The Girl with the Suitcase by Lesley Pearse

 

London, 1941

When Mary meets a glamorous stranger named Elizabeth she realises their lives couldn’t be more different. Elizbeth is beautiful and charming, about to set off on a dazzling adventure to Ireland where she’s inherited a grand house. Mary, shy and meek, has nothing to look forward to but the dreary life of a maid in Hampstead.

But when an air raid forces them to take shelter underground Mary’s life is suddenly changed forever. After waking up in hospital, injured but alive, the nurse mistakes her for Elizabeth and hands over her suitcase with Elizabeth’s money and tickets to Ireland inside.

This is Mary’s chance to escape the hardship of her life and start afresh.

Will she take it and what could go wrong?

I am a big Lesley Pearse fan and have read the majority if not all of her previous books so I picked up her new release A Girl with the Suitcase without hesitation.

When I read the synopsis for this novel I was instantly intrigued and when I began reading this book being introduced to both Mary and Elizabeth I soon found myself engrossed in the story and was surprised how quickly events took place leading to the death of Elizabeth. When Mary took her identity it wasn’t done in a way that made it feel wrong but ultimately it was illegal and as we watch as Mary or as she became known as Beth as she navigates through the following years of her life with her new identity we are always waiting with bated breath to see if the truth will catch up with her eventually.

I was hooked from start to finish and Beth was an easy character to like. With the book being set in war times we get to see how rationing and romances were navigated in life. Abuse is a part of this book too which I feel needs mentioning incase this is a trigger for you.

Now as much as I enjoyed this book and at no point did my interest waiver I have to be honest and say that the first quarter of the book is when it feels like all the action happens and the remainder of the book felt a little like we were floating along in life with Beth with not a lot happening.

It didn’t put me off because I loved watching Mary reinvent herself as Beth creating a life she deserved but was denied because of her dreadful upbringing.

This is a captivating wartime novel with a main character who you are routing for from start to finish, a heart-warming novel to come out of such tragic events.

Available to buy HERE