The Heart of the Night

by Judith Lennox

An epic novel of passion, betrayal and danger, set in wartime Britain and Europe

In the spring of 1936 Kay Garland embraces an exciting new life of glamour when she becomes companion to Russian Konstantin Denisov's daughter, Miranda. The two girls become firm friends, and when Miranda falls in love with a young Parisian, Kay helps her keep the relationship secret. But Konstantin learns of the affair and promptly dismisses Kay, leaving her penniless and stranded in Nazi Berlin. By chance she meets Tom Blacklock, who pays for her ticket home, and is destined to play an important part in her life. As for Miranda, she makes a decision that will put her in the path of disaster. With the outbreak of war come death and destruction and, for both women, consuming passion, along with the fear of losing all that they hold dear. After Hitler's defeat, there are new dangers - and opportunities to find love where least expected.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, War

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Aka Judith Lennox-Smith

Judith Lennox lives in Cambridgeshire, England with her husband and three sons.

Reviews

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great page turner - a good old fashioned saga!

[Rebecca Surgey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book but took time to read because it's about 200 pages too long. Lovely story so I'm glad I stuck with it.

[Deane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather long read; a bit slow in parts but generally, I found it a fascinating story especially the descriptions of East Prussia and its part in WWII. A country I knew little about so it sent me to doing research on Google...I like that when something I read in a novel intrigues me enough to want to learn more.

The story of the two young girls, Miranda and Kay....who were very different in character and upbringing....from their meeting when teens, through the war years which affected them both so tragically...to their lives as adults was captivating. I couldn't help but wonder what I would have done during those awful times....would I have survived as they did? They were both very strong women.

I didn't feel that any of the men they were involved with were as strong in character as the women but I did like them especially Tom. I also admired Friedrich and felt sorry for him in that Miranda could not love him as he desired....he was very kind and good to her. He had no love for Hitler but he loved East Prussia.

A book I would recommend to anyone who likes an involved love story set during the horrible days of WWII in Europe and Russia.

[Kerstin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Engländerin Kay nimmt in den 30er Jahren die Stelle als Gesellschafterin von Miranda, der Tochter eines reichen russischen Unternehmers und einer Engländerin an. Die beiden reisen 1,5 Jahre mit Mirandas Vater und Entourage durch Europa - Paris, London, Berlin, Côte Azure - und werden beste Freundinnen. Als Kay unvermittelt vom tyrannischen Konstantin Denisov vor die Tür gesetzt wird, trennen sich die Wege der beiden Freundinnen und während des 2. Weltkriegs verlieren sie sich völlig aus den Augen. Während sich Kay der britischen Armee anschließt, verbringt Miranda die Kriegsjahre auf einem Gut in Ostpreußen.

Ich fand die Geschichte der beiden Frauen fesselnd und vor allem die Schilderung der Flucht aus Ostpreußen hat mich sehr bewegt. Auch die Liebe kam nicht zu kurz und die dritte männliche Hauptperson, Tom, war sehr sympathisch!

Kurzum ein richtig schöner Einstieg ins Lesejahr!

[Gaynor Mackenzie-Cooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Twists and turns

Fantastic read. Plot unexpected and the end was a bit feeble. I made up what I thought should have happened

[Tyra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helt okej asså. En trevlig läsning och en bitvis väldigt spännande handling. Mitt största problem med boken är nog att det var på tok för många karaktärer i den. Det fanns ingen chans att hålla ordning på dem alla och genom att ständigt hoppa mellan de olika karaktärerna så slutade det med att jag inte riktigt brydde mig så särskilt mycket om någon av dem. Man blev liksom lite likgiltig inför deras öden. Boken var också en aning för lång för mitt tycke. Slutet var faktiskt VÄLDIGT spännande men efter ca. 250 sidor av ett mycket långsammare tempo så hade man lite redan tappat intresset innan det intressanta ens hänt.

