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The Wonderful
A sweeping and turbulent drama about the anxieties of postwar Britain, where one strong and inspirational young woman looks to find her place, no matter the cost.
Sometimes, the truth lies in fiction
It's hard to be an American girl in 1957. Especially when your dad's job means you have to move four thousand miles from home. Especially if you'd rather play baseball than wear a dress. Especially if you see your mom fraying a little more from anxiety each day. And especially if being five minutes older means you have to protect your fragile twin brother.
Still, Hedy Delaney loves her family, and she's trying to make the best of her new life on a U.S. airbase in England. After all, her dad's a war hero, her mother's a beauty, and her brother's a brainiac who writes moving stories about space travel.
Then one tragic day, the unforeseen occurs and all three are ripped away, leaving Hedy alone with countless questions. What really happened on the airbase? What went on behind military closed doors? What were the secrets that could never be told? And how could any of it have led to her family's destruction?
In her search for the truth, Hedy turns to a story her brother began months before he died. Deciding to finish what her brother started, Hedy begins to piece together what happened to her family. But whether she's ready for what she'll discover is another matter entirely.
A sweeping and turbulent family drama, The Wonderful asks whether writing fiction can uncover fact, and if it's ever better to let the truth remain hidden.
Sometimes, it's safer not to finish what you've started.
Sometimes, the truth lies in fiction
It's hard to be an American girl in 1957. Especially when your dad's job means you have to move four thousand miles from home. Especially if you'd rather play baseball than wear a dress. Especially if you see your mom fraying a little more from anxiety each day. And especially if being five minutes older means you have to protect your fragile twin brother.
Still, Hedy Delaney loves her family, and she's trying to make the best of her new life on a U.S. airbase in England. After all, her dad's a war hero, her mother's a beauty, and her brother's a brainiac who writes moving stories about space travel.
Then one tragic day, the unforeseen occurs and all three are ripped away, leaving Hedy alone with countless questions. What really happened on the airbase? What went on behind military closed doors? What were the secrets that could never be told? And how could any of it have led to her family's destruction?
In her search for the truth, Hedy turns to a story her brother began months before he died. Deciding to finish what her brother started, Hedy begins to piece together what happened to her family. But whether she's ready for what she'll discover is another matter entirely.
A sweeping and turbulent family drama, The Wonderful asks whether writing fiction can uncover fact, and if it's ever better to let the truth remain hidden.
Sometimes, it's safer not to finish what you've started.
400 pages, Paperback
First published December 10, 2019
36 people are currently reading
522 people want to read
About the author
Saskia Sarginson
16 books220 followersSaskia grew up in Suffolk and now lives in London. She is the mother of four children, including identical twin girls. She has a B.A hons in English Literature from Cambridge and an M.A in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway. She's worked as a Health & Beauty Editor,freelance journalist, ghost-writer and script reader. As well as writing and reading, she loves tango dancing and dog walking,
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
January 12, 2020
Part mystery, part historical fiction and part coming of age. That's a good combination for me. So, although, I could predict some plot twists far too soon, I found myself not wanting to put this story down. I was engaged from beginning to end and learned about yet another disturbing period of history.
I also applaud this author's courage in storytelling.
Well crafted, well written. If you don't like to know too much, avoid the Authors Notes until you are finished.
I also applaud this author's courage in storytelling.
Well crafted, well written. If you don't like to know too much, avoid the Authors Notes until you are finished.
December 9, 2019
This will break your heart and fill you with admiration for Hedy, a young woman whose family is torn apart by a series of odd events on a US airbase in the UK in 1957. Her mother Ruby was born in Norfolk but left her brother Ernest and their hard scrabbly farm behind to marry Todd, a US Air Force pilot. They moved to the US and were happy there with their twins Hedy and Chris, despite Christopher's scoliosis. Their reassignment to the UK opens a can of worms- Ruby's mental health, Chris's physical health, and the weird concrete circle Christopher finds in the woods outside the fence line. Are there aliens there? He's convinced that there are. This is a book one should discover on one's own- live through the twists and turns without a blurb to guide. It's gorgeously written and you, like me, might learn something. Hedy's ability to pick herself up after tragedy, to persevere, and her love for her mother made this a standout for me. The secondary characters such as the kindly Mrs Rose, Peter, Claire, Scott, and Hank are all well drawn. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a terrific, evocative read with a wonderful heroine.
January 9, 2017
Just want to point out that the edition of this book I read is the one which is out in the UK in March, I couldn't find it on here!
Anyway, this is a really great thriller about a woman, Ellie, who runs a tearoom in a small village in Kent, and whose husband dies in a mysterious car crash. She finds solace in a new relationship with a local, rich farmer, David, whose wife has recently died from cancer, but all is not what it seems. She also takes in a local migrant worker from Romania, Luka, who she lets live in her garage. This incurs the disapproval of much of her community, who distrust foreigners. And yet that same community can be very generous and supportive, as they organise a charity fundraiser for the refugees of the Syrian crisis.
This is definitely worth the read, as it combines a page-turning thriller with an examination of a very real and ongoing issue of human trafficking and modern day slavery. The first brilliant thriller I've read this year!
Anyway, this is a really great thriller about a woman, Ellie, who runs a tearoom in a small village in Kent, and whose husband dies in a mysterious car crash. She finds solace in a new relationship with a local, rich farmer, David, whose wife has recently died from cancer, but all is not what it seems. She also takes in a local migrant worker from Romania, Luka, who she lets live in her garage. This incurs the disapproval of much of her community, who distrust foreigners. And yet that same community can be very generous and supportive, as they organise a charity fundraiser for the refugees of the Syrian crisis.
This is definitely worth the read, as it combines a page-turning thriller with an examination of a very real and ongoing issue of human trafficking and modern day slavery. The first brilliant thriller I've read this year!
September 11, 2020
This book is beautifully written and takes place over many years which makes it an extra interesting read... and has a very unusual plot and characters. I highly recommend it! Pretty serious/intense book and/but beautiful
March 25, 2020
Very entertaining work. Lots of twists and turns. There is a mystery element to the work but I would not call it a mystery. The work takes place during post WWII, Red Scare England and the 60s 70s. The main character Hedy is the daughter of a US GI and a local English girl. Her brother is her twin and he has scoliosis. Let it be said, all is not what it seems. If you read this book do read the Author's note at the end.
January 2, 2020
A great suspenseful story that takes place beginning in 1957 on a US Air base in the UK. Hedy is 12 years old loves baseball and now has to adjust to living in the UK. She looks out for her disabled twin brother Chris. Tragedies fall upon her family and Hedy fights to survive. A very heartbreaking novel. Great first read of 2020!
December 18, 2019
I received a free electronic copy of this unique mystery from Netgalley, Saskia Sarginson, and Flatiron Books. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. I am pleased to recommend this work to friends and family.
This historical novel takes us with the Delaney military family as they are transferred from a posting in Iowa to Blackheath U.S. Airbase in England in 1957. Father Todd who was a pilot in England during WWII is doing highly classified cold war work in England. Wife Ruby who is English and met and married Todd at the end of WWII, Is not anxious to see her family, though they are in the next county. Neither Todd nor the children know anything about her family, other than the fact that she was raised on a farm. Ruby is getting more high-strung every day and has doubled up on her anxiety medication despite the fact that the army wives and families try to make the Delaney family feel welcome. The twins, twelve years old, are adjusting as best they can. Christopher suffers from severe scoliosis and wears a metal and leather brace from thighs to chin 23 hours a day but there is a good doctor at the base to keep up with his needs. He loves movies, and anything sci-fi and does well in school. Hedy is charged every waking minute to watch out for and protect Christopher by her mother. Hedy does well in school but is a tomboy who loves baseball and doesn't fit in well with the other girls. School is ok at Blackheath, but Chris is teased and pestered. Christopher 'escapes' Hedy's short leash a couple of times, finds a hole in the perimeter fence and winds up in the forest that encloses three sides of the base. He meets kids that live in the forest, purple kids, and an old fellow named Joe. These are things he prefers to keep to himself. He has no privacy nor any secrets prior to the encounter with the bald purple kids, so he isn't willing to share except maybe with his sister. He does keep a sort of journal and writes short stories so he has that going for him.
