The Last Night in London

March 22, 2021
White expands on her Walton, Ga., universe (Falling Home) to spin a dual-timeline WWII romance spiced with murky identities, intrigue, and betrayal. In 2019, freelance journalist Maddie Warner, a Walton native, travels to London to research an article about wartime fashion. She interviews 99-year-old Jeanne “Precious” Dubose, a distant relative, who modeled in London and Paris during the war, and unexpectedly encounters Colin Eliot, a friend and almost-lover from her study abroad year at Oxford, whose family has known Precious for decades. Colin loves Maddie, but she initially resists a relationship, uncertain how he’d fit into her future, since she can’t have children. In 1939, Precious’s flatmate and fellow model Eva Harlow falls in love with handsome and wealthy Graham St. John and hides her lower-class background, prompting a German acquaintance of Graham’s to blackmail Eva for information about Graham’s new duties as an RAF pilot. Eva confides to no one, but after German bombs fall on London in October 1940, the truth of Eva’s actions are exposed. The romance between Maddie and Colin unfolds with comfortable predictability as Maddie races to capture Precious’s story, and White drops heavy clues throughout about the links between past and present. None of this, though, will prevent her fans from inhaling this page-turning story. Agent: Amy Berkower, Writers House.

March 15, 2021
In 1939, full of youth and optimism, Ethel Maltby has come to London to reinvent herself. She lives with her new friend Precious Dubose in a small flat they can barely afford, and the two young women model elegant fashion and socialize at lavish nightclubs. Hoping to fit into high society and leave her past behind, Ethel changes her name to Eva Harlow and plans to never look back. But the war soon takes everything from Eva, and she must reinvent herself once more to survive. Eighty years later, Maddie Warner travels to London to write an article about fashion icon Precious Dubose. When a past love is unexpectedly rekindled, Maddie denies her feelings and tries to focus on her writing instead. She soon discovers Precious' life story isn't what it seems, and works to unravel the truth about Precious and Eva at the start of WWII. Prolific author White (Dreams of Falling, 2018) intertwines the stories of two women, separated by generations but connected by grief, who both survive loss and reinvent themselves after tragedy.

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May 7, 2021

Alternating between 1939 and 2019, this novel about the Blitz has it all: intrigue, espionage, betrayal, and true love that spans the decades. In 1939, Eva Harlow and her American friend Precious Dubose work as models in a dress shop in London. In 2019, American Maddie Warner returns to London to interview 99-year-old Precious about her wardrobe, for British Vogue. But there's a small snag; Precious is the stand-in gran to Colin, the man Maddie left behind years ago. What isn't Precious telling Maddie? The secrets of her wartime years will slowly come to light, as Maddie and Colin reconnect over their research and realize that things are not always what they seem, past or present. This engaging novel has two strong story lines and compelling characters, as well as family drama across the United States--England divide in both eras. VERDICT Reminiscent in tone of the past/present romantic suspense of Lauren Willig's "Pink Carnation" series, White's ("Tradd Street" series) novel's wartime intrigue and contemporary romantic clash of characters will appeal to many. Recommended for readers who enjoyed Jennifer Robson's The Gown or Jeanne Mackin's The Last Collection.--Melanie Kindrachuk, Stratford P.L., Ont.

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