Boken styrka var som sagt tidigare dess handling. Överlag en väldigt fin historia med många intressanta perspektiv på livet under andra världskriget. Under den sista tredjedelen, när världskriget var i full gång, blev boken spännande och en riktig "page-turner", dock så kan jag inte bortse från de ovan nämnda svagheterna och den sista tredjedelen kunde tyvärr inte riktigt väga upp den relativt långdragna och händelselösa början/mitten och boken får därför 3/5. A fair rating in my opinion.

[Athena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Underbar bok. Vackert språk, författaren skriver en aldrig på näsan. Man får en känsla av Europa innan kriget med den engelska Kay och den rysk-engelska Miranda, med en stor dos av 30-talets Paris.

Historien förflyttas sedan, varesig karaktärerna vill detta eller ej, in i andra världskriget.
Det är sorgligt med krig. Så många påbörjade livshistorier som inte får levas ut, provas, som lämnar död och sorg efter sig. I dagens Europa med ryska kriget som bakgrund känns det ännu mer flämtande att läsa historien, man vill inte att en upprepning sker av all den onödiga förödelsen och grymheten som fanns under de forna världskrigen.

Boken påminner mig lite om Ken Folletts bok Fall of Giants, på det bästa sätt. Rekommenderar.

[paul c hitches · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good enjoyable read

I thought this book was excellent. Kept you transfixed throughout and every turned page have another gasp of delight. Judith Lennox can certainty wrote an excellent story weaving fact and fiction together seamlessly. Long may she continue.

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book! Highly recommended

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story, however there was alot of detailed history about the war which could have been condensed

[Kassu Kiuru · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tämän luin suomeksi.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. Had to have a few days of reading to get over the loss🙈🙈

[Shelley Zipp · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was very good but too long.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will not be stingy in giving this book a full-fledged 5 stars and above! A marvellous, captivating and memorable first read of the year. So glad I picked it up. Lennox is GREAT at story-telling!

[Sarah Somehagen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars. A bit too slow, a bit too long. Even though a lot of things happened, it somehow feels like nothing happened. The story follows atleast four characters, but I only cared about one of them, Miranda. The others felt quite flat and not very pleasant. They didn't really bring anything to the story. I also thought the story would be more exciting, filled with mysteries and drama, but it just told the story of quite ordinary people living through World War II in different countries. And that doesn't really feel original or very interesting to me.

The main love story that is the backbone to the story, the love between Miranda and Oliver, was lost on me. I didn't feel their chemistry, I couldn't see or feel their love and attraction for each other. I thought she had more chemistry with her husband later on, but apparently the author disagreed. I don't know, the story fell a little flat for me. But the writing was very beautiful and the first 200 pages had me hooked, so it's definitely not a complete disappointment.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a few train trips coming up and needed an easy book to read. This one certainly falls in the category "relaxed and easy". I liked it much better than the other book by Judith Lennox I read (All my sisters). Although many characters were introduced, I didn't get confused. Some names were not important enough to remember (like the people around Miranda in Prussia), and it didn't matter for the story. I thought it was interesting Lennox tells the story of the Second World War partly from the point of view of someone in Eastern Germany, close to the Russian border. I haven't seen that in other books, where often the Western point of view is chosen. And war remains war, those people haven't chosen for it, and they all suffer. Maybe it's an eyeopener that the German people suffered too and many, like Miranda, lost everything. This is not only a love story but also a story of hope and sometimes giving yourself a kick in the butt (like Kay).

2015 Books #19

[Jule · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, the good things about the book: I adored the ending, the characters were great and the insights into WWII were terrifying, but very interesting.
Nevertheless, I didn't love the book as much as I thought I would. The story dragged itself through the 550 pages and was very slow-paced most of the time. Even though I was interested in how the story ends, I couldn't drag myself to read every day, which is very unusual.

Still, it was a good book about the life during WWII, people who are interested in that topic, should give this book a try.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

too many characters with too little importance. The author dashes from one to the other in just a few paragraphs which makes it virtually impossible to get attached to any of them. I enjoyed the part where the Russians were starting to invade Prussia, because at last there was some suspense, but on the whole the book was a bore! I am disappointed because I usually love stories based in WW2 and was looking forward to reading this one...
I really don't like the way it finishes, it's oh too happy end and really "incredible" in the French sense as UN-believable...

[Dora Okeyo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Judith Lennox writes with precision- she gets you to walk a mile and more and even reside in the lives of the characters such that- their battles are yours and their achievements are yours too.

I loved the writing and the in-depth look at the war and how it affected the characters and how they did their best to overcome it and pick up after being set apart.

It's a wonderful story of love, betrayal, perseverance and reconciliation.

[Johanna Sten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tyckte om denna! Särskilt tyckte jag om att det växlade tätt mellan de olika karaktärerna. Det blev inte jättelångt mellan dem, och jag hann bli nyfiken flera gånger och ville läsa hur det gick för den specifika karaktären. Episk bok, skildrade vad jag kan bedöma, mycket av det hemska med kriget men från en vinkel som inte har tjatats sönder. Mycket bra bok, engagerande karaktärer och lyckliga slut!
Rekommenderas!

[Yang Shu-yuan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Als es die junge Kay ins Berlin der Dreißigerjahre verschlägt, ahnt sie nicht, wie sehr dies ihr Leben verändern wird. Vor der Kulisse der Kriegswirren in Europa erzählt Judith Lennox von der tiefen Freundschaft zweier Frauen, ihrer Suche nach Liebe und davon, wie man selbst in dunklen Zeiten Herz und Anstand bewahren kann

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book. Loved how the story covered lots of stories with all the different characters points of view. Usually I don't like when a book covers such a vast period of time but this actually worked in favour of this book as you got to see the characters develop which is important in following the storyline.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking for a book to read and found this one in the bookstore... the characters are very predictable and they can be any person you meet in real life... not very appealing! it became interesting to me only because of the historical backdrop of the story (during WWII), other than that the story doesn´t have too much to offer...

[Cathc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book I've read by this author and enjoyed it very much. It's rather a disjointed read, the storyline features several interconnected characters and the narrative jumps around between them in a slightly off putting way. It's a well researched novel which shines through in the descriptions of life in wartime Europe. I'm looking forward to reading more from this Judith Lennox.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant !Filled with drama ,friendship, love and sorrow.Characters come alive on the page with real emotions that make the reader continue on . A sweeping saga in the hard time of the World War II.This is the first book that I read from Judith Lennox and I loved it!Definitely a great read and I highly recommend .

[Pauliina Lassila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Suomeksi Yöntummat vuodet (ei löytynyt suomenkielisellä nimellä täältä). Koko lukemisen ajan oli tunne, että olen lukenut tämän ennenkin. Ehkä olin tai sitten jonkun toisen vastaavan. Tarina pääsi silti yllättämään välillä ja koska tykkään kovasti toisen maailmansodan aikaan sijoittuvista kirjoista, tämän seurassa vietin mielelläni kuuman terassipäivän.

[Jean Brazil · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite authors! This one was pretty good. I loved the characters, and as usual, everything worked out well in the end, despite some unusual twists to get there. Keep track of all the characters, because it got confusing at times.

[Bettyjoy Engelbrecht · Rating 4 out of 5]

A thoroughly good read. It follows the four main characters through war and peace, firendhips and marriages an all the loose ends are tied up neatly in the end. Well put together. Just get it read it and enjoy.

[Caroline · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kay wordt gezelschapsdame van de Russische Miranda in Parijs. Miranda wordt verlieft en Kay helpt Miranda de relatie geheim te houden. Als de vader van Miranda er achter komt wordt Kay ontslagen en bevind ze zich helemaal alleen in Berlijn aan het begin van de tweede Wereldoorlog.

[Lara]

I have really enjoyed the other Judith Lennox books I have read, but I was a little disappointed with this one.