An Orphan's Christmas

by Katie Flynn

Liverpool, 1936. Molly Penelope Hardwick has been abandoned in Haisborough Orphanage. Desperate to discover her background, she befriends another orphan, Lenny Smith. Together they sneak out to roam the city of Liverpool, and hatch plans for their escape.But when Molly is forced to leave the orphanage, Lenny has no idea where she’s gone. And when war is declared, he soon forgets about his childhood best pal to focus on his posting with the RAF in Scrimpton. What Lenny doesn’t know is that Molly is desperate to join the war effort, and with her sights set on joining the WAAF, chances are they will see each other again. But will things ever be the same after all this time?

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction, Christmas

416 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Katie Flynn was born in Norwich and attended Norwich High School, where she was extremely happy and extremely undistinguished. Published at the tender age of eight, in Enid Blyton's Sunny Stories, she joined a Writers’ Circle as an adult, publishing short stories, articles, etc; only turning to novels in 1971 because the postal strike cut off her main source of income!
At first she wrote under several different names – Judith Saxton, Judy Turner, Lydia Balmain, Judith Arden – but her Katie Flynn books were a delight to write and proved far more popular than she had dreamed. She has now published nearly ninety novels, twenty-seven of which are Flynns. Her most recent titles are: Lost Days of Summer and Christmas Wishes.

Reviews

[Julia Sarene · Rating 3 out of 5]

One whole star missing for it being no Christmas book at all.
If you put a tree on the cover, and even call the book something with Christmas in the title - I'd expect it to be important to the book, not just randomly happening some time throughout the story.

Another star missing for some the characters being flat. The good guy is oh so good, the not so good guy is obvious to the reader very soon - I'd like to have more varied characters around. Especially in the good people, who will just shrug off all things, and seem to never get annoyed.

Other than that it was a nice, if - repeat - not christmassy story, with a predictable end, that was meant to be a twist. It takes place at wartime, but besides one death the war didn't feel very scary or show it's real face. It really is more of a feel good book. For me that was actually not enough - because war was hard on everyone, even if you didn't have bombs falling on you. And that desperation, fear for family or friends, and just overall bad feeling didn't show throughout the book. That might make it good for someone sensitive who wants to read about war with a little bit of a damper. But for me it felt unrealistic.

There isn't a lot of romance in this one - a bit of infatuation, but nothing much actually happens in that regard. It's more about friendship than kissing. A plus for my tastes - no sex scenes at all.

All in all I end up at three stars - and if you want to read an easy, no sex story with only little actual romance happening, this might be just the book for you!

[Tracey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have read quite a few Katie Flynn books and this one, in my option is not one of her best.
It's the story of Molly Hardwick who spends her childhood in a orphanage in Liverpool. She makes a friend in Lenny, another orphan and they seek out for midnight walks together. As the story moves on, it becomes less believable, and of course she eventually meets up with Lenny again.
I found the character of Molly quite irritating, she doesn't seem to know how she feels about anyone. In the second half of the book, the years during the second world war, time passes too quickly and it seems like a summary rather than a story.
And why does it have the word Christmas in the title?
Sorry only 2 stars this time.

[Ali Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well I don't know what to make of this. As you can see I only started it last night and it started off really well. The children in the orphanage at Christmas was a sad tale but it held my intrest for a good few chapters but then something happened and am not sure what but I got totally lost by the time Molly had run away and ended up in the woods with what I think were gypsies. And so it went on and on. I struggle at times with dialect in books and find it very off putting if used too much. Also every single chapter I did read ended with Molly falling asleep! I hate giving bad reviews especially for best selling authors but this book did just not do it for me at all as it was too much of a struggle.

[Susan Jones · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful. Started ok but then drifted. At times, because of the way it was written, especially the parts in the children's home, I found it could be a book for children.

The choice of words - bezzie, pal, even kindergarten - aren't they more modern words? Kindergarten isn't a word that is really used in UK, really Playgroup, Nursery or infants/Reception now. The term "gliders" - does she mean planes.

I assume research was used a lot and it was possible to see it amoungstvthe story.

I don't think I will be reading anymore by this author.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this story. How fortunate I feel having been brought up in a loving family. This story brought home the sadness little children have to endure by becoming orphans through circumstances beyond their control and particularly during the second world war. A good read by Katie

[Haylee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the story at the beginning but after a while I became bored and fed up also a very slow story. I wouldn’t recommend it sorry to say.

[Ruth Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book but lengthy chapters

[Francesca Sennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, let’s start with the title, this book has nothing to do with Christmas, so if you’re looking for a feel good Christmassy book then unfortunately this isn’t for you. Besides that I thought the book was great, it follows a young girl named molly hardwick navigating through her struggles during WWII. I loved the fact that it was written over quite a large span of time and the fact that it was written from many different perspectives as I felt this really helped to build each character although I felt the changes in perspective were choppy and didn’t Segway very well at all. I felt that the plot twist at the end was excellent and the fact that molly didn’t just succumb to normal romantic ideals and follow in the footsteps of most female characters in romantic novels was a real breath of fresh air. I also though that
SPOILER.....





















