When We Fall by Carolyn Kirby @novelcarolyn @noexitpress @annecater

Book Description:

From the acclaimed author of The Conviction of Cora Burns, longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award

England, 1943. Lost in fog, pilot Vee Katchatourian is forced to make an emergency landing where she meets enigmatic RAF airman Stefan Bergel, and then can’t get him out of her mind.

In occupied Poland, Ewa Hartman hosts German officers in her father’s guest house, while secretly gathering intelligence for the Polish resistance. Mourning her lover, Stefan, who was captured by the Soviets at the start of the war, Ewa is shocked to him on the street one day.

Haunted by a terrible choice he made in captivity, Stefan asks Vee and Ewa to help him expose one of the darkest secrets of the war. But it is not clear where everyone’s loyalties lie until they are tested…

Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day and based on WWII war atrocity the Katyn massacre, When We Fall is a moving story of three lives forever altered by one fatal choice.

My Thoughts:

Having read and really enjoyed the authors debut novel, I was eager to read her newest offering, When We Fall.

Set during the war, I really liked that we get to meet a female pilot. It’s certainly not something you see often in historical fiction so I was slightly in awe of Vee. I have to say the cover is just perfect for the story within in it.

Through the characters, we get to see what life was back then. The people in the front line as well as people trying to help out within the secret intelligence. It makes it at times a fraught read, knowing the risks that some of them are taking.

Vee and Ewa’s lives are entwined by one man. Stefan. Admittedly I wasn’t over keen on Stefan. It’s hard to know how any of us would act when we are faced with life threatening decisions and a war going on. I would like to think that I wouldn’t have messed with two different but strong women in their own rights, feelings.

When We Fall took me on an engrossing journey that had me go through an array of emotions. It is a stark look at the lengths people went to back then. The author’s writing is mesmerizing. She has a wonderful gift of story telling that captivates her readers. Very different to her last book but equally as good. I for one can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

My thanks to Anne Cater and No Exit Press for an advanced readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.

When We Fall is available to purchase from Amazon.

CAROLYN KIRBY is the author of The Conviction of Cora Burns which was longlisted for the Historical Writers’ Association Debut Crown Award.

Before being a full-time writer, Carolyn worked in social housing and as a teacher. 

She has two grown-up daughters and lives with her husband in Oxfordshire.