And things just begin to crumble, from there. Dad is stressed and drinking more each day. He suffers nightmares almost nightly. The only plus for him is the fact that he is working with Hank, again -they flew together in the war and were both enraptured with Ruby though she was aware of only Todd. Hank actually got Todd this promotion and job. Ruby is frantic and paranoid - is Todd seeing someone else? Is he really working day and night? What is his relationship with their neighbor's wife, Betty? - and then her base pharmacy is out of her particular anti-anxiety meds. There is really no way to go but downhill from there. But what a trip!
Pub date December 10, 2019
rec October 5, 2019
Flatiron Books
Reviewed on December 17, 2019, on Goodreads, Netgalley, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, Kobo, and GooglePlay.
This historical novel takes us with the Delaney military family as they are transferred from a posting in Iowa to Blackheath U.S. Airbase in England in 1957. Father Todd who was a pilot in England during WWII is doing highly classified cold war work in England. Wife Ruby who is English and met and married Todd at the end of WWII, Is not anxious to see her family, though they are in the next county. Neither Todd nor the children know anything about her family, other than the fact that she was raised on a farm. Ruby is getting more high-strung every day and has doubled up on her anxiety medication despite the fact that the army wives and families try to make the Delaney family feel welcome. The twins, twelve years old, are adjusting as best they can. Christopher suffers from severe scoliosis and wears a metal and leather brace from thighs to chin 23 hours a day but there is a good doctor at the base to keep up with his needs. He loves movies, and anything sci-fi and does well in school. Hedy is charged every waking minute to watch out for and protect Christopher by her mother. Hedy does well in school but is a tomboy who loves baseball and doesn't fit in well with the other girls. School is ok at Blackheath, but Chris is teased and pestered. Christopher 'escapes' Hedy's short leash a couple of times, finds a hole in the perimeter fence and winds up in the forest that encloses three sides of the base. He meets kids that live in the forest, purple kids, and an old fellow named Joe. These are things he prefers to keep to himself. He has no privacy nor any secrets prior to the encounter with the bald purple kids, so he isn't willing to share except maybe with his sister. He does keep a sort of journal and writes short stories so he has that going for him.
And things just begin to crumble, from there. Dad is stressed and drinking more each day. He suffers nightmares almost nightly. The only plus for him is the fact that he is working with Hank, again -they flew together in the war and were both enraptured with Ruby though she was aware of only Todd. Hank actually got Todd this promotion and job. Ruby is frantic and paranoid - is Todd seeing someone else? Is he really working day and night? What is his relationship with their neighbor's wife, Betty? - and then her base pharmacy is out of her particular anti-anxiety meds. There is really no way to go but downhill from there. But what a trip!
Pub date December 10, 2019
rec October 5, 2019
Flatiron Books
Reviewed on December 17, 2019, on Goodreads, Netgalley, AmazonSmile, Barnes&Noble, BookBub, Kobo, and GooglePlay.
December 11, 2019
This book was a slow burn, but once it got going I couldn’t put it down. Hedy is just 12 years old when her entire family is taken from her. Her twin brother and father die, leaving her mother in an asylum and Hedy is sent to live on a farm with an uncle she has never met. The book spans a couple of decades and is a coming of age story about a girl who has to find her own way in life. I really liked the conspiracy theories throughout the book and the character development was on point. Hedy is such a strong young woman and the author did a great job portraying the strong bond between the twins. One of the reasons I liked this book was that it doesn’t fit into one genre; it’s several types of books in one with themes of love, strength, friendship, and grief. I truly enjoyed this one.
I received a free advanced copy from the publisher.
I received a free advanced copy from the publisher.
February 3, 2021
There is decent (if often overheated and repetitive) writing here, but it is a kitchen-sink sort of book, and the author clearly was writing towards A Point, rather than with any sense of discovery. The character development is lacking because of this. Not a satisfying read.
February 23, 2020
I loved this book. I couldn’t put it down and read it in a day. I came across it at a bookstore in Middletown, CT with a positive review by the store staff. So glad it jumped out at me.
January 4, 2020
A very good novel with a clever plot and an appealing heroine, though one who suffers through so much tragedy and mystery surrounding her family's destruction that The Wonderful feels more like a Gothic literary revival than a historical mystery. Spunky tomboy Hedy Delaney is a 1950s Midwestern girl coping with her military father's transfer from Iowa to the Blackheath US Army base in England. Ruby's sweet, fragile mother and stalwart war hero father cannot protect her and sensitive twin brother Christopher from the strange events that plague the base, which include colorful lights in the night sky, screams from the dark forest, and the usual Lord of the Flies play amongst children. Christopher's inherited scoliosis and emerging homosexuality, not to mention his obsession with scribbling about aliens and exploring where he shouldn't, dooms him to a fate from which Hedy cannot save him. Her parents also fall victim to Very Bad Luck and before she knows it, Hedy is living on a remote farm in Norfolk in the care of her hitherto unknown uncle. Slowly, with the help of teacher/love object Claire Banville, she begins to write, determined to finish Chris's manuscript The Wonderful, seeking answers about her family's sad end. Sarginson writes beautifully of the wild, wet world of Norfolk which gently imprisons Hedy for almost two decades. Like a princess in a tower, she slowly uncovers the truth about what happened to the Delaneys, but ultimately the reader cares more about Hedy's fragile sense of her future, struggling to bloom from a ruined past. If there are some larger themes that are attempted without too much vigor - civil rights, the loneliness of homosexual teens in a cruel world, US military arrogance abroad and its sinister ends (still a bitter subject in England, especially in recent months) the development of Hedy's damaged psyche and her ability to love, carries the story to a satisfying conclusion.
December 19, 2019
Life Seems Perfect, Until It Isn't!
There's so much to unpack from this novel. Wow!
The author's storytelling comes in three parts: before, after, and resolution. Hedy is a spunky and bit too stubborn for a young girl, but we see her growing amid her family's challenges during the uncertain political world of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
This fictional account sounds too true to be ignored as only entertainment. The storyline of real people getting caught up in strange and unbelievable situations outside their control reveals much of ourselves and the silent struggles many experience or feel amid life's conflicts and contradictions.
The story is told primarily through the eyes of Hedy and her mother, Ruby, played out in the larger Norfolk area of England. This experiential drama illustrates the real fears of Hedy's family as everything changes around them.
This standalone novel will have you guessing for understanding from the first page until the satisfying ending. The strongest part of the plotline it Hedy's unwillingness to stop searching for the truth, while learning more about things and herself than she expected.
I had no idea where this story was headed, so like Hedy, I had to discover it slowly over time. This is a slow burner that will drive you on until you know the truth with all its agonizing realities.
The Audible narration was especially effective in adding momentum and urgency to the story.
Well done, Saskia Sarginson! I plan to read more of your insightful writing!
There's so much to unpack from this novel. Wow!
The author's storytelling comes in three parts: before, after, and resolution. Hedy is a spunky and bit too stubborn for a young girl, but we see her growing amid her family's challenges during the uncertain political world of the late 1950s and early 1960s.
This fictional account sounds too true to be ignored as only entertainment. The storyline of real people getting caught up in strange and unbelievable situations outside their control reveals much of ourselves and the silent struggles many experience or feel amid life's conflicts and contradictions.
The story is told primarily through the eyes of Hedy and her mother, Ruby, played out in the larger Norfolk area of England. This experiential drama illustrates the real fears of Hedy's family as everything changes around them.
This standalone novel will have you guessing for understanding from the first page until the satisfying ending. The strongest part of the plotline it Hedy's unwillingness to stop searching for the truth, while learning more about things and herself than she expected.
