What Child Is This

What Child Is This 

What Child Is This from author Rhys Bowen is my latest short story read. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it in the beginning, but I am so glad I stuck it out because it surprised me and warmed my heart by the end. 

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Have you read What Child Is This? Come on in and let me tell you about it! 

About What Child Is This 

Jack and Maggie Harris are adrift on ravaged streets during the London Blitz. Their home is gone. They have nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. With only the memories of their greatest loss—the death of their child during a Christmas years before—Jack and Maggie settle in a seemingly deserted mansion for the night.

Inside they find shelter, warmth, and a bit of cheer. They also discover a surprise. Now, in the darkest of times, the unexpected compassion of strangers will make this Christmas one to remember forever. 

Thoughts on What Child Is This 

When I started reading this short story, I did not expect to enjoy it. I was extremely grateful that it was only 55 pages, and I was determined to finish it. Maggie got on my nerves with her constant complaining and negativity. She struck me as just an ugly person who was completely incapable of seeing any positive in anything. 

Also being that I am a prepper, I was irritated that Maggie was beyond unprepared for the bombings that left her and Jack homeless. She was so unprepared that she didn’t even have proper shoes near the door. 

But I am seriously glad that I stuck it out and finished this short story. Because it was absolutely worth it. 

I’m not going to spoil the surprise of what Jack and Maggie found inside the deserted home where they took shelter, but it is an excellent plot twist that will surprise you and make you want to finish this story. 

What Child Is This is a story that reminds me there are good things that come out of horrific times and events. I call it beauty in tragedy. This is a story that took a little bit to really get into, but as Jack and Maggie evolved through their experience, I found myself liking them and wanting to see things work out. 

Final Thoughts on What Child Is This 

Sometimes kindness and compassion are things we all need. This story is set in London in 1940, yet it is still absolutely true today. This is the kind of story where if it were true, would restore your faith in humanity. 

I highly recommend taking the time to read What Child Is This from author Rhys Bowen. You won’t be disappointed! 

Discussion 

Have you read What Child Is This or any other writing from author Rhys Bowen? Are you a fan of her work? Let me know your thoughts in the comments! 

About the Author 

Rhys Bowen is the New York Times bestselling author of two historical mystery series as well as the #1 Kindle bestseller In Farleigh Field, the international bestseller The Tuscan Child. and three other historical novels–including the newly released The Venice Sketchbook. This story takes a young woman to Venice to discover her great aunt’s secret life.

In Farleigh Field was nominated for the Edgar Award, won the Agatha award for best historical mystery as well as the MacAvity and Bruce Alexander Memorial Awards. 

Rhys was born in Bath, England and educated at London University but now divides her time between California and Arizona. Her books have been nominated for every major mystery award and she has won twenty of them to date, including four Agathas. 

She currently writes two historical mystery series, each very different in tone. The Molly Murphy mysteries feature an Irish immigrant woman in turn-of-the-century New York City. These books are multi-layered, complex stories with a strong sense of time and place and have won many awards including Agatha and Anthony. There are 17 books so far in this series plus three Kindle stories, The Amersham Rubies, Through the Window and The Face in the Mirror–a great way to introduce new readers to Molly’s spunky personality.

Then there is Lady Georgie, Rhys’s latest,and very popular, heroine. She’s 35th in line to the throne of England, but she’s flat broke and struggling to survive in the Great Depression. These books are lighter and funnier than Molly’s adventures. They poke gentle fun at the British class system–about which Rhys knows a lot, having married into an upper class family rather like Georgie’s, with cousins with silly nicknames, family ghosts and stately homes. The thirteenth book in the series, Love and Death Among the Cheetahs, was published August 2019. Two books in the series have won the Agatha award for best historical mystery.

The series received the Readers Choice Award for favorite mystery series and Rhys was nominated for career achievement. It was also voted one of Goodreads top 10 cozy mysteries. The books have been translated into many languages and brought Rhys fans from around the world.

Her most recent achievement has been the big World War 2 stand-alone novels, In Farleigh Field and The Tuscan Child as well as The Victory Garden, a novel of WWi and Above the Bay of Angels–a young woman becomes a chef for Queen Victoria. They have enjoyed impressive sales world-wide and brought Rhys many new readers.

As a child Rhys spent time with relatives in Wales. Those childhood experiences colored her first mystery series, about Constable Evans in the mountains of Snowdonia. 10 books including the Edgar nominee Evan’s Gate. She has lived in Austria, Germany and Australia, but has called California her home for many years. She now escapes to her home in Arizona during those cold California winters. When she’s not writing she loves to travel, sing, hike, paint and play the Celtic harp–and hear from her readers!

Purchasing What Child Is This 

If you are interested in buying the audiobook version of What Child Is This, click here.

Click here for the Kindle version.

Click here for my favorite Kindle I currently own.

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