"Sarah Morris Remembers" by D.E. Stevenson (re-read)

My online D.E. Stevenson group has just finished our chapter-by-chapter reading and discussion of "Sarah Morris Remembers," which I read on my own first, back in August (and reviewed here). The book was first published in 1966, and is narrated by the title character, Sarah, as she looks back on her life.  

Sarah and her siblings -- two older brothers and a spoiled younger sister -- grow up in a pastoral setting in England in the period between the wars, the children of the local vicar.  When brother Lewis brings his friend home from school -- an Austrian named Charles Reeder -- Sarah's life changes forever:  she falls instantly in love with Charles, and develops an interest in learning to speak other languages (which comes in very handy later in her life). 

As Sarah grows up, Charles declares his love for her too. But the war intervenes before they can be married, and Charles returns home to try to free his father, who has been imprisoned by the Nazis. Then he disappears too. Sarah and her father move to London to help with the war effort, meet new people and have many new adventures, but thoughts of Charles are never far from her mind... 

Stevenson's wartime novels are among her best. I'll admit this one started slowly, but it hit its stride and got more interesting once the war began. While the story revolves around Sarah & her romance with Charles, there are plenty of subplots involving the lesser characters that added to my enjoyment of the book. And this re-read was enhanced by the discussion with the group members. There are a couple of plot points here that set this one apart from most other DES novels, which made for some lively discussion and speculation at times! 

My original rating stands -- 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads.  

There's a sequel to this book, "Sarah's Cottage," which will likely be on our reading list for the new year. Our first book for 2023, however, will be "The Empty World" -- a change of pace from DES's usual light romances.  It's a dystopian sci-fi thriller, first published in 1936 and set in 1973 Scotland.  

This was Book #50 read to date in 2022 (and Book #4 finished in December), bringing me to 111% of my 2022 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 45 books! I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 7 books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2022 tagged as "2022 books."