Shelter by Sarah Franklin

Set to the backdrop of the Forest of Dean during the dark days of World War Two. Shelter by Sarah Franklin is a story of love and solace, a novel that at times is heartbreaking and also uplifting. A novel that is character driven tells a story of two people in a time of darkness when all you had was hope.

Sarah-Franklin

Connie is now in the Forest of Dean as part of the Women’s Timber Corps as part of the forests contribution to the war effort, she is grieving for her family. Now she is trying to rebuild as best she can. Connie thinks that she will lose this job and end up homeless and with no job. Also in the forest is a camp for Italian Prisoners of War. They are here to work in the forest and among them is Seppe, for him the war is over and he is pleased to be here also a chance to rebuild his shattered life far from home.

Both leading characters have secrets that they want to hide from the world around them they are both two very different people, then they meet and a relationship starts to develop. Set deep in the forest the war may seem a million miles away but in fact it there thanks to the Franklin’s wonderful descriptive writing she brings the story to life but in a warm and gentle style of writing. I really enjoyed reading about both Connie and Seppe and how they dealt with the past and what they want for the future for themselves.

The story boasts some other great characters that all play a part in a warm and tender story gives hope for the future after tragedy for Connie then for two people who have lost trust in the world around them, love finds a way to give hope for them both. An exceptional debut novel. The perfect summer read.

448 Pages.

Thank you to at or the review copy of Shelter by Sarah Franklin.

Shelter is published by Zaffre and the Paperback was published on 31^st May 2018 and is available now through Waterstones, Amazon and through your local independent bookshop.