Kicking off the new year with a book review, I couldn’t resist writing about the book I have just finished reading, Bicycles and Blackberries by Sheila Newberry. I’ve set myself the challenge of trying to read a book a week, although I know this will be harder once baby girl has arrived. However, I feel like I’ve accomplished something by being on book two of the year already. So what is this book about?

The Blurb

Can a good heart keep a mischievous girl out of trouble?

The East End, 1939.

When war comes to London, the bright and irrepressible Georgia Smith is torn from her tight-knit family and packed off as an evacuee to the east coast.

She moves in with Phoebe Bliss, whose cheerful smile masks a dark past that ten-year-old Georgia couldn’t possibly understand.

Soon Georgia finds herself involved in the complicated love lives of the village residents. But some secrets aren’t meant for little girls, and Georgia soon finds herself in danger.

My Review

Over the years, I have read a couple of books by Sheila Newberry but I have to admit she hasn’t ever really been someone I reach to often. It’s nothing against Sheila as an author, however I tend to find that her stories don’t captivate my attention in the way that others do. This paired with the fact that from the blurb, the book seemed to be from the view of a child, I was unsure how much I would enjoy this book.

Having said that, on the whole, I was pleasantly surprised because, despite being a child, she is mature for her age. Inquisitive and funny, you can’t help but like Georgia. In addition to that and to balance out the views of a child, other characters are introduced through the book, including her foster mum Phoebe and several other people from the village. It ends up giving the story a more rounded feel to it and gives the perspectives of two different styles – child and adult.

I like how Sheila is able to give you a snippet of detail about a secret through an adults perspective. Quite often throughout the story, you can then see how that secret and the tensions it holds over the adult, can affect the child. Whilst secrets are slowly revealed to the reader as the story goes on, you are often left with your mind wondering and piecing the clues together to get the full picture. It definitely helps with keeping you hooked.

A story of two parts

Despite what the blurb says, which as a side note, is a little misleading to the actual story, the book is split into two parts. The first is Georgia as a child, with the second being her as an adult. Whilst a lot of time and effort has clearly been spent on part one, I do feel that part two was largely rushed. Such a lot happened in a short space of time, I felt it was difficult to keep up.

When tragedy strikes, I feel it was almost brushed over, despite the character being so important and prominent in part one. This was disappointing and all I can say is I’m gad an epilogue was included because otherwise I think it would have just been left hanging in mid air. That would have been dissappointing further because there was no mention of a sequel.

Things I liked

• The innocence of children during wartime
• The “chosen” family lifestyle – blood family isn’t always best
• How prejudices were ignored despite the era (unmarried mothers), although I don’t know if this was more wishful thinking on the authors mind
• The strong resilience shown throughout, especially from the women

Things I disliked

• The rushed feeling in the second part
• It flitted between story lines a bit too quickly for my liking
• Brushing over significant events that could have been delved more into

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was a good story line, albeit rushed as mentioned. I do think I would read more Sheila Newberry books, however, I don’t think I would be rushing out to buy them when they hit the shops. I just don’t feel I have that connection with Sheila’s writing and would probably pick other authors over her, giving the choice. It doesn’t detract from the fact it was a good story line on the whole.

Overall rating:

Other posts you might enjoy:

Miss Carter’s War by Sheila Hancock

Girls in tin hats by Annie Murray

The Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell