This is my favourite kind of read – one that takes me to another world but at the same time teaches me new things about the world.
I feel privileged that I was able to read this before publication and I thank Netgalley for the opportunity. The following is my honest review.
Wow – what a book! Caroline Kirby took twelve years to write this astounding debut novel and I am not surprised. It is beautifully written, with snippets and sentences that made me stop and re-read because they so perfectly and evocatively described the scenes for me:
“…a spark quickens in Ewa’s stomach like the first strike of a lighter.”
“… pigeon wings flapping like a round of applause.”
“Close by, there is a sudden lash of water. Ewa jerks round and Haller’s torch beam carves across the butter-yellow skirt and to to black trees…”
“… the bright egg of the moon…”
“The Sturmbannführer’s fishy breath is in her face. He is close enough for each fleck of dandruff to take on its own distinctive shape.”
“ …[coffee], like “the brown liquid tastes of school toilets and mud.”
These are only a few examples of the author’s amazing voice.
The love scene in the church is amazing, as is the scene in the swimming pool – they came to life like scenes in a film. There is a hint of how the story will all fall into place, mirrored in the architecture: “How elegantly the disparate shapes fit together, How naturally the architectural lines flow into each other.” In fact, I think this book would make an excellent film.
The main protagonists of “When we Fall” are four disparate main characters from England and Poland/Germany during World War 2, all faced with difficult choices, all flawed in their own ways. And they make for an interesting ride. My favourite character, Vee, is a fairly new pilot with the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary), an organisation about which I knew very little. Many of these pilots were women – ferrying new and damaged military planes between factories, scrapyards, airfields and different delivery centres. [My only gripe with the book was the occasional use of jargon – I had to look up several abbreviations]. Vee is a “wobbly” pilot and she is head-over-heels (deliciously, reluctantly) with Stefan. I liked that I was never sure about this Polish character. Whose side was he really on? There is plenty of intrigue, mystery and complication in the story to keep you turning the pages. And, indeed, the history of the extinct Republic of Poland, the way Nazi occupation carved up the country, the involvement of Russia, its annexation – is all complicated. Sometimes, I felt truth was being stretched with some of the plot – but truth IS after all stranger than fiction and at the very beginning of the book, there is a British newspaper report from 2010 that sets the scene for the mystery that will unfold: the crash of a plane containing at least 90 passengers, including a delegation of Poland’s army chief, MPs and leading historians flying from Warsaw to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre of more than 20,000 Polish officers during the Second World War… Reader, get ready for an intriguing ride!
The author has obviously spent a lot of time in research but she has more than successfully woven history into her narrative and given us extra besides. These characters were young people living in truly dreadful times: so, there are love stories that will tear at the heart strings (Ewa asks herself at the start of the story: “is the rest of her youth to slip by without any sort of love? She cannot save herself for a ghost”) and what happens between them will make you shout “no, no, no…” ) “will she choose the ghost of Stefan Bergl over Heinrich Beck, who is here beside her and pulsing with life?”) and “yes, yes, yes…” but reader, you will always want to turn the next page because, “No one can be trusted one hundred per cent” and you’ll want to know the truth.
I love the little illustrations of women flying or diving at the start of the relevant sections. Nice touch.
Congratulations to the author and my hat goes off to her persistence. Your twelve years were well used, Caroline Kirby. Thank you for writing your book.

I'm familiar with quite a lot of the atrocities that occurred during the second world war but I admit that I hadn't heard of the Katyn Massacre which is central to the plot of this book. We follow a young airwoman, Vee Katchatourian, as she gains her wings. Forced to make an emergency landing due to fog, she meets RAF airman Stefan Bergel who she connects with immediately and, upon departure, can't seem to forget him. Meanwhile in occupied Poland we follow the goings on at a guesthouse where the daughter of the owner, Ewa Hartman, plays hostess to the Germans that are billeted there. She is a spy for the resistance and passes on what she gleans. She is also the heartbroken ex of Stefan who she believes to be dead after being captured at the start of the war. One day though, she thinks she sees him in the street. Making contact, she is shocked by what he asks of her, but reluctantly agrees to help him. Back in the UK and Vee is pining for Stefan but, when he returns, she is also bemused by what he asks her to do... One man and two women hold the key to exposing one of the war's darkest secrets but will they live to tell the story?
What a powerful story this author has weaved around a real historical event. It grabbed my attention from the off and held me captive throughout. Both women involved, Vee and Ewa are strong and forthright and very gutsy. One a brave pilot ferrying planes to where they are needed, the other a spy for the resistance in amongst the very foe holding the world captive. Stefan however is harder to understand and connect to. He is a strange character who, on the face of things, uses his charm and looks to manipulate the two women who appear powerless to resist. But is it all manipulation or is it a very real means to an end that is wholly necessary. We know from the book that he has had a very bad start to his war and it's this that has shaped what follows in his life. Similarly, both Ewa and Vee do things that are necessary for survival and to get their respective jobs done. It really was a different world and time during WWII.
The story the author tells is harrowing and captivating and also very immersive. She really does set the scene and the time perfectly all the way through. We see what life was like on both sides of the water, in the UK and Poland and the differences therein. It's obvious that there has been a lot of hard work going into researching this novel and the attention to detail is second to none. The quality of writing is just as high as the author's debut novel The Conviction of Cora Burns, which I also thoroughly enjoyed and, along with this book, have no hesitation recommending. Me, I'm waiting to see what she serves up next time. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Historical fiction is not my usual bag but this was brilliantly executed with great characters who you really identified with.

