It's Now or Never

April 15, 2014
Francis (Memories Are Made of This, 2013), a prolific author of sweet English sagas, takes readers to 1955 Liverpool in her latest, which focuses on aspiring actress Dorothy and seamstress Lynne, who first met in a home for unwed mothers during the war. Dorothy finally has a chance at her big break, but her longtime boyfriend, Sam, wants to get married. Lynne has spent 13 years raising her daughter, sacrificing her youth to be a good mother. Chance encounters bring the two women into the same social circle, and Lynne is soon drawn to Sam, a nice-guy detective weary of Dorothy's antics. A wide range of secondary characters, including Lynne's American half-brother, a waitress who wants to be an artist, and a teen who may be smitten with Lynne's daughter, rounds out this overstuffed tale. There's almost too much going on heresweet romance, a couple of mysteries, and secrets galorebut fans of light historical fiction will enjoy this novel as Francis effectively captures postwar Liverpool and uses her younger characters to foreshadow the youthquake that will soon sweep England.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)