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9781496437297

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In Lynn Austin's tantalizing domestic drama, If I Were You, desperation and forgiveness are part of a classic upstairs/downstairs plot. In 1930s England, Eve was Audrey's scullery maid and coveted her privilege. Audrey admired Eve for her courage; her own rich parents seemed cold by comparison. By 1950, Eve is an ocean away in a new bungalow, posing as widowed Audrey to benefit from Audrey's generous American in-laws. When the real Audrey turns up, the former friends confront their rift. The ease that each imagines the other possesses, and the insecurities they suffer, drive home the idea that appearances aren't everything. The book's ravaged backdrop includes blitzes in Coventry and London that blur the social divide. Even when envy bubbles forth, necessity brings the women together. Their work as ambulance drivers is an equalizing force, though Audrey's manor upbringing intrudes to remind Eve that her future is far from secure. Its message familiar and its world nostalgic and fragile, If I Were You looks for answers in changing identities and finds that it's priceless to remain true to oneself.--Foreword Reviews

In Lynn Austin's tantalizing domestic drama, If I Were You, desperation and forgiveness are part of a classic upstairs/downstairs plot. In 1930s England, Eve was Audrey's scullery maid and coveted her privilege. Audrey admired Eve for her courage; her own rich parents seemed cold by comparison. By 1950, Eve is an ocean away in a new bungalow, posing as widowed Audrey to benefit from Audrey's generous American in-laws. When the real Audrey turns up, the former friends confront their rift. The ease that each imagines the other possesses, and the insecurities they suffer, drive home the idea that appearances aren't everything. The book's ravaged backdrop includes blitzes in Coventry and London that blur the social divide. Even when envy bubbles forth, necessity brings the women together. Their work as ambulance drivers is an equalizing force, though Audrey's manor upbringing intrudes to remind Eve that her future is far from secure. Its message familiar and its world nostalgic and fragile, If I Were You looks for answers in changing identities and finds that it's priceless to remain true to oneself.--Foreword Reviews Starred Review Austin transports readers into the lives of her characters, plunking them in the middle of a brutal war and giving them a unique take on the traditional World War II tale. Readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough to find out how Eve and Audrey met and what could have gone so terribly wrong.--Library Journal

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