The story line was unique and sometimes shocking, kept you reading til the end.

A stunning novel set during World War II. The narrative changes between female characters- Vee, a British transport pilot who spends her war moving planes around and Ewa, Polish born but living as Eva under German occupation and working for the resistance.

Both their lives are linked together by Stefan, an enigmatic character who they both fall for but can they ever be truly sure who he is, what side he's on and whether they can trust him.

A story of intrigue, resistance and romance. Thoroughly recommended - each and every character is well-built and believable, all set in a clear historical context. Gripping all the way through.

At the heart of this moving novel is the tragedy of the Katyn Massacre of 1940, in which over 22,000 Polish military officers were murdered under orders of the Soviet Union. April 2020 marked the 80th anniversary of this horrific WWII crime and is also the 10th anniversary of the Smolensk Air Disaster, where Polish dignitaries were on their way to commemorate the massacre. The only female victim of the massacre – Polish pilot Janina Lewandowska is the basis of one of the characters in Carolyn Kirby’s novel When We Fall. Stefan is a Polish pilot of German ancestry. Born in Poznan, a Polish city with a history of German settlers, Stefan speaks both languages. At the time of the novel, the city had been incorporated into the Third Reich as the capital of Reichsgau Warteland. Many of the Polish inhabitants were executed, arrested, expelled, or used as forced labour; at the same time many Germans were settled in the city. The German population increased from around 5,000 in 1939, to around 95,000 by 1944. The Jewish population of about 2,000 had been moved into concentration camps. Stefan’s girlfriend Ewa has not heard from him for some time, and is worried he has been killed or taken as a prisoner of war.
Ewa is also from Stefan’s home town of Poznan and when we first meet her she is helping her father run their guesthouse. She is an incredible cook, often going foraging for ingredients and somehow able to conjure feasts out of very little. When Stefan left for war she gave him a distinctive pen in a case, hoping they will stay in touch by letter. Her life changes when a young German officer Heinrich Beck comes to stay at the guesthouse and there seems to be a connection between them. Ewa treads a very dangerous path, appearing quiet and unassuming on the surface, but secretly carrying documents for the Polish resistance. Beck suggests she take on a role preparing homes left abandoned or appropriated for new German settlers in the region. It is likely that many had housed Jewish families and Ewa makes reference to other buildings either daubed with graffiti or completely repurposed. Their municipal swimming pool is inside an old synagogue, and when swimming Ewa does imagine what an incredible place it must have been. Beck offers to take Ewa to the cinema one afternoon and before the main feature they see a black and white film showing a Russian dacha in a wood and the digging up of hundreds of bodies. Ewa feels sick, and doesn’t want to watch, but then her eyes focus on something she recognised. There, in a pile of belongings, is the very pen case she gave to Stefan.
Across Europe, Vee is in the ATA- a woman pilot, ferrying RAF planes to and from different bases. Vee fights a lack of confidence to get her wings, but loves being up there in the sky, never knowing from day to day which plane she’ll be flying or where in England she might be going. The girls collect a chit in the morning and this gives them their mission. The women aren’t allowed to fly over cloud cover, because they’re not trained to use instruments, so instead they fly using maps and landmarks. Vee meets a Polish pilot on the airbase and is immediately attracted to his dark good looks. He introduces himself as Stefan and the next day he sends her roses and an invitation to join him on a night out to a club frequented by the RAF. However, the night doesn’t go well and Vee is left wondering whether she’ll ever see him again. When their paths do cross again Vee’s defences are up, but she has to admit to herself that no other man has fascinated her in the same way. He appears back in her life just as her work with the ATA is coming to an end. Vee can feel time running out for her flying career and can’t imagine that anything in life will replace the thrill of being up in the air. Her passion for flying and for Stefan will lead her into a dangerous mission. Will it bring her closer to Stefan and to the truth of his double life?
I enjoyed the two different narrative viewpoints and the way the story builds like a jigsaw puzzle, one piece at a time. It’s not until close to the end that we see the full picture and I felt that this structure was an important part of the novel. It echoes the fragmentary nature of life lived through a war and the fragments salvaged from Katyn in an attempt to show the world the truth. People became separated and lost to each other in Poland at this time and I felt the novel reflected this well, particularly in Ewa’s story. The author makes us feel the importance of knowing the truth about those we have lost. I found myself thinking about those people dedicated to unearthing these stories and what an incredible job they do. Even if I found it hard to understand Stefan at times, I could see he was driven to expose the truth; it’s only late in the novel that we comprehend why. My late husband told me about his grandfather who was an officer in the Polish army. He was split from his family and killed by Russian forces who interred his wife and two sons in Siberia. The youngest brother died, before they could escape and migrate across to England. My mother-in-law was separated from both her parents, smuggled out of Warsaw and over to England. She never saw her father again. She was reunited with her mother in England and they stayed. Only years later did they find her father had ended up in the USA and thinking his family had died, he remarried and had a new family.
It’s hard for us to comprehend the enormity of this loss and displacement. The stories have such an impact when you hear them first hand, but somehow they still feel like the dim and distant past. Reading such a well- researched novel with a great sense of place actually takes me there. It lets me imagine my in-laws as young children, having to deal with this constant danger and change. It gives me so much respect for them, they lived through terrible atrocities but built such a meaningful and happy life together. When we lost them they’d spent a lifetime together and left behind two new generations? I read the novel in two sittings, because I was emotionally involved with the story. I needed to know who lived to be an old lady, or if none of the characters made it through the war. The ending is bittersweet, because although I was happy for the characters who survive, I’m aware they will live with the events at Katyn and Poznan for the rest of their lives.

This will be posted on my blog as part of the #RandomThingsTours blog tour.

Having read and really enjoyed the authors debut novel, I was eager to read her newest offering, When We Fall.

Set during the war, I really liked that we get to meet a female pilot. It’s certainly not something you see often in historical fiction so I was slightly in awe of Vee. I have to say the cover is just perfect for the story within in it.

Through the characters, we get to see what life was back then. The people in the front line as well as people trying to help out within the secret intelligence. It makes it at times a fraught read, knowing the risks that some of them are taking.

Vee and Ewa’s lives are entwined by one man. Stefan. Admittedly I wasn’t over keen on Stefan. It’s hard to know how any of us would act when we are faced with life threatening decisions and a war going on. I would like to think that I wouldn’t have messed with two different but strong women in their own rights, feelings.

When We Fall took me on an engrossing journey that had me go through an array of emotions. It is a stark look at the lengths people went to back then. The author’s writing is mesmerizing. She has a wonderful gift of story telling that captivates her readers. Very different to her last book but equally as good. I for one can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next.

This is a riveting book set in one of my favourite periods, the end of the Second World War. It spans the stories of two strong women, one in Poland, the other in England, whose experiences of war are very different. They are linked by their resilience under difficult circumstances and by their love for a Polish airman, whose dedication to his country's cause threatens to override his feelings for the women. The novel flips from one desperate country to the other, keeping the interest in both, while increasing the tension as the war and the personal struggles of the characters reach their climax. A fascinating and unusual setting for this period, touching obliquely on a famous disaster near the start of the war, which looms large in the fates of the three protagonists. A gripping read.

The lives of the three main characters - Stefan, Ewa and Vee - are woven together in 1943 both in England and Poland during WWII. Vee Katchatourian has just qualified as a pilot with the ATA (Air Transport Auxiliary). While flying her plane cross country she becomes lost, and landing at the first airfield she sees, meets Flight Sergeant Stefan Bergel.
Ewa Hartman works in her fathers guest house in Poland, dealing with the German officers who are billeted there. She is a member of the Polish Resistance, using her position at the guest house to get snippets of information she can pass on to them. She is also engaged Stefan but hasn’t seen or heard anything from him in over 3 years. The last she heard he was a prisoner of the Russians. Then suddenly, she thinks she sees him on the street.
This is beautifully crafted, with 2 very strong female characters. There has obviously been a great deal of research done by the author, as the descriptions of life at that time feel so authentic. I really enjoyed this book, it caught my interest from the first page. We eventually see how Stefan used both women, perhaps loving them both but ultimately trying to find forgiveness for his actions in the Russian prison camp. This period has been written about a lot recently, but this is definitely one of the best.

Thanks to netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in return for an honest review

When We Fall by Carolyn Kirby is an excellent historical fiction that interweaves two strong female characters, Vee and Eva/Ewa, and what events occur to and around them during WWII.