Her escape from the farm was really brushed over and I really felt that they could have done a better job in detailing that as it was such a big event in the book and it should have been highly significant but actually it was squashed into about 3 pages and written very quickly and lacked detail. For these reasons I have given this book 4 stars ✨✨✨✨

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Orphan’s Christmas by Katie Flynn is an historical novel that I read in just one sitting.
The action begins in 1936 as we follow the lead character through the orphanage to a wooden dwelling and through the war years.
Molly is a plucky girl. It is her personality and her strength of character that get her through some very tough circumstances from the age of eleven when we first meet her.
The orphanage is stifling. It is a place of ‘less than’ with little heating and little to eat. An older girl bullies Molly, forcing her to make choices she did not anticipate.
Bonds formed in childhood persist into adulthood until the rose-tinted spectacles are removed.
A character who is on the sidelines proves to be more loyal than one who takes centre stage.
With World War II comes both bravery and loss. Characters live for today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.
I enjoyed An Orphan’s Christmas. It was an engaging read.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title is a bit misleading, as it isn't really a christmas story, but enjoyable all the same!

I'm glad Molly didn't marry Lenny (team Alex!) and that he got his comeuppance at the end. I was a bit disappointed that Molly still held a candle to Lenny after their chat at the pub, when she said she'd be a new woman and not bound by him. I was confused in Lenny'd first war chapter about Sally/Lily (first Sally was dat with him, then Lily, then Sally again; later cheaters make it sound like Lily was his fling before Sally).

The repeated use of the word "presently" was a bit grating ("presently, the girls sat down to eat..." or "Presently, they did this that and the other..."). Overall, it is a decent, easy read.

[WyrmbergSabrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of Molly growing up during the war years.
This is another book out of my usual reading group, and I did enjoy it. A little black and white for some, and the time passage is rather quick, but it’s a good read for how the young experience love and life while serving their country.
I found the ending a little hurried, but all the pointers are there as to what’s going to happen, and the ending is one of potential rather than happy ever after.
Read this if you like feel good wartime tales.

[Gill Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not my usual type of book but I wanted a Christmas distraction and it definitely succeeded on that score. It jumped a bit in places and there were quite a lot of coincidences but the book did what I wanted it to do. I enjoyed the characters and the countryside descriptions.

[Laura jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

being katie flynn you know its going to be a good book. you feel sorry because of the orphanage situation but its a really touching story.
with the war starting its interesting what they decide to do and you hope they will find each other again

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was nearly a 4 star rating as thought I was not going to live this book, but totally redeemed itself about half way through. Loved how I kept wondering who Molly was going to end up with, but would have loved it even more if it had ended at Christmas with Molly getting married too.

[Julie Tombs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not sure what this book has to do with Christmas. It is a fairly lightweight wartime story of two orphans brought up in a children’s home then meeting again in the WAAF/RAF during WW2. A bit slow in places and the characterisation is not great. Not a fan of this author really.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Katie Flynn is always a good read. Set just before and during WW2 this is a heartwarming lighthearted read. Good for relaxing with.

[Annette O'grady · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was not too bad a read in my opinion and very interesting

[Sarah Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a good story but felt it was very slow and did not have a good story to it that made u want to carry on reading it

[dave jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story telling at its best

Loved the book for start to finish Katie Flynn is one of my favourite writers,she never fails to deliver a top class read

[Yvonne Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

a typical katie read

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good to read a book where you are kept guessing til the last few pages. Believable characters. Interesting to see inside the services during ww2- just enough to balance the story. Well constructed

[Swetha · Rating 2 out of 5]

i somehow didn't expect the end to be like that...

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book but don’t know why it is called An Orphan’s Christmas. Had nothing to do with Christmas apart from the mention on a couple of pages.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Childhood friends, growing up and finding your voice, serving in the war, friendship and love. Lots to like about this book.

[Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful story with a surprise end. I just loved it all. I definitely recommend reading this book.

[Leanne Roche · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable easy read

[Lisa partland · Rating 3 out of 5]

good

Was good but disappointing ending as thought would get to know more but it seemed rushed at the end end

[Felicity Terry · Rating 2 out of 5]

You can add the word 'Christmas to any book title and include any amount of glitter, Christmas trees, baubles and snowflakes to its cover but a Christmas novel it does not make.

I've kind of getting used to the idea that 'Christmas' novels despite their festive covers are generally, well, lacking in Christmas content so the fact that An Orphan's Christmas featured very little in the way of Christmas came as no big surprise; that it contained so very little in the way of Christmas did.

What I tend to think of as a comfortable read; charming but hardly Christmassy, the story hardly unknown territory, the characters of the sort I've encountered numerous times previously.

A bit slow to begin with, the story tending to drag a bit, that it was soooo predictable a bit disappointing but hey-ho on the whole OK if your wanting something that feels reassuringly familiar.

Copyright ... Felicity Grace Terry @ Pen and Paper

[Emma Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was good; it wasn't as gripping as other books I have read. Therefore, it did take me quite while to get into it. I liked all the characters and enjoyed reading about the war and what happened in the 1940s - that was fascinating, I felt like I was in a time machine in a way which was good. Anyway, I do recommend this book if you're into 1940s war fiction stories :)

[Jeanette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read several books by Katie Flynn and was so pleased to have found this book amongst several books left at the hotel by departing guests where I am on vacation at the moment.

An enjoyable read, but not quite as good as some that I have read. Am looking forward to reading more by this author.