I had no idea where this story was headed, so like Hedy, I had to discover it slowly over time. This is a slow burner that will drive you on until you know the truth with all its agonizing realities.
The Audible narration was especially effective in adding momentum and urgency to the story.
Well done, Saskia Sarginson! I plan to read more of your insightful writing!
January 18, 2020
This was a bit slow-moving for me. Covering a span of time from 1957 to 1981, it deals with an American military family being posted to a base in England, where whatever is going on is a top secret effort to keep the good guys ahead in the Cold War. Hedy and her twin brother see their parents crumbling under the pressure of their daily lives - or are they? A shocking set of circumstances leaves Hedy on her way to live with her reclusive, mysterious uncle, the brother her English mother never spoke of. Most of the story is a coming of age for Hedy, so the mystery of what so changed Hedy's life isn't revealed until the end. That isn't so bad, but it's almost an accident that it's revealed at all, thanks to the passage of time and the declassification of military/government documents. Not a bad book, just not exactly my cup of tea!
October 6, 2019
Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC. The Wonderful was a journey for sure. The beginning I was trying to figure out where the story was leading, but then I could not put it down! Read the entire book in less than 2 days. The whole book followed Hedy, who had to deal with the loss of her entire family and spent years unable to move past what happened. She eventually learned the truth and was able to find her own happiness.
I did not know about the historical ties from real military events before reading this, and it makes it more impactful to learn about.
The author did an amazing job spreading the book over years and had closure at the end.
#Thewonderful #netgalley
I did not know about the historical ties from real military events before reading this, and it makes it more impactful to learn about.
The author did an amazing job spreading the book over years and had closure at the end.
#Thewonderful #netgalley
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2020
Coming off of three novels I really loved I was excited to delve into this one. Wish I hadn't even picked it up off of the shelf. After the first few chapters not only was it boring but depressing and the depression spiraled. It was dark and ugly and threw my happiness into a tailspin. Took me a few days to rid myself of the darkness and depravity of this book. Horrible. Don't read it.
October 29, 2021
The story was OK although written a little awkwardly and I don't like it when I figure out who is bad and who is good, but then have to read pages of what and why it happened before we finally get to the conclusion. The best part of this book for me was the Author's note at the end that gave us historical information on what actually was going on at that time.
It was a little long.
It was a little long.
December 28, 2019
I love that the author was able to develop an entire fictional novel based off of one small and one significant true event. Especially considering the events this book is based off of are such a small part in the grand scheme.
February 2, 2020
3.5. Slow starting, but got hooked on the storyline as the plot thickened. Love stories taking place in England written by native authors. Could imagine the scenes vividly as narrated. An interesting story of historical fiction.
April 22, 2025
Stated slow- got better. Interesting to learn the inspiration for this story.
Frustrating when you know what exactly is going on but the (young) character in the book does not because they trust elders, and the government and have yet to be scarred by their evils.
Frustrating when you know what exactly is going on but the (young) character in the book does not because they trust elders, and the government and have yet to be scarred by their evils.
November 9, 2019
It was.... different.
January 2, 2020
Such a sad story. Some people just never seem to catch a break.
January 3, 2020
Great book.
February 17, 2020
A beautiful blend of true history, fiction, and an eerie shimmer of fantasy. Showed me a new way to tell a story.
March 7, 2020
Couldn't get into it
March 27, 2020
3.5 Stars.
April 7, 2020
A well written story around the cold war. Interesting family situation and story, where truth and secrets have a way of squirreling into the characters' lives.
April 16, 2020
Sadly, I could not finish this book. I tried but it was too far out there for me.
December 30, 2020
I picked this up expecting ‘just another mystery’, but what I got was so much darker and more complicated.
Very likable characters in a horrific and ‘true’ (in a historically fictional setting) life.
I usually read authors notes first... DON’T do that here. Let the mystery and answers unfold.
Very likable characters in a horrific and ‘true’ (in a historically fictional setting) life.
I usually read authors notes first... DON’T do that here. Let the mystery and answers unfold.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews