I received a copy of this ARC from NetGalley in exchange of a honest review. This book was absolutely fantastic! The story follows brothers John and Jerry, who are in Belgium during WWI. They’re both Tunneldiggers until Jerry gets hurt. He meets nurse, Adele and instantly falls for her. Fast forward four years, after the war is ended back in Canada, Jerry and John go into business as rumrunners. Unexpectedly, Jerry, John, and Adele all meet again - but that’s only half the story. In the present day, Cassie is a historian who gets called to a house rebuilding where old bottles filled with whiskey are found in the home’s walls. Cassie goes down a familiar path to find the mystery of the bottles. The story jumps between present day and the post-war prohibition era. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I loved the dual time line, especially since the post-war portion takes places in Canada during prohibition. Great book and I couldn’t put it down! ( )

From the frightening trenches of WWI’s the Somme and a Belgian field hospital to the exciting and treacherous days of Prohibition Era of Windsor, Ontario, this is one captivating and well-researched historical fiction piece.

This dual timeline story juxtaposes modern day museum curator, Cassie Simmons and contractor, Matthew Flaherty against the lives of WWI Canadian nurse, Adele Savard and her wounded charge, Jerry Bailey. Jerry is carried into the Belgian field hospital by his older brother, John, and Adele is quick to attend to Jerry’s wounds. A friendship is born and then it’s back to the battlefield for Jerry. Will they ever meet again? Only time will tell. Move forward to the current day, when Mathew finds a collection of whiskey bottles walled up in a house he’s renovating. Out of curiosity, he seeks the assistance of Cassie at the local museum, trying to piece together the history of the old Bailey home. From such beginnings a wonderful story is born.
The writing is solid, engaging, and enlightening. The mise en scene is so specatularly delivered that one imagines the busy streets of Windsor and can smell the lingering gunpowder of a German raid on a field hospital or the cloying scent of spilled liquor on a speakeasy floor. On top of all that, author Genevieve Graham knows well her Canadian history and deftly writes an engaging and emotionally charged story. She certainly never fails to disappoint this reader. If solid and well crafted historical fiction is your jam, then this may well be the perfect book for you.
I am grateful to author Genevieve Graham and her publisher, Simon & Schuster for having provided a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, did not influence this review – the words of which are mine alone. ( )

It's all here in this book. The book opens inside a hospital tent in Belgium where we meet Adele. a young nurse who is working long hours patching up young soldiers fresh from the battlefield. Then we skip ahead to present-day where we meet Cassie, a young woman in Windsor, Ontario, who works in a local museum. When a young man brings an old green bottle into the museum, it starts Cassie on her quest to learn all she can about this bottle that was found hidden in the wall of her old childhood home. The best part about this book is it is Canadian, full of Canadian history. I learned about the the brave young Canadian women who served as field nurses in the Great War, and the Canadian soldiers who fought and died in that war. Jeremiah and his brother John are two Canadian soldiers who spend their entire war service in a tunnelling brigade. When Jeremiah is injured and brought to the field hospital, he meets Adele, and so begins a love story that spans decades. After the war Jeremiah and Adele meet in their home town of Windsor, Ontario, where life has gotten a lot more exciting since they left with Prohibition and all the wild night life of that era. Windsor's close proximity to the States makes it a a key corridor for running whiskey during Prohibition. I loved the idea of this story, and I loved the historical facts that come out over and over. A lot of research went into this book. I was a little disappointed with the writing. At times, it appeared somewhat juvenile and predictive. It's still worth a read though as it illustrates parts of Canadian history that i was not aware of. I like the characters very much as well. ( )

I loved this story of a brave and beautiful Adele, who served as a Canadian "Bluebirds" nurse in World War I. She met Jerry in a hospital field in Belgium where she treated his serious wounds after tunnel explosions. They separated only to find each other again in Windsor, Canada. This dual timeline story with informative historical facts about Canada in the 1920's during Prohibition is a great book about love and survival.
Captivating and well written novel, with lovely characters and interesting plot. Loved it. ( )

To say that the historical fiction genre is saturated with novels from the first and second world wars is a gross understatement, but I have always been fascinated with this era for a myriad of reasons, and continue to give this genre a chance.

When I first started reading Bluebird I had a sense of deja vu. I could’ve sworn I’d read this novel before, even though I knew I hadn’t. Like I said, this has been my historical fiction go-to lately, so it’s not surprising, but it was distracting as I tried to submerge myself into this world, though the ravages of war took care of that real quick, taking over my imagination.

The world building was immense, and reading about the history of prohibition in Canada was fascinating, and something I really didn’t consider until this novel. The details behind the speakeasies, altered modes of transportation, and all the tricks to stay under the police radar while smuggling hooch was nothing short of genius.

The overall story is well written and I enjoyed the fact that it wasn’t too graphic, despite part of the story being during a war. Jerry and Adele are wonderful, and I loved being a witness to their love story. There were a few side stories that I could’ve seen having more bearing, and some seemed incomplete but, for me, it didn’t hurt the overall story.

I truly enjoyed Bluebird, and if you’re looking for a great glimpse of The Great War, as well as prohibition in Canada, paired with a very sweet love story, this is the novel for you.

*I have voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book which I received from Simon & Schuster (Canada) through NetGalley. All views and opinions expressed are completely honest, and my own. ( )