What do you think?
Rate this book
A Different World
1939. Warsaw, Poland. Pilot Jan Grabowski receives orders that take him to the heart of the escalating conflict. He leaves behind his wife, Rulka, who sees Poland overcome by the Nazis. In constant danger and amid cruel reprisals, she joins the Resistance.
Norfolk. Louise Fairhurst's war is very different. Evacuated with her class of ten-year-olds from London she finds herself acting mother as well as teacher to the children. She has much to do settling city children down in the countryside, and she wonders whether she should have stayed in London until a chance meeting with Jan alters her path…
Norfolk. Louise Fairhurst's war is very different. Evacuated with her class of ten-year-olds from London she finds herself acting mother as well as teacher to the children. She has much to do settling city children down in the countryside, and she wonders whether she should have stayed in London until a chance meeting with Jan alters her path…
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 20, 2014
7 people are currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Mary Nichols
174 books44 followersBorn in Singapore to a Dutch-South African father and an English mother, Mary Nichols came to England when she was three and considers herself totally English. Her father, like many people who learn English as a second language, would have no sloppiness, either spoken or written, and Mary puts her love of the language down to him. He was also a great reader and there were always books in the house so that Mary learned to read at a very early age. She read anything that came to hand, whether it was suitable or not! By the time she was nine or ten, her one ambition was to be a writer.
Her first novel, handwritten in several school exercise books, was completed when she was fifteen. Not having any idea of how to go about finding a publisher, she wrapped it up and sent it to the editor of the woman's monthly magazine to which her mother subscribed. It says a great deal for that editor that she took the trouble to read it and sent Mary a long and very encouraging letter, which put her ambition into overdrive.
Finishing her education and finding a job took over in the next few years, followed by an early marriage and a family. When her children were all at school she joined her local writers' circle. Publication of articles and stories in a variety of periodicals and magazines followed, but the ambition to be a novelist never wavered and throughout the time she was writing and selling short pieces she was working on her novels.
Mary joined the Romantic Novelists Association in the 1960s. Her first novel was a contemporary one published by Robert Hale in 1981 and that was followed by nine more. Mary sent her first historical romance to Mills and Boon in 1985 and was delighted when a telephone call three weeks later told her it had been accepted. Since then she has been a regular writer for the historical series. Among these is a miniseries about a group of gentleman in the mid-eighteenth century who form a club to track down criminals, a sort of private detective agency, which naturally leads each of them into romance.
She is also the author of family sagas, published by Allison and Busby. She has also written a biography of her grandmother, entitled The Mother of Necton, who was the midwife and nurse in the village of Necton in Norfolk from 1910 until the advent of the National Health Service in 1948.
Apart from when her children were small, Mary always had a 'day job', being a school secretary, an editor of a house journal and an information manager for a database of open learning courses. Now writing full time, Mary spends part of every day at her computer producing her novels and divides the rest of the time between reading and research and gardening. Occasionally she gives talks about her writing to groups and societies. “Writing for me is an addiction,” Mary says. “I am not happy if I haven't got a book on the go and if my readers enjoy what I have written, then that is an added bonus.”
Her first novel, handwritten in several school exercise books, was completed when she was fifteen. Not having any idea of how to go about finding a publisher, she wrapped it up and sent it to the editor of the woman's monthly magazine to which her mother subscribed. It says a great deal for that editor that she took the trouble to read it and sent Mary a long and very encouraging letter, which put her ambition into overdrive.
Finishing her education and finding a job took over in the next few years, followed by an early marriage and a family. When her children were all at school she joined her local writers' circle. Publication of articles and stories in a variety of periodicals and magazines followed, but the ambition to be a novelist never wavered and throughout the time she was writing and selling short pieces she was working on her novels.
Mary joined the Romantic Novelists Association in the 1960s. Her first novel was a contemporary one published by Robert Hale in 1981 and that was followed by nine more. Mary sent her first historical romance to Mills and Boon in 1985 and was delighted when a telephone call three weeks later told her it had been accepted. Since then she has been a regular writer for the historical series. Among these is a miniseries about a group of gentleman in the mid-eighteenth century who form a club to track down criminals, a sort of private detective agency, which naturally leads each of them into romance.
She is also the author of family sagas, published by Allison and Busby. She has also written a biography of her grandmother, entitled The Mother of Necton, who was the midwife and nurse in the village of Necton in Norfolk from 1910 until the advent of the National Health Service in 1948.
