A simply told story of Margot whose life turned upside down when she was just 16. Set against the backdrop of the end of WWI, this is an emotional tale that lets you understand the issues faced at that time. Perspectives include the vicar and his family, soldiers sent to the war - and prisoners/POWs, poverty, and life as a young single woman without means. An interesting book as it can take you many places. No flowery language or complex plots but simply written and absorbing. 3.75-4*

An easy read with a good storyline to keep me entertained. It handles the side effects of war, impulsive acts and the environment of a closed village life. The storyline is plausible though somewhere along the line I slightly wondered how they got away with it. Underneath it all is love both between individual's and a mother for her child.
I recommend reading this not because of the Christmas theme, that is incidental, but because it is a good read.

This is an excellent YA novella but holds appeal for older readers like myself too! It is written in an engaging way capturing the time period in a realistic and convincing way. We feel sympathy for the well drawn characters from Margot to Harry and Margot’s parents too. Moral conventions and Margot’s father’s position in the village as well as Margot’s youth and Harry bring MIA had forced the family into a very challenging position. Their solution was far from perfect but was understandably the best they could do. All the characters were vivid and convincing showcasing the talent of this author. The fragility of the relationships between Margot and her mother and between Margot and Harry were finely drawn and believable. Margot’s feelings about her son and her efforts to establish a connection amidst all the secrecy were poignant.
I really enjoyed reading this book and would definitely read more books by this author.

“Maybe this was just what happened when things like war got in the way. Maybe this was what being nearly-married to someone was like. Or maybe everything was over and they’d never really been in love at all.”
The Silent Stars Go By is a bittersweet, moving story which despite being set over a century ago still brings relevant and important issues to the surface with thoughtful feminist themes and commentary on war. This short novel captures such a variety of emotions and raises so many questions that really let the reader put themselves in the characters shoes while they navigate impossible situations.
Even with period language, this was masterfully written with short, easy to read chapters and a flow that makes this book run out of pages far too quickly.
The characters were beautiful - Margot was disillusioned, flawed and argumentative - but strong and caring, she was impossible not to love. She was not perfect, she had lied and pretended and made awful decisions - but with the time she lived in and the limitations she faced simply for being born a girl it's easy to see just how she came to make these impossible choices in impossible situations.
This wintery, beautiful story holds a poignant and emotive tale of love and loss that will leave you speechless.

A thought provoking read especially as currently there is a lot of talk about historically the stigma behind unmarried mothers who were forced to put their babies up for adoption
This is a brilliant read and highlights that love can be both cruel and kind .

A poignant tale of a mother without a child and, indeed, the title of mother. It's hard today to understand the terror a young unmarried woman would feel should she find herself pregnant, and to be honest, this book, with the story of a teenage mother and an unknowing soldier father, doesn't really deliver on helping the reader understand. Nothing truly awful happens to the mother, she's safe and well, not living in poverty and abandonment and her greatest challenge is telling the father - who clearly adores her. Perhaps more tension - a true risk of losing everything, would have delivered the point better.

A pleasant story about Margot and her young life, very readable and accurate to the period.
I enjoyed it, although it didn’t move me, or make a great impression on me. A nice book.

A moving, heartfelt story about Margot who found herself pregnant as a young girl when her fiancé was missing during war time. Many who found themselves in this situation at this time had to give birth at mother and baby homes, giving their new babies away for adoption. Instead Margot ending up giving her child to her parents. It would have been heart breaking for all these mums.

The Silent Stars Go By
Sally Nicholls

Christmas 1919, Britain. Margot has returned home for the first proper Christmas after ww1. Harry, Margot’s first love has returned too, believed to have been missing in action during the war. Margot has a secret she hasn’t been able to tell him until now.
Margot got herself into trouble, which I’m sure many women did during the war, she spends time in the Mother and Baby home and then moves away to be a secretary. But returning home at Christmas is hard for her, and finding the right to tell Harry proves difficult.
I wasn’t aware until reading this book that you couldn’t legally adopt a child until 1926.
I absolutely loved this book. A big thank you goes to NetGalley and Andersen Press for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review.

The Silent Stars Go By by Sally Nicholls is a charming historical YA novel that enchanted me from the start.
The novel is set in 1919 as Britain is returning to normal after World War I. The reader drops in on a country vicarage and follows the family as Christmas approaches. It has been years since they all celebrated together.
War affects lives. Soldiers returned, some with visible scars, others were hidden. It is easy to see why some could not settle back into civilian life. A character cannot hold a job down as part of his mind still remains at the Front.
The main theme of the novel is that of love. We see a young love that war interrupted and we see the love of mothers. Losing a child creates a gap that nothing can ever fill.
There is the sacrificial love of mothers. It is a love that acts in the best interests of their child, no matter how old they are.
As Britain returns to normality, the reader is treated to daily life in the vicarage and a New Years ball. The gaiety is infectious.
Secrets have been kept to protect the innocent but sooner or later they must surface.
The Silent Stars Go By was a positively delightful novel of a bygone age. I adored it. It was a totally charming read.
I received a free copy via Net Galley. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

A story of loss, heartbreak and carrying the burden of shame. When Margot's fiance returns after being missing in action, she must decide if she can disclose her greatest secret. A good insight into life during the war period.

