The One I Was

This book is yet another of those I am unsure how to rate The beginning was definitely interesting, and I found myself drawn towards the character of Benny almost immediately upon his intoroduction However, this likeable character is not exactly the focus which was disappointing The main protagonist, Rosamond, was rather a predictable heroine with a backstory heard coming from around the corner and down the street Her unprofessional and unrealistic behaviour really detracted from the novel Not o [...]

For Benjamin Goldman, 11, the Kindertransport is a life saver Oh, sure, he s homesick, but the people in England are nice and there is always plenty to eat at the refugee camp No one seemed interested in fostering Benny, though, except one nicely dressed man, but then, all he does is give him a chocolate bar and leave Nevertheless, next thing Benny knows is that his name is being called, and he is told that he and some other boys would be living at Fairfleet, the estate of Lord and Lady Dorner A [...]

I absolutely loved this book It was well written, well researched, and kept me on my toes I could never have imagined the turns it was about to take, each twist was a shock My heart ached with joy, distress, and longing as I watched Benny s life come to an end But it was so much than that it was also watching his entire life and the lives of three generations of Fairfleet residents It was a story of triumph, of failure, and of accepting in order to let go Rosamond s employer knew that she d be [...]

Complex story that weaves in and out of different time zones, through different voices to unravel the past of various characters, to finally bring truth and peace and some justice to a young woman and an old man I found this intriguing and compelling reading.

This book was a pleasant surprise It started off well enough, but then really picked up to an I can t put this book down pace The story begins in 1938 with a young German refugee being taken in, along with 7 other boys, by an English couple to live and study and to avoid the perils the Jews were beginning to experience in Nazi Germany But what seems to be in this book, turns out not be, and this becomes a story of how secrets, and burdens, and guilt can take on a life of their own I really enjoy [...]

This is a really original and wonderful story of guilty secrets, worth all five stars Set in 3 different periods 1939 1945, 1981 and the present day, but don t let that put you off, because it is very easy to read and very difficult to put down There are lots of delightful twists to the tale, and I d recommend it to anyone.

I loved this novel, and it stayed with me long after I finished reading Moody and evocative with a dramatic twist, and such a convincing sense of time and place I was completely sucked into the early WW2 era, despite coming to the story knowing nothing of this part of British German history The main characters are richly drawn, and the deeper I delved into their lives, the I cared about them, and the I wanted to know.A compelling read, and beautifully written.

Benny Gault first came to the grand English estate of Fairfleet as a German refugee on a Kindertransport train As an adult, he returned to purchase the home that sheltered him during the war He needs comfort and security he has a terminal illness and only a short time left to live.Rosamund Hunter comes to Fairfleet as a nurse, to care for Benny in his last days However, this isn t the first time she s been to the great home She also lived here as a child In fact, her grandparents were well known [...]

Rosamond Hunter is a nurse specialising in the care of the terminally ill When a job comes up at Fairfleet, the house where she once lived with her grandmother, she is drawn to accept, even though the house holds many secrets both for Rosamond and her patient.This is a skilfully constructed novel with events that move smoothly between the 1940s the 1980s and the present day The characters are beautifully drawn as is the house which almost becomes a character in itself.There are a smattering of m [...]

Granted, I am coming off of a streak of bad suspense novels, but I thought this book was engrossing, if somewhat small Rosamund, a forty year old nurse, gets a position caring for Benny, an elderly gentleman, and, through the two of them, we unspool seventy years of history and hidden identity Benny arrived in England from Germany just as World War II was beginning, part of a shipment of young Jewish refugees who were to be protected from German aggression and educated by a benefactor Rosamund i [...]

Excellent readThis book was so emotionally stressful at times that I had to take breaks I suppose that is the mark of a book worth reading.

A wonderfully written story of secrets that span half a century This is the first novel I ve read by this author and wouldn t hesitate to read another.

All the world s a stage Full disclosure I received a free electronic copy of this book for review through Library Thing s Member Giveaways program Germany, December 1938 Only weeks after Kristallnacht The Night of Broken Glass, an orgy of organized violence against Jews in Germany and Austria , eleven year old Benjamin Goldman boards a Kindertransport train for England Carrying just his school satchel and his cherished leather football, Benny is traveling light with his father long since impriso [...]

