Once again Julia Kelly has taken us back to an important time in British history and made us feel as if we were really there. First, she quickly throws us into a pivotal traumatic event involving the main characters. Next, she slowly builds these characters and settings, detail by detail, until they become three dimensional for the reader. We get to know these people and we can clearly see their towns, cities, homes and workplaces. Finally, the author has us totally hooked to these people and their stories and we cannot stop reading until we know their future.

This is not my first Julia Kelly historical fiction novel but it is my favorite so far. Her research is evident, her characters relatable, her storyline poignant and her ending realistic. Reading about the lives of ordinary people during extraordinary times in history inspires me. We were not taught in school about the lives of the women and children left at home during wartime. However, thanks to authors like Julia Kelly and Jennifer Ryan, these stories of the heroes at home have come to life for so many of us.

Just recently I returned from a three week visit with my daughter and my grandchildren in Ireland after a two year Covid hiatus. Ireland is a land of stone walls, ancient and modern, intact and crumbling, high and low. Yesterday morning I woke up ready to read Thrity Umrigar's newest book for this review and yesterday evening I closed the last page. I tried to write my thoughts down last night but they were unformed and scattered. This morning I woke up with images of those walls in my mind and knew I had been connecting them to Honor.

We are surrounded by invisible walls in our lives...walls of religion, gender, skin color, politics, class, money, education, age, appearance, shame, expectations, nationality, illness, misinformation . These walls are also ancient and modern, intact and crumbling, high and low.

This book powerfully explores so many themes but the one that resonated most powerfully with me is that of the Invisible Walls surrounding all of us. What do we do with them when they become visible?

This book will be read and discussed by books clubs everywhere because there is so much in it that will move readers ... some just emotionally but some to action.

I just knew I was going to love this book. My great grand parents were a "Mixed Marriage" from Ballymcnab, Co Armaugh in Northern Ireland who had to head for the USA after they got married during The Troubles. My daughter and her family are Expats in Dublin. I have been to Ireland five times in the past two years. I read the Irish Times everyday . I read Irish literature extensively. I grew up surrounded by Irish relatives from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, NYC. I am Catholic and love every minute of The Derry girls. And on and on...

However, I could barely finish the book.

Maybe it is because I read it during this global pandemic and my spirits are dragging or maybe because the presidential election has left me drained or maybe because I wanted to slap most of the characters in the book who treated Majella so cruelly or maybe the unrelenting filth of her home disgusted me and the soul killing grayness of her life wore me down or maybe the overwhelming sadness of it all just overwhelmed me.

Or was my reaction to reading this just what the author meant to pull forth from me? I did not feel the humor others mentioned; these were not loving, kind, eccentric characters. These were badly damaged, worn down people without coping skills. Majella does have a chance at the end because of her Gran but can she pull it off with her limited abilities and no support from anyone who has her back, besides her now deceased Gran?

I always think the mark of a good book for me is how long it remains with me after I turn the last page. This one seems to be sticking around in my head but I really do not like the sadness it left behind.

I was born in 1947, the same year the blacklisting began, and I admit to a superficial understanding of the events of the McCarthy era. This book , based on real events that occurred to real people, blew my mind because history is repeating itself in real time today on TV. Anyone who watched any part of the recent impeachment proceedings and was now reading this novel had to stop and ask themselves ...Did we learn nothing from this despicable period in our history? The author made these characters and their lives come totally alive for me. I read this book compulsively , unable to stop until I knew what had happened to these characters who felt like friends. I was so invested in their lives and so fearful of the runaway train that was bearing down on them. They were strong women who were not broken by their circumstances or the weakness of other people in their lives. What a treat to read the historical information provided at the end of the book and realize that these strong women really existed! The book flowed like a screen play, propelled by the author's talent to write authentic dialogue. I have a high bar for books I will run around recommending to everyone. First, if I finish a book and I miss the characters immediately ...Secondly, if I find myself thinking about the book long after I finish it...Third, if I immediately start researching the author and the history involved, wanting to know so much more... Lastly, if I immediately recommend the book to my book club because I can't wait to talk to all of them about it! Red Letters Days checked all these boxes. We need to revisit this shameful period in our history and stop it from happening again.

On a wall in my home I have a chalkboard that I write sayings on that have touched me in some way. I used to change these sayings frequently but the words on it today have been there for the past two years. "Life is short ...there is no time to leave important things unsaid..."

I grew up in a multi-generational home, an Irish/Italian family, third generation on both sides. Part of a close, loving, laughing family where secrets were closely guarded from the children and no one honestly shared their thoughts, fears and scary feelings if that would cause family members to be upset. The only exception was anger which exploded out at times.

Sound familiar? Fatima has written a story that felt so real to me. Different ethnicity, different religion, different area of our country but so eerily similar in so many ways. It was uncomfortable to read at times because I was yelling at the characters to please stop talking, please let it go, please do not say that ... I wanted them to know that what they were doing was not going to end well ... trust me on this one.

I had to stop reading several times and shake off their lives and problems because I became too involved and frustrated with the entire family.

As someone who has been in the same book club for over 20 years, I think this book is a treasure trove of themes we would love to discuss. However, I also think some of my fellow members might feel the book was slow to read and structurally difficult because of the constant and sudden movement between the past and present.

However, I will encourage my friends to persevere because the opportunity to intimately take part in the life of this family is a gift we all need in these divided times. We need to walk in each other's shoes for understanding to begin growing ... Fatima Arleen Mirza allows us to do that.

Jonathan Miles has written a thought provoking novel completely in the style of investigative journalism. He had me questioning if this was actually a true story at one point because of his nonfiction style...he absolutely nailed it. The characters were so real to me, the social issues right off the front page, the research behind the medical , military and religious information so deep.

However, when I came to the end and read the acknowledgements, I was put off by the continuation of the style. It became too clever at that point. I was ready for some words from the author spoken from his heart in his real voice. The book is full of serious issues that beg for serious discussion and every reader is going to look up dazed at the end and wonder what if...

The last two pages made me wonder if I had misinterpreted the entire tone of the book. Serious or parody?

Many books I completed recently have been well written but when finished reading them, I was sorry that so much of my time had been spent with people I thoroughly disliked. Lately, as I get older, I find that I do not care how many awards or accolades have been given to a book. I just do not want to spend hours reading about people who have no redeeming qualities in my opinion. Characters do not have to be perfect, who is? However, there needs to be at least one person in a book whom I can care about in some way.

So it was a delight to find myself falling into this book and coming up for air two days later, sorry to say goodby to the Birch family. Francesca Hornak has beautifully written about real life. Her characters seem like stereotypes at the beginning but as she peels back layer after layer, they come to life with all the messiness of reality surrounding them.

She gives each of the main characters a chance to contribute to the story with her technique of alternating chapters. It works. Their voices are distinct and I became totally immersed in their stories.

Like real family life, the story told is not a fairy tale where all live happily ever after. It is a story of people who make mistakes but keep trying to do their best. Reality.

Why did this book appeal to me? I am hooked on Sharon Bolton's Lacey Flint series ... I gravitate towards mysteries, strong female leads, smart writing, unusual settings , multi- dimensional characters, nonpredictable plots lines...books that I still think about after I reach the last word. Did this book check off all those boxes...absolutely! This is not a cozy...or Chick Lit...or a police procedural..these characters are real...flawed, damaged ordinary people dealing with extraordinary problems. A surprise perk of reading this novel was what I learned about the Falkland Islands, their "troubles" and marine life of the area. Highly recommended...