MEET ME UNDER THE CLOCK BY ANNIE MURRAY

HIGHLY RECOMMEND
***** RATING

MEET ME UNDER THE CLOCK

A book that will draw you in and keep you enthralled. One that you won't be able to put down. 

Annie Murray brings to life the war years of Birmingham through the eyes of two families living next door to each other.

You experience their struggles to keep food on the table, their losses, and the heartbreak of first love - never an easy path, but during wartime when more obstacles to happiness than usual are present, then love is a fragile emotion that has to be nurtured through letters. 

Many, whose paths would never usually cross, are thrown together during war . War work makes this inevitable and it is so for sisters, Sylvia and Audrey.

Betrayal and courage are at the heart of this novel. As are complicated relationships, at a time when only the norm of boy meets girl is acceptable and all other liaisons are scandalous. 

Bigotry of the natural all encompassing forbidden love that Audrey is drawn to when she joins the WAAF leads to her making the wrong choices, which in turn, brings her heartache and threatens to sever family ties forever.  

Sylvia's heart is broken when the actions of a new friend she meets when she takes up war work as a porter on the railway, shatters her happiness.  Only for her to have her life put back together again by someone she's known forever, the boy next door. However, 'missing in action' are terrible words and are like a never-ending sentence. When Sylvia reads them her heart is once more torn to shreds.

These sister's stories and the many sub-stories of their families will hold you riveted to the end, and then you will be left with a feeling that you have lost a whole group of best friends as you have to say goodbye to them. One to read over and over.

The lasting impression left with you is a hunger for more from Annie. But as this is Annie's 19th book, there are plenty to go at.