pub Date 30 Nov 2017 <br />Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a review copy in exchange for my honest review.

June Lavender is a proper heroine: brave and determined, yet haunted by past events. She connects with the children in Barnado’s in a way that only the most cynical reader would dismiss. Molly Green uses her considerable skill to craft June as she takes her character through personal, emotional and physical dangers. June’s generosity and goodheartedness shine through.<br /><br />The author creates an authentic 1940s environment - her research is excellent, from uniforms, dialogue, and the physical and social milieu. She also challenges the usual wartime story by including characters who appear unsympathetic and are indifferent or event hostile to Britain’s wartime effort.<br /><br />Although easily described as heartwarming, this is not a sentimental, slushy read; a clever trick to pull off. Highly recommended.<br /><br />Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy from the publisher free of charge.

A world war two story that was a really enjoyable read. Very well written and very hard to put down.<br />Recommended.

A wonderful heartwarming read.

Trigger warnings for sexual assault and rape.<br /><br />I picked this book up randomly. There was a cute 'blind-date' book stand at a bookstore, where the books were wrapped and had brief descriptors like romance, WWII etc.. I thought that it sounded fun, and the books were very cheap so I gave it a go, and unwrapped this book. And I won't be making that mistake again; this is why I vet the books I want to read.<br /><br />The first half of this book was ok. The main issue was the writing, it tells you instead of shows you which was very frustrating. The inner monologue of the main character June, was mainly her just going oh but I musn't think of this, and then have an awkwardly shoe horned in flashback or description of the love interest's eyes. Out of all of this book's flaws, the poor writing is what ultimately made this a very painful book to read. I do believe that this is a debut novel, so I'm not going to write off Molly Green, but the writing was truly underwhelming. <br /><br />I also had a problem that there was much ambiguity of what was made a person 'good' or 'bad'. There are brief attempts but they are moved on from incredibly quickly with absolutely no resolution. The 'bad' people in the story, the Matron and her assistant, end up being nazis. Which again, isn't really talked about, just sort of oh yes they're nazis, well that means we should probably get rid of them. And then they just sort of disappear and we never hear about them again. June's priorities are also really messed up. She thought she had killed her father, she was thinking about Murray dying, she was being told of her friend's engagement, and the only thing she could think about was herself and when she would next see Murray and whether he would still lover her.<br /><br />And don't get me started on their relationship. They must have spent less that 24 hours together in this whole book and they get engaged??? I was so confused when they were saying that they loved each other. They barely know each other. I understand that relationships moved quicker during the world wars, but this was ridiculous. Murray also made me uncomfortable in the beginning. The way they met could even be described as sexual harassment. He puts her in an uncomfortable position and then forces her to have excessive physical contact with him and enjoys her obvious discomfort. That was a big yikes from me. And then this romanticised by all of the characters. <br /><br />This is a massive red flag for the rest of the book. Trigger warnings for sexual assault and rape. As a plot-point June is sexually assaulted by her friend, a man in the airforce who had been helping her through an extremely traumatic day. The attempted rape is interrupted by a bombing, and he saves her life after she makes an incredibly stupid decision to go into a bombed building during more bombing to save a stuffed animal (not the point but what???). We then get to listen to June's internal feelings of shame and self-hatred, because she feels like she is to blame and thinks that everyone will hate her. Now, this is not what I have issues with. This reaction is unfortunately realistic, and would have been even more so at the time. But it is not really challenged, and even when it is it's more in the manner of well June has nothing to ashamed of because she isn't that type of girl and therefore has done nothing wrong. This theme of girl-hatred and slut-shaming is sickeningly constant through the entire novel and was very disappointing. Especially as this isn't an old book and I hold more recently published books to a higher standard in this regard. But anyway, she agonises over telling Murray what happened because she doesn't want him to think that she had sex with anyone else. And there is an attempt to show that she was a victim, it is very poorly done and skated over. <br /><br />I don't really have that many good things to say. The orphanage setting had potential but there was not much development and honestly there were just too many characters to contend with. Overall, a very disappointing read and I'm sad that I've encountered my first one star of the year less than 10 days into 2021. I wouldn't recommend this because of a combination of poor writing quality and then the problematic elements but if after all this you aren't discouraged, go ahead! Maybe you'll have a different opinion than I did.