I have been a fan of Sally Nicholls for many years and have recommended her books to both staff and students alike. This story of innocence lost, forgiveness, the aftermath of war and carrying on has well defined characters and a well researched storyline. I did not realise that adoption was illegal in England until 1926 and facts such as this are littered throughout the book.
As WW1 ends, the men return battered and changed, unready to face the future and in some cases unable to leave the war behind. The girls they left have had to change too, they have their own stories to tell - this is one of them.

It’s almost Christmas 1919. Margot travels home to her family at the vicarage from her lodgings and typist job in Durham. This will be the first Christmas since the war that her brother is home, and also her first love, Harry, who has been missing in action.
It all sounds like a simple recipe for happiness, but it’s a bit more complicated than that.
The Silent Stars Go By is a lovely Christmas read from Sally Nicholls. Her genuinely drawn characters interact within a warm family drama. The background of WWI is positioned beautifully for context, without becoming overwhelming. And while the central issues are not dealt with in much detail, all these lovely people all trying to do the right thing is uplifting at this time of year.

A beautiful YA historical novel about young love and the impact of WW1. Sally Nicholls has tenderly captured the post-war era and the complexities life would have thrown at an unmarried teenage mother in those times. Christmas 1919, Margot’s story unfolds as she looks back over the events of her last couple of years and her secret is uncovered. Her presumed dead fiancé has returned from the war and Margot battles with herself as to whether she should reveal her secret and whether her hidden dreams might become a reality. This book had me hooked from the start and I know that it will appeal to lovers of historical fiction and those who enjoy a touch of romance.
Many thanks to NetGalley for this e-arc.

The story is set after the first world war, with Margot returning to her family at the Vicarage. Her young son James has been brought up with her family, and she is excited to see him again. Though finding it difficult at first.
Harry her boyfriend, had been reported missing in action, and finding herself pregnant out of wedlock, she would have been scorned by friends and neighbours. Well researched, the author skillfully describes the village setting after the war, and explores the social norms at that time. Also the hardships endured, with shortages of foods, and goods of all kinds.
When meeting Harry again, Margot has to decide whether to tell Harry about his son, and realises the problems they both face. Consisting of short chapters, the story keeps pace though a little slow at times.

So moving and thought provoking. So sad that there was a time when women were forced to give up a child in shame of their illegitimacy. This book is both tender and sad. She’d lost her love to war and given up the fruits of that love.
I admired our character’s stoicism and her belief that one day all would be righted. Could that really happen? Was the die not cast? It’s a poignant story. Read it and decide for yourself.

A bittersweet and beautifully written story about unmarried women/mothers during the war. A short read but very enjoyable nonetheless.

The Silent Stars Go By is a fairly short but very readable and engaging story set in 1919, telling the story of country vicar's daughter Margot, who became pregnant just as her boyfriend Harry went off to war... and was subsequently declared missing in action. An unmarried pregnancy was of course a terrible and shameful thing at that time and - as probably happened quite often - was covered up, with Margot's mother raising the baby, James, as her own.

The story, opening when James is two years old, follows Margot dealing with her feelings both about him and the newly returned Harry, who has no idea what has happened in his absence. How can she possibly tell him what she has done, and is there any way back for their relationship and/or for them to be James's parents?

It's a quite simple and straightforward, beautifully written story told from Margot's point of view - there are no real subplots and the narrative takes place over quite a short period of time. It's an interesting insight into her situation - probably not an unusual one, but rarely heard - and into the roles and limited options open to women in the post-World War I period, Margot's sister Jocelyn providing another illustration. It's also something of a bittersweet romance.

A lovely read, recommended.

Thank you NetGalley and Anderson press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a lovely short story about lives after the Great War and how the characters are now affected by it.

It felt like this wasn't overly uncommon for parents to raise their grandchildren under the guise of them being the parents.

I enjoyed this and felt that this was true to what happened at the time at the end of World War one but the last chapter felt a little out of place and I don't know how I feel about how it ended

A delightful book with an old fashioned Christmas feel. It tells the tale of post war relationships and how they fare and the consequences arising from men having to serve. Margot has confusing feelings when her fiancé Harry returns from the war - does she tell him about their baby that she had at 16 and gave to her parents for adoption?

She struggles with being the child of a vicar whilst developing her own way in life. It was interesting to read about her still being chaperoned at the age of 19 when in company with Harry!