thanks to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to review this book.
What a delightful read it was. Extremely well written and well chosen characters. Beautiful. Thank you to the author who captured times gone by.

This is a truly wonderful book, filled with love, heartbreak, courage, and loss, and oh so much more. We do not choose the families we are born to, but that does not mean we cannot create a family for ourselves. With characters beautifully drawn, situations and events crafted to wring every last drop of emotion, the author had given readers one of those books that is one your mind until long after you have finished reading it. A perfect selection for a reading group.

We Must Be Brave is an emotional, heartwarming drama set in World War Two.  An abandoned child is taken in by a young childless wife Ellen following the bombing of Southampton and is later reunited with her father and sent to live with his family in Ireland.  The sense of loss never leaves Ellen.  A powerful novel filled with interesting characters and a strong sense of time and place.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

A  charming story when Ellen finds a little girl Pamela alone on a bus one night she end up looking after her for 3 years and loves her so much She doesn't have children of her own so when Pamela's father turns up and takes her to Ireland to live with family Ellen has to let her go the story spans many decade's and eventually they find each other again  Beautifully written and very poignant read

A story about an orphan girl found on a bus after bombs had been falling during the second world war. She is found by a young woman who is determined to help and protect this young child. All the ups and downs of war times are shown, some very sad parts but some happiness. Great  conclusion.

3.5 stars for this read that focuses on a different aspect of world war 2, on the families disrupted in England. I found this a gentle read, really got to know the characters in the country village of Upton - particularly those of Ellen, Mr Kennett and their friends. It starts with a child found alone on a bus of evacuees from a Southampton bombing that needs to be taken in and continues from there. Overall I enjoyed it but it may be a little slow for some. 

Thank you to Harper Collins UK and Netgalley for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Beautifully written. It could easily be a memoir rather than fiction.  Great take on an evacuee story - really enjoyed it.  Definitely recommend.

Oh boy! Where to start with this one! 
I really like historical fiction but it has to keep my attention and this one in all honesty felt like it was dragging a lot!
Don't get me wrong there are parts of this book I loved! I think the relationships are beautiful between characters especially Ellen and Pamela. 
I love that this book highlights what it must have been like for children growing up in a war the only thing I struggled with was the lack of war talk! It's probably gruesome to want more details of the war but this is the area that it lacked in! I mean not a lot happened! 
Overall this book fell short for me! It's way too long for the story it tells! Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins, 4th estate for an arc in exchange for my honest review!

The premise of this book and the first third held such promise. A toddler found on a bus of evacuated Southampton residents during the blitz by a young woman married to a much older man in a marriage blanc. Taken in by them, the young woman's life fallls apart when the child's father traces her and wants her back. After this I felt that the narrative lost its way a bit. There follows a string of undelivered letters to the child, and a whizz through the theroine and her friends lives. 

I found most of the characters a bit stereotyped: a no nonsense private school headmistress, a kindly gardener, a formidable Lady of the Manor, a sweet but stupid working class friend. Most of the villagers we meer are childless which is a bit strange. The plot is also a bit overegged, especially a late reveal about parentage that wasn't needed. Hmm... a book of two halves.

A compelling heartfelt narrative. A quiet and understated love story. Bringing the atmosphere of the feelings of love and emotion through war-ridden times. I thoroughly enjoyed this emotional and moving book. Recommended.

Something about this book remained vague and without depth for me, leading to the premise of the narrative and plot never quite matching the reality of what Liardet presents to readers. Despite some good initial characterisation and atmospheric scaffolding, the playing out of the saga tends to drag at times, with some of the first quarter's vim and vigour not lasting. 

Infused throughout with the theme of parental doting and love, characters are clearly intended to be fierce, physically protective and yet outwardly tender. Liardet uses sensory description to depict the impact of this parental love in how each character experiences the other. It seems that Liardet is incredibly powerful in her presentation of the small bustlings of family life in wartime England. If the drama of family life, and the amusing, emotional and at times affecting presentation of real people, real relationships and the way everyday issues can be tackled, this book possibly has a lot to offer. Well-composed but a bit too slow off the mark for my tastes.

This is a truly remarkable story that had me in tears several times. The book begins during the Second World War and moves backwards and forwards through time. Ellen is a young wife who takes in a child during the chaos of war. The relationship between the two develops despite Ellen telling her husband she doesn’t want children. Throughout the book we also discover the hardships endured during Ellen's childhood and her unconventional but happy marriage.
This is a story of love, endurance and strength that will evoke strong emotion within the reader.

In Liardet's novel the main focus is on Ellen Parr - a childless young woman who, with her older husband, suddenly finds herself having to care for a young girl who has lost her family during the evacuation of Southampton during a WWII bombing raid. Ellen almost immediately bonds with young Pamela, although her husband takes a little longer to succumb, and I was soon also a fan of the youngster. She is determined, brave, fiercely loyal, cheeky and, often, completely wrong: a very real child. As we learn more about Ellen's own girlhood - a fall from a relatively wealthy early life to one of terrible poverty - and her marriage we begin to understand the spaces in her life which are filled by Pamela. The relationship they develop helps to sustain her even through the years after she and Pamela are parted - and enable her to help other young people she encounters over the years. The whole book is an exploration of how important a mutually nurturing relationship is to both a child and a parent (or parent figure) - but done with humour, emotion and a beautifully light touch.

"We must be brave" by Frances Liardet was a story design to tug at the hearts strings. With the main characters tested with hardships and impossible choices,, this book could be a right tear-jerker and even oversentimental. Instead, the author somehow managed to make it subtle and moving. Ellen is a young woman raised up from poverty through marriage to an older man. She knows how to endure and while the war rages on, she is busy with work, marriage and helping others.  She feels responsible for a little girl, Pamela, found on a bus alongside people escaping bombings and as she is trying to find her family, she also falls in love with the little girl. Their sudden and traumatic  separation will leave emotional scars on both of them for ever. Moving from the 1940s through the 1970s and to the beginning of the 21st century,  "We must be brave" charts the story of Ellen, while she navigates through the rest of her life. There is love and compassion, families and friendships. The characters are not perfect, but their flaws make seem them much more realistically human.

Set in a Hampshire village, it begins during the Second World War with a child found on a bus load of people fleeing the bombing in Southampton. The novel tells the story of the young woman who takes the little girl in until her family is found, and how this experience shapes her life. It is a beautiful portrayal of the many forms of love and is my favourite book, so far, this year.

Enjoyed this book, although it's not the easiest of reads and genuinely emotional at times. It goes beyond the general wartime story I imagined it would be and brought a lump to my throat at the end. I did find it a little slow around the middle but that's only a minor downside.

It's been a while since I cried my eyes out on reading a book. I cried near the middle and I think I cried all the way  through the last few chapters, real sobbing! 
I did have a little problem maybe half way through the book when I though it got a bit lost in descriptions of things that weren't relevant but skimming through those pages rectified that. It may just have been me wanting to get back to the story. 
I really loved this story ; a story of love between a woman and a child,a man and woman and between friends. The kind of love that lasts for a lifetime even if the person you love is not at your side. 
The book begins in 1940 with the child Pamela being found on the bus by Ellen. The bus is full of people who are escaping from the bombing in Southampton. In the confusion no one knows where Pamela's mother is. It was thought she was on another bus but everyone is so upset about the homes  they left behind that Pamela's problem is somewhat forgotten.
Ellen decides to take Pamela until someone claims her. She already has the evacuees all boys who are also from Southampton so a girl is a welcome guest. Ellen's husband Selwyn tries to find foster parent for the little girl and this enrages Ellen as she has fallen for Pamela and loves her already and wants to care for her which is exactly what her husband was afraid of.
We go back to the 1930's and Ellen's childhood. A heartbreaking riches to rags story, so sad that she would never have survived if not for the kindness of a few people.
The supporting cast in the book all had their place in Ellen's life. I Particularly liked Selwyn and William. I don't want to give any more of the story away as I feel it would spoil the  book for you.

I love stories written in this period of time and they seem to be in abundance at the minute, which is great for me! This one did not disappoint. One, the cover is beautiful and two, it is well written and captivating. It did take me a few chapters to get fully into the story but once I was in I was hooked. 

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to review this book.

When Ellen finds Pamela alone asleep on a bus she takes her home for the night to keep her safe from the air raids, Pamela’s mother can’t be found and later the police inform Ellen that she died in an air raid in Southampton, Ellen and Selwyn take Ellen in along with three other boys who have Ben places with them during the war. 

Years pass and Ellen and Oamela develop a strong bond until Pamela’s father turns up and both their lives are changed irrevocably. 

A lovely storied love, endurance and loss.