1945, England: When Rosie Lyman travels to the Lake District as a volunteer to help children rescued from the horror of the concentration camps after the Second World War, she hopes that by caring for the young orphans, she can distract herself from the loss of the man she loves and her beloved daughter.
From the moment the children arrive, Rosie is rushed off her feet as she welcomes the new arrivals. But when she notices one particularly quiet girl, who has isolated herself from the other children, Rosie senses a wealth of sadness inside Frieda similar to her own and becomes determined to help her.
As she struggles to connect with the young girl, Rosie meets one of the adults traveling with the children, Leon Rosenblat. And although they don't always see eye to eye, as they begin to care for the orphans, Rosie senses a warmth within him, and soon finds herself thinking about his kind smile, dark hair and glittering brown eyes...
But as time passes, Rosie finds her own grief harder to contain. And as she watches Frieda and the other children begin to heal, she realises she must face her own heartbreak and loss. Is Rosie brave enough to share her story? And, if she is, will she finally be able to trust her heart once more?
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'When do you think they will arrive?' Rosie Lyman carefully propped the teddy bear against the pillow before she turned to the speaker, Jean McGee, another worker at Calgarth Estate.- CHAPTER ONE, AUGUST 1945
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(@bookouture, 14 June 2023, e-book, 246 pages, ARC from the publisher via @NetGalley, Blog Tour 17 June, #POPSUGARReadingChallenge, a book that comes out in the second half of 2023)
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I loved The Last Orphan. I've read and loved all of the Amherst Island books so knew I would enjoy this. This picks up not long after the last book, An Island Far From Home with Rose still healing from the events that changed her life forever. Rose is very different in this book, much older. It's been a pleasure to watch her grow. Like the other books, this is packed with emotional upheaval and heartache. I loved every word. This is worth a read.
