Unlike other books in the series, this does not move onto the next generation but continues the stories of the The Gossamer Cord, which I read many years ago and don't recall much. I feel she had already done the twins or close in age raised together motif of one wild and one demure and I didn't find much of added interest in this version of it. You get a sense of Dorabella as the wild one and her personality but I find Violetta rather drab. She has her enduring faith her fiance will return but otherwise doesn't seem to catch onto all the things happening under her nose. Overall, this felt like the author was planning for some great plot twists and turns and secrets revealed and then never did. Perhaps I've read too many WWII spy thrillers but the foiled plot seemed pretty paltry and then nothing interesting came from it. It was a fine read to while away the time and take me away but not a great one.

‘We’ll Meet Again’, the last book in the Daughters of England series, is not the worst of the nineteen books, but far from the best.

What makes this novel different to the other eighteen is that for the first time the heroine of the previous book returns as the narrator. Every other sequel sees the daughter or younger sister take over from the mother or older sister of the previous story.

That said, this is a twin narrative. Quite literally, in fact, as the two narrators are twin sisters. Violetta, heroine of Book 18, narrates the bulk of the chapters. I expected her sister Dorabella’s voice to be more lively, as she’s the reckless twin, whereas Violetta is the sensible one; however, I found Violetta’s narration much more engaging than Dorabella’s.

Similar to ‘A Time of Silence’ (Book 17), in which the author ensures she fits in the entire World War One years, ‘We’ll Meet Again’ does the same with World War Two. As a result, the story feels rushed, with too many second-hand accounts of what’s going on in Europe. Having a first-person narrator recount something she’s heard about does nothing to enliven the story.

The results are passive. For example, we get a dry explanation of an air raid, rather than dramatizing the event and ‘showing’ how the characters cope with it.

Occasionally, something exciting does happen, but the outcome is often predictable. I worked out many an upcoming revelation long before the main characters do.

It doesn’t help that after Violetta narrates the opening chapters, we then have Dorabella recalling events from a year earlier. Why not open with her narrative? Granted, it’s not as strong, mainly because it’s written like a summery rather than engaging drama, but much of it covers what happened in the previous novel, while other parts are explained in Violetta’s opening chapter, so there’s no suspense.

Much of what happens during both narratives, especially Dorabella’s, are ‘told’, not ‘shown’, which is a trait this author is often guilty of, including under her other pseudonyms. ‘I found him looking upset and perplexed’; ‘Jowan was clearly bewildered’; ‘Jowan was astounded’ are all examples of blatant telling.

Similarly, we get too much reported speech: ‘Jacques replied that Mr. Lewyth was a man of much knowledge and indeed he was kind.’ This is passive. Why not make it active by putting it into dialogue?

Overall, then, a disappointing end to the series, though it's not without its good moments. The part I liked best was Dorabella’s handling of a situation where her son was in danger. This comes about halfway through story.

I’ve always liked the concept of the Daughters of England, featuring a family descended through the female line over a 500-year period. Of the nineteen novels Book 4 – ‘A Saraband for Two Sisters’ – is my favourite. ( )

This book follows fraternal twins Violetta and Dorabella through World War II, first in Cornwall and then in London and the Southeast. Violetta is engaged to Jowan, who was missing in action after the Battle of Dunkirk. She never gives up hope that Jowan is alive, to the dismay of two would-be suitors. Dorabella had been married to the heir of Tregarland when she faked her death and ran off to France with her artist lover, leaving behind a baby son. After the end of her affair, she is able to resume her old life in Cornwall, just as war breaks out, by claiming amnesia. Conveniently, her husband had died while she was away. Throughout the war, the two young women engage in random activities and conversations until the war ends.

This book was published by the author’s literary executor after her death. It would have better been left unpublished. It needed much more editing than it received. The book consists mostly of unconvincing dialogue, with little descriptive content either of the landscape or the characters. The writing was so bad that it’s actually what kept me from abandoning the book. I was curious to see what unbelievable situation would crop up next as I eagerly looked forward to the end of the war and with it an end to my misery. ( )