"THE LAST NIGHT IN LONDON," BY KAREN WHITE

 

1940 - Two beautiful blonds modeling for a prestigious fashion house in London just prior to the declaration of WWll. One who has the opportunity to recreate herself. However, her determination to hide behind this new identity, and fear of losing someone she loves if the truth of her past were to be discovered leads her to become trapped in a situation that threatens to destroy everything she holds dear. 

Present Time - Madison returns to England from America, where she grew up in Georgia and has lived as an adult in NYC as a freelance writer. She has been asked by her Oxford college friend, who is a fashion editor for British Vogue, to interview and write an article about Jeanne “Precious” Dubose. Precious was a model in London before WWll, and then in Paris following the war. Madison is surprised to find that a flame from the past is an integral part of the research into the life of Precious Dubose, and she will have to once again to decide if her past will dictate her future. 

Karen White has been a long time favorite author of mine, my go to author for a good read or recommendation for a friend. I was thrilled to get the chance to read an advanced copy of her newest book to be released in 2021. As much as I would have loved the idea of a book written about the WWll era in the form of a dual timeline several years ago, there has been a bit of saturation of both in the literary world in the last decade or more, and therefore I wasn’t quite as excited at the premise. However, it WAS written by Karen White, and is still one of the most interesting time periods in which to read, so I jumped! 

While the present day narrative seemed to drag a bit at times, I did appreciate some of the whit, and enjoyed the modern day characters. The WWll era story was much stronger and more interesting. I went from having it all figured out at the beginning, and then realizing that perhaps I didn’t, to somewhere in between by the end. I also learned some things about London during the Blitz that I had never heard before in all of my reading on that era! 

I believe the author was attempting to pull in some characters from two of her former novels that took place in Georgia, and the end especially demonstrated this. Having not read the other novels I felt it weekend the ending a bit, but for those who have read them, I am sure it was a great inclusion. 

I would definitely recommend this book to friends once it is published (and a few mistakes here and there ironed out). 

*Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced digital copy of this book! A positive review was not required, and the opinions expressed in this review are my own.