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Miss Lily's Lovely Ladies #1.5
With Love from Miss Lily: A Christmas Story
From the author of Miss Lily's Lovely Ladies comes a moving and heart-warming story that is perfect for Christmas - and beyond.
December 1918
This first peacetime Christmas should be perfect. But this is a ceasefire, not peace. Influenza ravages Europe, and the hospital supplies Sophie ordered six months ago have not arrived from Australia. And the old woman in Ward 3 will not stop knitting.
Yet, even in war-torn Europe, Christmas miracles are possible, as a stranger reveals the extraordinary story of how thousands of female resistance workers sent coded messages, including the most important message a woman can send. And somehow Christmas does arrive, the perfect Christmas, with love from Miss Lily.
December 1918
This first peacetime Christmas should be perfect. But this is a ceasefire, not peace. Influenza ravages Europe, and the hospital supplies Sophie ordered six months ago have not arrived from Australia. And the old woman in Ward 3 will not stop knitting.
Yet, even in war-torn Europe, Christmas miracles are possible, as a stranger reveals the extraordinary story of how thousands of female resistance workers sent coded messages, including the most important message a woman can send. And somehow Christmas does arrive, the perfect Christmas, with love from Miss Lily.
100 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2017
88 people are currently reading
200 people want to read
About the author
Jackie French
320 books865 followersJackie is an award-winning writer, wombat negotiator and the Australian Children’s Laureate for 2014-2015. She is regarded as one of Australia’s most popular children’s authors, and writes across all genres - from picture books, history, fantasy, ecology and sci-fi to her much loved historical fiction. In her capacity as Australian Children’s Laureate, ‘Share a Story’ will be the primary philosophy behind Jackie’s two-year term.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 3, 2019
3.5~4★
“Tomorrow the hospital’s Christmas dinner would be turnip soup and corned beef on bread that was as much sawdust and ground acorns as rye or wheat flour .”
What a treat, eh? I thought this might be a good Christmas read, and it was, but not quite in the way I expected.
This is ceasefire in France during WWI, and Sophie is nursing influenza patients, so she is in quarantine as much as they are. She’s waiting for supplies from Australia, and can’t get out herself to look, and the place is falling apart, as was much of Europe.
“Sophie looked up from a pile of paperwork that . . . sat on a desk with one leg missing (shell damage) in a room with one corner of the roof missing (bomb damage), lit by a single battered lantern (another bomb).”
Sophie and the other nurses are battling not only terrible conditions, but also a disease that was as deadly as the war. The difference was, it struck all over the world, all ages. Absolutely devastating. Heart-breaking.
Many people today seem unaware that the flu epidemic of 1918-19 (“Spanish Flu”) killed more people than soldiers who died during the war. About 50 million world-wide, said to be 3% to 6% of the whole population. If 5% of today’s population of 7.7 billion died, that would be 385 million people! A third of a billion people! That’s the combined populations of the United States, Canada, and Australia, wiped out. After needing care, of course.
Sophie knows how bad it is, but she is dedicated to making life as comfortable as she can, and when one of the staff tells her a dying old lady is fretting in her bed and muttering and won’t let go of her knitting, Sophie goes to listen to the lady. She can make out a few words while the lady’s hands keep working the wool, dropping stitches and making knots everywhere.
This is an interesting novella, one of a series, by Aussie author Jackie French, well-known for children’s and young adult book. This is an interesting bit of history, and when you see the significance of the old lady and her knitting, you will appreciate even more how women contributed to the war effort.
“Tomorrow the hospital’s Christmas dinner would be turnip soup and corned beef on bread that was as much sawdust and ground acorns as rye or wheat flour .”
What a treat, eh? I thought this might be a good Christmas read, and it was, but not quite in the way I expected.
This is ceasefire in France during WWI, and Sophie is nursing influenza patients, so she is in quarantine as much as they are. She’s waiting for supplies from Australia, and can’t get out herself to look, and the place is falling apart, as was much of Europe.
“Sophie looked up from a pile of paperwork that . . . sat on a desk with one leg missing (shell damage) in a room with one corner of the roof missing (bomb damage), lit by a single battered lantern (another bomb).”
Sophie and the other nurses are battling not only terrible conditions, but also a disease that was as deadly as the war. The difference was, it struck all over the world, all ages. Absolutely devastating. Heart-breaking.
Many people today seem unaware that the flu epidemic of 1918-19 (“Spanish Flu”) killed more people than soldiers who died during the war. About 50 million world-wide, said to be 3% to 6% of the whole population. If 5% of today’s population of 7.7 billion died, that would be 385 million people! A third of a billion people! That’s the combined populations of the United States, Canada, and Australia, wiped out. After needing care, of course.
Sophie knows how bad it is, but she is dedicated to making life as comfortable as she can, and when one of the staff tells her a dying old lady is fretting in her bed and muttering and won’t let go of her knitting, Sophie goes to listen to the lady. She can make out a few words while the lady’s hands keep working the wool, dropping stitches and making knots everywhere.
This is an interesting novella, one of a series, by Aussie author Jackie French, well-known for children’s and young adult book. This is an interesting bit of history, and when you see the significance of the old lady and her knitting, you will appreciate even more how women contributed to the war effort.
December 6, 2017
A lovely little Christmas themed Novella giving some insight into life in a French Military Hospital during a ceasefire in WWI .. Would have liked it to be longer, but enjoyed the language style of the era .. Would consider a Book read from this Series ..
May 3, 2018
This was a sweet story, and I hope to read the novels in this series at some point. I liked the knitting, of course. The setting was interesting. I like that it was set in France during WWI. I don't read many stories that take place during WWI or in a hospital. The best part was that it was Christmas Eve.
September 20, 2018
A year earlier she had been so full of energy, founding her hospitals, organising supplies. The war would end, and there'd be peace and a return to life and joy...
But even President Woodrow Wilson had not been able to negotiate peace, only a ceasefire.
Sophie Higgs had anticipated a different kind of Christmas than this one in 1918 war-torn Europe. Supplies are running low in the hospital she directs, and Spanish flu is killing off patients quickly. But a dying woman in Ward Three, determined to finish a knitting project, may know something Sophie doesn't in With Love from Miss Lily: A Christmas Story by author Jackie French.
I stepped into a series mid-river when I picked up this booklet, which is sandwiched between two historical fiction novels I haven't read. The story gives you an intriguing idea of who Miss Lily is but doesn't spell it out.
Yet, even without all the background information, the heart of this tale paints a complete enough picture to send a poignant, compelling message. Sure, it's got a soft, inviting, Christmassy cover, and the story's style is lovely, but the dark, harsh backdrop of wartime desperation is clear. This is an account of resistance, of espionage, and of the sharp ingenuity that comes to the fore when ordinary people find themselves in the most critical of circumstances.
A quick, impactful, hopeful Christmas story indeed. I'm sure it's meant to whet one's appetite to read more of the series, and for me, it's done just that.
But even President Woodrow Wilson had not been able to negotiate peace, only a ceasefire.
Sophie Higgs had anticipated a different kind of Christmas than this one in 1918 war-torn Europe. Supplies are running low in the hospital she directs, and Spanish flu is killing off patients quickly. But a dying woman in Ward Three, determined to finish a knitting project, may know something Sophie doesn't in With Love from Miss Lily: A Christmas Story by author Jackie French.
I stepped into a series mid-river when I picked up this booklet, which is sandwiched between two historical fiction novels I haven't read. The story gives you an intriguing idea of who Miss Lily is but doesn't spell it out.
Yet, even without all the background information, the heart of this tale paints a complete enough picture to send a poignant, compelling message. Sure, it's got a soft, inviting, Christmassy cover, and the story's style is lovely, but the dark, harsh backdrop of wartime desperation is clear. This is an account of resistance, of espionage, and of the sharp ingenuity that comes to the fore when ordinary people find themselves in the most critical of circumstances.
A quick, impactful, hopeful Christmas story indeed. I'm sure it's meant to whet one's appetite to read more of the series, and for me, it's done just that.
April 7, 2019
Very short but a good reminder of the characters.
October 18, 2019
A short story for the lovers of this series.
It is December 1918 and it’s looks to be a miserable Christmas at Sophie’s hospital, quarantined due to flu. But at the last minute supplies arrive.
It is December 1918 and it’s looks to be a miserable Christmas at Sophie’s hospital, quarantined due to flu. But at the last minute supplies arrive.
December 5, 2021
With love from miss Lily
With love from miss Lily was easy to get into but did feel I had missed something
Now I realise it is a teaser or prelude to get you interested in a series
With love from miss Lily was easy to get into but did feel I had missed something
Now I realise it is a teaser or prelude to get you interested in a series
September 30, 2022
I really enjoyed this but can't explain why without posting spoilers for the series.
January 17, 2024
Not at all my cup of tea.
A broad, brush stroke of a story missing the details that would make it meaningful. Probably needs to be read only as part of a series.
A broad, brush stroke of a story missing the details that would make it meaningful. Probably needs to be read only as part of a series.
November 24, 2020
Another sweet little morsel from the Miss Lily universe.
November 26, 2018
This was a nicely written short story with descriptive language, interesting characters, and even pace throughout.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews