The New Mrs Clifton – Elizabeth Buchan

new mrs clifton elizabeth buchan

At the end of WWII Gus brings back an emotionally damaged German wife, Krista, to his family home on Clapham Common, London.  In a bombed terrace his house remains unscathed yet possibly unstable.  His two sisters are at home, one a grieving wartime widow who has also lost her baby.  The other is suffering from the effect from war but we do not discover how deeply until towards the end.

Gus works for an Intelligence Unit interrogating war criminals and Krista assists him until she has a baby.  Gus had an English fiancée and his marriage sends emotional ripples through both his family and his ex fiancée’s.  Krista has a difficult time adapting to English life and facing the obvious hostility towards Germans.

Emotions run high throughout the book, personalities clash, lives change in this impressive tale.  The Prologue alerts us to a dead body of a woman with child in the garden next door.  We the reader, are left guessing who that woman might be until a fast-paced conclusion.

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