Little Wing: A beautifully written, emotional and heartwarming story

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A couple of things bugged me. Firstly, I question whether someone could really be in their mid 30s and have never seen their own birth certificate/know where they were born. Having a passport or a birth certificate for ID is a pretty standard requirement in this day and age, so that's something you have to suspend disbelief about.

Little Wing by Freya North | Goodreads Little Wing by Freya North | Goodreads

North’s most powerful, most resounding message, though, is one about home, about roots. About finding home, going home. About the pull of home — that invisible cord that tugs you and tells you, THIS is home. As the past begins to close in on them both, they find themselves travelling to a remote village called Harris in the Outer Hebrides; Nell to explore her family connections that have been long-buried with the woman she learns is her real mother; Dougie, for a long overdue stay to reconnect with his father, Gordon, and confront events that he has tried to ignore for too long. Inevitably, their paths are destined to cross! I loved the characters in this book and I cared about them all. I also loved the sound of windswept and beautiful Harris in Scotland and was sorely tempted to jump on a plane and go there until I thought to look up the weather forecast which for this week in February is 7 straight days of rain, short days and highs of 7 degrees. I enjoyed the characters and while it was hard to make out quite what was going on in the beginning, come the middle and end, I was able to relax into the different story lines. Learning about Flora and her journey was so beautiful and heartbreaking, her storyline was definitely my favorite. I really loved Gordon who is such a loving and caring father figure to Dougie. The ending really wrapped it up for me and warmed my heart. I was smiling to myself constantly with sheer happiness for our main characters.Also, this is the second book I've read recently with a young mother raising a baby completely on her own in an isolated location and absolutely revelling in every minute of it. I have to admit I think that would be my idea of hell and I'm not sure it would have been helpful for me to read this when my kids were little. Maybe that's just me? Two timelines, two main characters and two different stories. The first timeline begins in the 1960's with a pregnant 16-year-old banished from her home and sent away to one of the most remote parts of the UK. There are lost souls in this story but there is also a balance of heartwarming glee that will warm your heart also. She does a good job of painting a lifeless character in Nell before she heads over to Harries. And of course her descriptions of Harries are wonderful - with such source material it would be hard not to make them so. In 2004 Nell Hartley, cafe owner in bustling Colchester, discovers something about herself and her family which will changer her life forever. She decides to try and find out more about this bombshell which has just impacted her world. But where does she start?

Little Wing: A beautifully written, emotional and - WHSmith Little Wing: A beautifully written, emotional and - WHSmith

In 1969 sixteen year old Florence Lawson finds herself pregnant and sent to an island in the Outer Hebrides to give birth so as not to bring shame on her family. I adore family drama as long as it’s not too dysfunctional. The choices that individuals made in past times because of societal pressures are always interesting to me. Thoughtful themes include family secrets, finding answers, belonging, the true meaning of family, forgiveness, lost souls, mother/daughter relationships, supportive coworkers, friendship, compassion, and resilience. This book, like so many of Freya’s other publications, is gently gripping. It wraps itself around your heart whilst you are reading it, endearing you to beautiful settings, loveable characters and unravelling secrets. It is quite simply a book from Freya’s heart and that is very clear throughout every chapter. It is not mawkish and syrupy at all but a book full of tenderness and grace as Nell embarks upon a personal journey in her hunt for a sense of belonging. Little Wing is told from the perspectives of three characters: Florence, who is sixteen and pregnant and has been banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK in 1969. And the parallel lives of Nell and Dougie in 2005. As the reader, we know that Florence, Nell and Dougie must be linked somehow; the result is incredibly emotive. I especially loved the moment Nell and Dougie’s lives connected, it made me smile so much.Florence Lawson, a 16-year-old schoolgirl who dreams of being an artist, finds herself pregnant and banished to one of the most remote parts of the UK.

Little Wing: A beautifully written, emotional and Little Wing: A beautifully written, emotional and

Harris and the Outer Hebrides is almost a character in it's own right. My dad lives in the highlands (one of the most stunning places I've ever been), so I can only imagine the rugged and harsh beauty of the most remote part of the UK. North gave such wonderful descriptions, I wanted to go immediately!In Little Wing, Freya North gives us three unforgettable characters across two timelines: pregnant schoolgirl Florence, who is banished in 1969 to one of the farthest outposts of Scotland to deliver her baby; lonely, untethered Nell, who divides her time between care in the community and visiting her mentally impaired mother; and photographer Dougie, a man estranged from his roots and troubled by a painful past. I adore books about ordinary people living extraordinary lives and Little Wing is liberally but sensitively strewn with characters full of longing and hope, despair and resilience, where the minutely observed detail of everyday life and relationships remind us how the little moments are the biggest part of our beings. In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell and Dougie are both at critical moments in their lives when their paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers sought.