Book Synopsis:
London, 1926. Two baby girls are born just hours and miles apart. One you know as the Queen of England, but what of the other girl- the daughter of an undertaker named in her honour? Betsy Sunshine grows up surrounded by death in war-torn London, watching her community grieve for their loved ones whilst dealing with her own teenage troubles… namely her promiscuous sister Margie. As Betsy grows older we see the how the country changes through her eyes, and along the way we discover the birth of a secret that threatens to tear her family apart.
Sophie Duffy dazzles in her latest work of family/historical fiction. A tale which spans generations to explore the life and times of a family at the heart of their community, the story of a stoic young woman who shares a connection with her queenly counterpart in more ways than one…
Betsy and Lilibet is available now in ebook and paperback. You can purchase your copy of both here.
My Review:
Betsy and Lilibet is a wonderful, charming and funny story that I absolutely adored!
The story follows Betsy throughout her whole life, from her birth through the war and all that followed in the twentieth century. Interspersed with this is Betsy as a 90 year old, remembering her life from a nursing home and quotes from Queen Elizabeth II who despite only meeting her three times has a big influence on Betsy’s life.
It’s hard not to fall in love with Betsy and her wonderful descriptions of her life, particularly when she was a kid. Her unique narrative and childlike view of things made me smile and laugh out loud at times. She was such a relatable, real character and some of the incidents she mentions relating to her sister were things I remember arguing with my sister about. She obviously had a huge chip on her shoulders regarding her sister, feeling she’s never as good as she is which tugged at my heart strings as, from my point of view, she was by far the nicer sister!
Betsy’s family is another fabulous creation from the author and some of my favourite scenes from the book were those involving her family. They are obviously very close and share a wonderful warmth that was touching to read about. The family run an undertakers which helped add a new element to the story and shapes Betsy, as her father always installs in her a quiet dignity when dealing with the dead that Betsy takes with her throughout her life.
There are quite a few surprising twists and turns that I wasn’t expecting in this story and definitely made the story more interesting. The book reads a bit like an autobiography or diary rather than a piece of historical fiction which makes it very readable. The reader becomes aware early on of a secret that Betsy has kept secret most of her life and still worries her in old age. Throughout the book we learn more about this and it was great to read about Betsy working through her worries.
This is the first book by this author I have read and I will definitely be reading more from her in the future. If you liked Any Human Heart by William Boyd then you’ll enjoy this book as I felt the styles were similar.
Huge thanks to Lucy from Legend Press for inviting me onto the blog tour and for my copy of this book. If you like historical fiction with heart then you’ll love this book.
About The Author:
Over The Rainbow Blog 
I loved this book too. Lovely review.
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Fab review!
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Thanks lovely xx
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