Great idea, butI wasn t thrilled with the plot and it seemed rather disjointed Oh well, it was pretty enjoyable in a what if scenario

This book was amazing It is a coming full circle storyd then some The bulk of The One I Was takes place at a beautiful family estate in England called Fairfleet Fairfleet has so much history and is rich with so many secrets that lie within and outside the walls Eliza Graham paints a picture of the estate, and its surroundings, with her words, that is absolutely stunning If it did ever exist in real life, I would love to go for a nice long visit to this lovely place.Benny is a boy that is about t [...]

This book grew on me with every page For the first 10% or so on my kindle, I kept thinking about putting it down because the author s writing style wasn t particularly up my alley short sentences, little description, etc but the STORY kept drawing me in, and before I knew it I was reading it constantly, eventually finishing it in 2 days flat I still don t love the writing style while the pacing of the plot was perfection, the pacing of the prose within scenes was sometimes too quick and choppy f [...]

I loved the premise of this book and wanted to love the book as well, but I didn t The main character, Rosamund, isn t fleshed out and she comes across very flat The telling of her backstory, which had great potential, felt unrealistic and unlikely Also, character reactions to certain information plot points were stilted and unbelievable To be honest, none of the characters felt well thought out and the plot twists were obvious from the beginning The best part of this novel was the historical in [...]

Beautiful storyof love and loss, past and present, of truth and secrets Graham does a terrific job of blending the stories of two seemingly unrelated people and brings them together in a heart tugging experience of facing your past to let go and let the future do the mending I recommend this book to anyone who loves to see how the circle of life can help one person resolve the past while another finally lives for the future.

I won this in a goodread giveaway Not my usual choice of book but will be in the future.Thoroughly enjoyable with a feel good message on not dwelling on past guilts but looking forward to the future many thanks

Potential I think that this book should have been either much shorter or much longer There were too few characters for any surprises and several missed opportunities for character development the house, for instance.

Something and nothingI only finished this book as I felt there was going to be a dramatic reveal That couldn t be further from the truth A flat finnish left me wondering why I had bothered to waste my energy on such a predictable book.

goodbookfairy the one

An interesting storyline, however the last chapter seemed very childlike and irrelevant, somewhat reflecting the lack of depth throughout.

I was left a little disappointed by this book I expected at the end The so called secret about the past really wasn t that exciting.

A moving and poignant literary novel about identity

3.5 stars

La sorte del mondo dipende dal fatto che alcuni di noi si rifiutano di essere uguali a tutti gli altri Ho assaporato questo romanzo che mi ha permesso di fare un lungo viaggio nel tempo e nello spazio.Ultimamente sono attratta da storie che raccontano la seconda guerra mondiale Non so perch , forse desidero conoscere aspetti diversi e spesso confortanti di un epoca che deve essere stata terribile da vivere.Questa storia inizia con un treno che parte dalla Germania, una notte del 1939 Quel treno [...]

Interesting novel about Jewish boys being taken in by an English Lord in 1939, the modern day repercussions, and everything in between The story is told by Benny , one of the boys who arrived as war broke out, and Rosamond, the granddaughter of the Lord s wife The time frame switches not only between the war years and the present, but also to various other periods pertinent to proceedings Eliza Graham has a pleasant writing style that told the tale without too much fuss and was easy to read A mi [...]

I really enjoyed The One I Was I liked the way the chapters move back and forth in time gradually revealing what happened to Rosamond s mother and what happened to Benny when he was at Fairfleet I found Rosamond s story the saddest and most compelling She blamed herself for what happened to her mother but none of it was her fault Cathal is a great villain, creepy and weird I liked the way the past gradually starts to affect the present as Rosamond and Benny grow close and confess their secrets t [...]

Benny Goldman arrives in England at 11 as part of the Kinder transport of Jewish German children in 1939 He and 5 other boys are selected by Lord and Lady Dornton to live at their manor, Fairfleet, and be educated and prepared for a future Rosamunde Hunter, granddaughter of Lady Dornton, is a hospice nurse, called in to care for Benny when he is dying of cancer Benny had purchased Fairfleet after the Dornton s sold it Rosamunde has painful memories of Fairfleet where her mother died when Rosamun [...]