Now is the Hour

Follies #1

by Hilary Green

In an empty theatre at the end of the pier the cast of the Fairbourne Follies gathers round the radio to hear Neville Chamberlain declare war on Germany. Four firm friends are forced to part. Rose, the beautiful dancer, must return to her family in London and the blitz, leaving singer Richard to enlist in the army with their relationship still unresolved. Gay, asthmatic Merry, the musical director, is destined for the army too, while the object of his unrequited love, charismatic magician, Felix, chooses the RAF. Before long, Rose joins a group entertaining the troops in France. The Nazi war machine however is fast and merciless on the land and in the air and soon all of them find themselves in terrible danger. And as they are struck by the brutality of war they realise exactly who is most important to them and despite the odds, and in terrible circumstances, they determine to find each other again. With the threat of capture, injury and death ever present, the four of them will have to find reserves of courage, love and endurance that they did not know they possessed.

Genres: France, Fiction, Romance, World War II

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 2, 2006

About the author

Hilary Green is a trained actress and spent many years teaching drama. She has always written, producing novels, scripts for the BBC, and short stories, one of which one the Kythira Prize awarded by the Historical Novel Society.

When not writing she gardens, rides horses, walks in the countryside and plays bridge as well as enjoying travel and has been round the world several times. Hilary is married, a grown-up son and two grandchildren.

Reviews

[Redfox5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this had a slow start but it really picked up towards the end and I found myself really enjoying it. Loved the characters and am excited to read the next one as Rose is faced with a tough decision!

[Hayley Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book caught me by the first page and I was so gripped by it, I had finished it in a day. A good war book with some romance, though not enough to just make it into some soppy live story. Characters are really well developed and i really enjoyed each of their own stories, thoughI found myself routing for the ones I didn't think I would. Ordered the second one of this series within minutes of finishing!

[Hilary Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gripping war story which is also a tender romance. It is the first of four books and the characters are so vivid that I can't wait to find out what happens to them in the next book.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A holiday page-turner. Not too much thought required.

[Anca Andreea · Rating 5 out of 5]

„Now is the hour” - Hilary Green (Follies #1)

✍️ De luna trecută mi-am propus să citesc lunar câte o carte în limba engleză, și o aveam pe aceasta primita cadou de la mama! Coperta m-a atras mult!

✍️ Menționez de la început că această carte face parte din seria Follies, este o ficțiune istorică iar eu îi acord 5⭐!

✍️ Fiind o carte pe care am citit-o în limba engleză, a mers mai greu, dar mi-aș fi dorit să mai aibă multe pagini! Da, mai sunt încă trei cărți, însă în România nu se găsesc și va mai dura până le voi comanda de pe Amazon.

✍️ Rose și Felix sunt dansatori, Richard este cântăreț iar Merry este pianist, toți alături de alte persoane formează o trupă. În septembrie 1939, cei patru sunt despărțiți din cauza războiului. Dezamăgită de faptul că această nu se poate căsători cu Richard (cei doi provenind din medii diferite), Rose se întoarce în Londra la mama sa, decisă să accepte o propunere de job full-time în calitate de dansatoare. Cu inima sfâșiată, Richard pleacă pe front, dar îi spune că după ce acest război se va termina o va cauta și o va cere din nou de soție, asta dacă va supraviețui. Din cauza problemelor de care suferă Merry, acesta ajunge să cânte pentru militari, iar Felix este și el direct pe front.

✍️Înfruntând războiul, ei își dau seama cine și ce este important, iar în ciuda teribilelor circumstanțe ei încearcă să se regăsească.

„I know I've no right to ask you to commit yourself, when there's a chance I may not come back. But at least promise me you won't forget me.”

✍️Am plâns alături de Rose, l-am urât pe Richard, am sperat alături de Felix și am ras cu Merry!

✍️ Este o poveste puțin diferită față de tot ceea ce am citit despre cel de-al doilea război mondial, este o poveste despre prietenie, speranță, iubire! Spun cu mâna pe inimă că abia aștept volumul doi.

[Carolyn Fitzmaurice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another book I did not want to put down. I look forward to reading the rest of the series in due course.

[Liz Morrin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of book !

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this book allows you to view the war from very differnt perspectives and gives you an insite into how it affected different people! It seems that love does prevail - until you get to the final chapter - which just leaves you dying to read the second book in the series! The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the wait for the 3rd and 4th books!

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good World War II fiction story.Not what I expected to be.....but I will definitely continue with part two.Worth reading it .

[Fi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plenty of meat on the bones of this wartime tale; I shall definitely be looking out for the other books in the series

[Gillian Morris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 1 of 4 .. Really Enjoyed reading this .. I Love books based around WW2 :)