Two and a half stars.This is a story told in two time periods – the present and the 1940s. It took me a while to get into the style of it. I wasn’t fussed on the way the narrative kept swapping so quickly from one time frame and one lot of characters to the other. It gave the book a fragmented feel. I mean it wasn’t even a chapter devoted to each story, just a page or sometimes half a page before I was yanked off to the other time frame and characters. But after a while I settled down to the sty...

I was extremely disappointed by this, the first book of hers I have attempted.I was very surprised at all the positive reviews. To me it seemed like a fatter version of something from an old style women's magazine, the sort of thing my Grandma put her feet up with after housework. Clunky, cliched prose, I didn't finish it.

Barbara Erskine is a must read for me, and yes, I liked this one, but wouldn’t say it is a Lady of Hay or Child of the Phoenix….. This ‘ghost’ story is set in present time and World War II. I found I quite enjoyed the storyline, but sometimes, because we go from one time period to the other quite often, it took me quite a way into the book to really get attached to the storyline. We were flicking around quite often which sometimes can be a bad thing because I felt I could put the book down more

I wish I could give more than 5 starsFrom the strat to finish this book had gripped me, unable to put down.Surprise throughout the whole story.So well written.

Disappointing... I think would be the word of choice.The problem for me is Lady Of Hay, Kingdom Of Shadows, Child Of The Phoenix were so good, that I keep hoping for Barbara Erskine's new books to match them. They never quite do.*Spoilers*As a ghost story The Darkest Hour is enjoyable, the prologue and first few chapters had me engrossed and then it just fizzled away to nothing, the character depth that was in previous books was severely lacking in this one. The plot line just felt flimsy and no...

Barbara Erskine is one of my favourite writers and I always look forward to her novels. When I heard, last year, that her new book's past story was set during WWII I was not impressed. I've come to love her historical heroines who reach out through the centuries for justice and revenge. Evie Lucus is a young artist in 1940 who falls in love with a dashing young pilot. I found her a weak character and the plot was too predictable. The editing of this book is poorly done with numerous grammatical

I have always enjoyed Ms Erskine's books, but sadly, I was disappointed with 'The Darkest Hour'.I felt that the storyline was very predictable (I kept reading in the hope I would be proved wrong, but I wasn't). Some of the characters were, in my opinion, superfluous e.g Charlotte and Robin, when others could have been explored at greater depth e.g Frances and Hannah.Nor was it well edited (I found numerous spelling and grammatical errors) and some very jarring sentences e.g. The last thing he sa...

I have read all of Barbara Erskine’s books and have loved them all. This one was a re-read so I knew the story but, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment by reading it again.This book followed the usual style of ghosts and duel time line and at times I actually felt shivers down my back as I was reading it, especially towards the end of the book.I always look forward to a new Ms Erskine book and hopefully a new one will be out next year.

Very unusually for me, I've only given this three stars ...... If you know Barbara Erskine's work then you'll know they are all time slip type novels where events from the past merge into the present day. I have loved her work for years and it's a genre she writes particularly well. The narrative flowed easily between the two time frames, that of the 1940s Battle of Britain and the present day. It centres around the life of an emerging war artist Evelyn Lucas and her love affair with a young spi...

I am not always too keen on books which have a World War II element but as this one is by Barbara Erskine – whose books I enjoy – I decided to read it anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed it and found myself totally absorbed in the story – both past and present. Lucy’s husband has died in an unexplained car crash and shortly afterwards she hears she has received a grant to help her fund the research and writing of a biography of Evie Lucas – an almost forgotten war artist. Lucy became interested in the

The characters are extremely one-dimensional, there are numerous gratuitous characters that serve no purpose at all (does she not have an editor??) and there are genuinely no likeable characters. The ending was largely predictable and Unsatisfying. It's grossly inconsistent with the character's previous actions and there was no character growth that would have brought them to this end place. The story could have been quite interesting, but it just wasn't.

This is the last Erskine I intend to read (unless I find some early ones on my bookshelf). I used to love her books but this falls short of her previously high standard. It was rambling, badly edited, too long and didn't work for me. All her books involve some element of ghosts or supernatural in them - this one too- this time the ghosts were people who'd known each other in WW2. But when I found out who they are and why they've returned from beyond the grave I found I didn't much care and didn'...

As my 3 star rating shows, I liked it, but I didn't "really" like it. I usually find reading Barbara Erskine's books "unputdownable", but I struggled with this one. I found it all too easy to put it down and wander off after only a few minutes of reading. I quite enjoyed the storyline, though I did find it predictable (I guessed the twists very early on), and I did find it quite an unhappy book. There wasn't much to lighten the mood, and I did find the leading lady of the story (Evie) a bit apat...

Wow!Again, another fabulous novel I haven't been able to put down.Great characters, brilliant writing, visibly descriptive situations!Barbara Erskine's skill in making her words leap off the page into real life is wonderful.

This was an interesting enough read - in some parts.It is a Romantic Ghost story, set both in the near present and then shifting back in time to the Second World War. Or a romance, with a few ghosts in it, who've been around since the Second World War.The historical story is quite interesting - the modern day one not quite so. The ghost bit - well, on one level - sensible cynical head on, it is pretty far fetched I'm afraid. However, put a more "creative" head on, see it as maybe metaphor, or se...

I liked this book and in general I like the mix of present and past events. Even better if there are secrets and mysteries involved :) But was it really necessary to bring up ghosts and vengeful spirits? I don't think this brought any pluses to the book...

Dark and complicated this one. But another smooth BE book written in tribute to WW11 veterans including her father. Maybe I've read to many of her's lately or maybe its more personal to her or because it WW11 but it has a different tone to her others - darker, more earnest, more to prove - I don't know. It just read differently and I'm not sure words like like or dislike apply. Toast