June had a horrible childhood and the loss of her younger sister by an abusive father haunted her. When a job came up as a nursery nurse at Dr. Barnardo's home for orphans, June saw this as a way to make up for Clara's death. Little did June know that she would soon face the evil matron of the house who to all apprearances seemed to hate kids.<br /><br />This book had it all. The war was raging and things were rationed, the home was near an air base so we had dances with the soldiers and love interests. June was a character who was young and yet knew how to relate to children, even those with real problems caused by the horrors of war. The matron was developed as a character that you hated from the start. You wondered how young June was going to survive her when she seemed to clearly hate June and gave her jobs that were not a part of what the matron's assistant would be doing, while she avoided work herself. Luckily, Green also developed some characters that could help support June and clearly enjoyed their work with the children.<br /><br />If I know that a book revolves around war, I tend to avoid it. I read my friend, Anita's review and thought that since our tastes were similar I would probably enjoy this one. She was right when she recommended it to me. It certainly deserved the rating that I gave it and gave you a glimpse of what war was like for the children.

<strong>3-1/2 stars</strong><br /><br />I gave this book 3-1/2 stars as it didn't quite reach a 4-star status. There was so much repetitiveness. The same things were hashed around hundreds of times, misunderstandings, details given again and again. The book could've been a third shorter. This is an easy read, and it was very predictable. It was pleasant enough, but not very deep in thought or plot. I did like the main character, June. For 20 years old, though, she was able to handle things pretty well with only a few breakdowns here and there. However, she went through hard times when she was younger. The Matron was a stormy character. She was a good antagonist, but I wasn't satisfied with how things ended with her. There wasn't a solid reasoning. I won't say more so it's not spoiled for future readers. The cook was amiable, and Iris was good as June's friend. Being so different, they complemented each other. All in all, it was a pretty good story, but tedious with the repetiveness.

I see that I’m in the minority here with my “average” rating. However I just didn’t love this book. The main character sounded much more juvenile in her thoughts than I would have expected someone her age and in that position to be. I felt like I was reading a book written for young adults...and maybe I was and just didn’t realize it! I also thought, because of the title and book cover, that there would be more of a store with Lizzie. That part seemed to be started but not well developed. The story was ok but just not what I thought it was going to be as it turned into more of a love story than I anticipated.

Although I read this with my Christmas reads, this is not a Christmas story. An Orphan in the Snow is an Historical Fiction book, set during WW2. The story tells of life at Liverpool’s Dr Barnado’s Home. These homes were originally opened to give orphans and street children a place to live safely, but during the war they also housed evacuees. The expression of "The road to hell is paved with good intentions" came to mind as I read this book. It is not as bad as some of the orphan train books, but there is harsh treatment in this story that is rectified by the end. This book centers on June Lavender, who takes a job as the assistant to the matron after the death of her sister. She can no longer live with her father, who was responsible for her death. June is kind hearted and wants to make sure all the children have the best care and treatment. She is up against the hard hearted matron, who has rules in place that she believes are in the best interest of raising strong, non-pampered children, but in truth are punishing them. One child in particular, Lizzie, tugs at June's heart. She is only four and doesn't speak. She has been banished to the nursery and is not even allowed out to eat meals. She is "guarded" by a mean and unhappy young woman, who is making life even more miserable for Lizzie. June defies matron by taking Lizzie outside to play in the snow and finally sees a smile and hears some words. Can June turn this home around and bring kindness and light into the lives of the children?<br /><br />This was an uplifting story about the power of love, kindness and perseverance. June is a wonderful character, who refuses to cower under the matron. She is able to get many of the staff on her side to support her and report incidence to the managers that come to visit, after their pleas fall on deaf ears when they talk to matron. As we learn about June's past, I quickly understood why she was so adamant that the children be well treated. The children are so sweet. Some are scared and try to hide from the world, some are extremely helpful with the younger children, and some are just kids trying to survive under terrible circumstances. There is also a storyline about June and a pilot she met at a local dance. It didn't overpower the story, but added another realistic element to the book. I loved how this story ended with an uplifting and hopeful conclusion. It touched on several themes including bombings, discrimination, child rearing, family issues, war and it's losses and injuries, and some romance. This was a well-written story that pulled me in from the beginning and kept me interested throughout.

If you are interested in war books then this book will be perfect for you. The book explored the orphanage within london which saw the development of in particular one of the workers. The reason I didn’t give it five stars because this is not my typical book genre. <br /><br />The plot, characters and development of the story was amazing. I was constantly wanting to read the next part of the story. There was a couple of unraised questions that as the reader you was desperate to know. There was no cliffhangers which I thoroughly enjoyed. I would recommend this book to readers which an interest in war books and interested in heavy loaded character / plots.