I'll Be Seeing You: A wartime saga brimming with nostalgia to warm your heart

Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary digital copy of I’ll be Seeing You by Rosie Archer. I voluntarily agreed to read and review this novel. My opinions are my own, and nothing has influenced my rating. I’ll be Seeing You is a well written historical novel with engaging characters and an enthralling plot. The pacing pulled me into the story from the beginning and kept me enmeshed until the end. I enjoyed the history of cinema during WWII. I can vaguely remember going to the movies as a very young child, watching the organ rising from below, the cartoons, and news reels playing on the big screen. Connie Baxter is the main protagonist, and I enjoyed her character a great deal. She has a bit of a whimsical side, especially at the start. She shows a great deal of growth, giving her more depth. She’s a loyal, willing to help her friend, Queenie, deal with grave life decisions. I also loved her relationship with her aunt. Ace, the man in her life is not the hero in this tale. I found him a fascinating character, even though he’s not really a good man. Ace does have a great deal of kindness, so it’s hard to not develop a soft spot for him. What I liked the most about this story was that it shows how ordinary people deal with the horrors of war. It shows how life goes on, even when the world is falling apart. While the moral compass in these characters is not stellar, their flaws make the plot believable. If you enjoy historical fiction with a fantastic array of characters, and a plot that takes you back to a different time than you have lived, then you will enjoy I’ll be Seeing You as much as I did. Rosie Archer adds plenty of tidbits of what it must have been like to live during WWII. Happy reading!

I’ll Be Seeing You by Rosie Archer is the 2nd book in The Picture House Girls series. I do suggest reading The Picture House Girls before embarking on I’ll Be Seeing You. We go back to April of 1943 in Gosport, England where Connie Baxter and her friends work at the Criterion. I thought the story contained good writing with developed, realistic characters. The book moved along at a good pace. I thought the author captured the time period especially with her movie and book references. There is also talk about the black outs, rationing, and bombings. The men and women during this time period had to be strong to endure what they did. You never knew if a soldier would return home or if you would make it home from work. You could go out to walk your dog and get struck by a bomb. Of course, there are those who will take advantage of the war. Black market goods were a hot commodity (racketeering was alive and well) along with acquiring petrol illegally and making “cigarettes”. The author gave readers a rich atmosphere, so we were immersed in the time period. I’ll Be Seeing You is an emotional novel with love, grief, heartache, joy, and anger. I liked how the characters found joy during these hard times by going to the cinema, reading the latest novel, having a girl’s night out, or taking dancing lessons. I’ll Be Seeing You is a warmhearted historical novel that shows us what everyday people dealt with during the war in Gosport.