Customer Reviews

The Leaving of Liverpool

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This is an entertaining piece of historical fiction about two sisters Mollie and Annemarie, and the very different lives they lead after being accidentally separated when Mollie misses the boat to New York, leaving her young sister on board. It is set before the second world war, and involves POV switches between several main characters and a few minor ones.

I find the author's prose to be interesting and realistic. The people she writes about are flawed, and sometimes not nice. As usual in most Lee books, family, infidelity,grief, loss, and marriage play a prominent role.

While I liked this novel, it wasn't perfect. The ending felt really weak. After all the build up in the book, we are sort of left hanging on a variety of issues. I was also a bit disappointed in the character of Mollie who gave up searching for her sister a bit too quickly.

Overall, though, this was a good book. I would recommend it for fans of Lee's or fans of historical fiction.

Again Maureen Lee has sparked my own childhood WWII memories. Though we went through rationing and other small hardships, her books reveal we had it pretty good on this side of the ocean. I was around 6 years old when America entered the war in 1941 so I remember those days quite clearly though I had no idea of how the children and families of Liverpool suffered. What an inspiration these fictional characters are...probably a reflection of those who actually lived it.Maureen's characters are so beliveable you feel as though you knew them personally, even those who were not exactly saints! Her storytelling is incomparable! Hope she continues to write. Will be checking out her page periodically.