The Light Over London

Prolific romance writer Kelly (The Look of Love) weaves an intricate, tender, and convincing tale of war and romance with skill and suspense. In 2017 London, assistant antique dealer Cara Hargraves discovers a WWII diary while preparing a manor house for an estate sale. Intrigued, Cara determines to identify the diarist and uncover her story. The diary’s entries begin in 1940, written, as Cara discovers, by 19-year-old Cornwall shopgirl Louise Keene. As Cara recovers from a devastating divorce, she and her handsome neighbor Liam McGown, who works with Cara, learn much about the diary’s author. Louise falls in love with dashing RAF pilot Paul Bolton, but her mother angrily disapproves, leading Louise to run away to London, join the British army, and become part of the female crew of an antiaircraft gun protecting London during the Blitz. Though Louise has a difficult personal life with Paul, she proves her independence and courage as a “gunner girl” shooting at German bombers. This is a bold story of a young woman’s innocence and heartache, and her satisfying discovery of her worth and inner strength. (Jan.)