Apart from when her children were small, Mary always had a 'day job', being a school secretary, an editor of a house journal and an information manager for a database of open learning courses. Now writing full time, Mary spends part of every day at her computer producing her novels and divides the rest of the time between reading and research and gardening. Occasionally she gives talks about her writing to groups and societies. “Writing for me is an addiction,” Mary says. “I am not happy if I haven't got a book on the go and if my readers enjoy what I have written, then that is an added bonus.”
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 9, 2019
I liked this book because it wasn't just set in England
London 1939 . The beginning of World War II and thousands of children have been evacuated to safe homes in the country . Louise Fairhurst , a young teacher finds she and her class have become separated from the main body of the school . They have ended up in a small village in Norfolk . She and her anxious and scared class of ten year olds will have to grow used to the quiet and tranquility of country life . Louise chose to go with the evacuees to escape from her bullying , domineering father . Finding love has never crossed her mind .
In Poland a young nurse , Rulka is watching with horror as the German army approaches . Her husband Jan is a pilot with the Polish Airforce . Forced to flee via Romania he promises to come back to his wife when it is safe . She joins the Polish Resistance , fighting the Nazis in the only way she can.
In England Louise will meet a young Polish flying officer called Jan .
What will happen when their worlds collide ?
London 1939 . The beginning of World War II and thousands of children have been evacuated to safe homes in the country . Louise Fairhurst , a young teacher finds she and her class have become separated from the main body of the school . They have ended up in a small village in Norfolk . She and her anxious and scared class of ten year olds will have to grow used to the quiet and tranquility of country life . Louise chose to go with the evacuees to escape from her bullying , domineering father . Finding love has never crossed her mind .
In Poland a young nurse , Rulka is watching with horror as the German army approaches . Her husband Jan is a pilot with the Polish Airforce . Forced to flee via Romania he promises to come back to his wife when it is safe . She joins the Polish Resistance , fighting the Nazis in the only way she can.
In England Louise will meet a young Polish flying officer called Jan .
What will happen when their worlds collide ?
September 6, 2020
This story was just beautiful. The author's writing was fantastic and the amount of research the author done to write this book was very obvious because of how detailed it was into everything. There wasn't anything I really disliked in the book although I would have liked a more definitive ending to Tony's story but then again that is how things ended in that time and can imagine how heartbreaking it was for so many people to not know what happened to their loved ones. Overall one of the best historical sagas I have read. When looking up the author I was very sad to see that she had passed away but look forward to reading another one of her novels.
December 2, 2016
This one has a theme very similar to A Farmer’s Daughter in that it involves the love between an English girl and a foreign national, in this case, a Polish airman. When Germany invades Poland at the start of WWII, pilot Jan Grabowski knows he must leave Poland or be arrested but he is reluctant to leave his wife, Rulka, behind. Back in England, teacher Louise Fairhurst is evacuated to Norfolk along with her class. The two meet when Louise speaks up for Jan when he is being insulted on a train journey. They fall in love, despite Jan already being married and knowing that he will return to Poland one day. But this is Rulka’s story too and some of her experiences in war-torn Warsaw are harrowing, especially as the country is fought over by both Germany and Russia. I found the reunion between Jan and Rulka particularly poignant. As always, Mary Nichols’ research is excellent and the whole makes for an intriguing read.
December 27, 2015
Unexpectedly engaging. As a fan of thrillers and crime novels this book was a long way from my usual choice of novels. However, I was captivated from the start, the writing style is easy to read (though there were a handful of sentences that needed multiple reads to make sense of their meaning) and I found it most enjoyable.
I was particularly fascinated reading about the events in Poland during WWII, and it came as quite a surprise that life in Poland was so very different, both during and after the war.
I enjoyed Louise's story and certainly found it thought provoking - living through the war must have been so difficult for so many.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
I was particularly fascinated reading about the events in Poland during WWII, and it came as quite a surprise that life in Poland was so very different, both during and after the war.
I enjoyed Louise's story and certainly found it thought provoking - living through the war must have been so difficult for so many.
A thoroughly enjoyable read.
December 7, 2014
Fantastic fast paced description of the Polish view of WW2 and the despair that followed as well as a nice pinch of English countryside during the war. The characters are believable and their twists of fate keep you on edge. I love the non-judgemental attitude of the main characters in this book.
April 27, 2016
Harlequin
This book had so much potential but ended up reading like a Harlequin. Shallow, unbelievable and a lot too cutesy.
This book had so much potential but ended up reading like a Harlequin. Shallow, unbelievable and a lot too cutesy.
Read
January 29, 2017Thoroughly enjoyed this book - looking forward to reading more of this author's books in the not too distant future.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews