Secrets of a Charmed Life

Content Warning: This novel contains themes of war, loss, and separation, including trauma. There are also brief and sometimes gory descriptions of dead bodies, as well as references to pet euthanasia and suicidal ideation.

American Oxford student Kendra Van Zant arrives at the house of 93-year-old Blitz survivor Isabel MacFarland in the Cotswolds. She plans to interview her for an assignment, since the previous woman she was supposed to interview died. Beryl, Isabel’s caretaker and niece, greets Kendra and informs her that Isabel has never told her or the rest of the family much about her time during the Blitz. As Beryl gets Isabel, Kendra prepares for the interview. When Isabel enters the room, she sits and tells Beryl to leave and close the door, which Beryl reluctantly does.

Isabel explains that she wanted to speak to Kendra alone, because her family is concerned that she is too mentally fragile due to her advanced age. Kendra reveals that she is a history major; she loves history because it is important to know not only how things happened but how the people in those events felt. Isabel agrees. When Kendra shows Isabel pictures of her family, they start to bond; both of them are seen as less than capable due to their age, and they each have a younger sister.