It is fascinating to see the war and struggles from two different women: Eva/Ewa a Polish/German woman involved in the resistance and Vee Katchatourian a woman pilot that is a part of the ATA and their ties to a common denominator: Stefan Bergel. To step back and see how each woman is strong, defiant, intelligent, and going through their own personal and geographical struggles can be so different, yet have someone/something so much in common braiding them together, makes for an excellent story.

The author has created a hauntingly creative plot, character cast, and a bittersweet ending. Very unique and memorable. It is so awesome to see competent and strong female lead characters, that I quickly devoured this gem to see how it all ended. Excellent ending.

5/5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Oldcastle books/No Exit Press for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

Edit: no BB listing has been created for Ms. Kirby’s book. It will be posted when created by BB.

I have heard good things about Carolyn Kirby’s first novel The Conviction of Cora Burns, so I was excited to be accepted for a copy of When we fall.
Set mainly in England and Poland in the Second world war Vee Katchatourian is a pilot for the ATA when she is asked to fly Tiger Moth to RAF Bradwell, when she meets the dashing Flight Sergeant Stefan Bergel of 302 Squadron, a Polish pilot who escaped Russia to come to Britain. There is an instant attraction which will lead her years later to her demise.
Ewa a waitress and cook at a boarding house in Berlin. She works with her father and is also a member of the Resistance. She is Stefan’s fiancé but, hasn’t seen him for a couple of years. She fears him dead.
The story follows the two women, their bravery and the struggles during the war and the link between them that includes Stefan Bergel. How he came into both their lives and how he uses both women for his own gains. Not thinking of their own feelings. The two women only meet into a fleeting glance, never to see each other again.
This is superbly written, quite shocking historical novel. It has a great unique storyline. Love the story of the two female protagonists but I didn’t like the character of Stefan and how selfish he was to get what he wanted. This had a different perspective to others of this type so because of that, this is well worth the read.

An utterly engrossing story set in occupied Poland and England during 1943, that tells the story of two women caught up in the events of that time. Vee is an air transport auxiliary pilot, flying planes between air fields. Ewa, a waitress is also working for the resistance and waiting for her lover to return after being imprisoned in a Russian prisoner of war camp. The women never actually meet – although they do see each other, fleetingly , just once, but the man they both love, Stefan, connects them.
This is a love story that explores the depths that people went to protect and champion what they felt was right, in a time we can only imagine. Descriptions of war torn Poland are excellent as are the descriptions of the flights that Vee makes. The women are certainly the centre of the story – the men slightly less well drawn, although still realistic.
My thanks to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books No Exit press for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

‘‘When We Fall’ by Carolyn Kirby is an engrossing read set predominantly in Poland during the Second World War. The novel features two strong and courageous women: Ewa Hartman, who lives in her father’s guesthouse serving the occupying Germans whilst also working for the Polish resistance movement and Vee Katchatourian, who is a pilot in the British Air Transport Auxiliary, having to deal not just with daily institutional sexism but also racism courtesy of her Armenian surname. Whilst they only glance at each other once, fleetingly, they are linked by their relationships with Flight Sergeant Stefan Bergel, 302 Squadron, a Polish pilot who has escaped to the UK.
Kirby has created a charismatic hero in Bergel and his ongoing secret suffering, linked to the Katyn massacre, as detail in the novel’s epigraph, is part of this compelling tale. Bergel is one moment an action hero of derring-do and, another, a cheating cad who uses others for his own gains. However, the reader comes to appreciate that personal guilt is woven into his political determination. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Even so, it is the women’s roles in this story which are the most memorable. Kirby not only gives us a very detailed and convincing description of the battles they have to fight, the dangers they have to overcome and the emotional strain that they are both under but she also allows these women to be doubtful, jealous and despairing. They are far more than a pilot’s appendage.
This story is completely absorbing, combining fascinating and sometimes shocking historical elements with an unusual love story. It is not until the end of the tale that we can be completely sure of Stefan’s motives and true feelings – just as the person he lived for has spent decades in a state of emotional limbo. Whilst this novel deserves to be widely read on its own merits, it would also make a wonderful television adaptation, given its unusual storyline and its extraordinary characters.
My thanks to NetGalley and Oldcastle Books No Exit Press for a copy of this novel in exchange for a fair review.

This is a superb book which nimbly balances believable characters and a clever and well constructed plot. It’s a welcome addition to such fiction to find two very strong female protagonists, who each hold their own in difficult circumstances.

It is well paced and will hugely appeal to those who like historical fiction as well as crime/spy books and others who generally enjoy a page turning read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and No Exit Press for an ARC in consideration of an honest review.

This book slowly draws you in, building the drama and illustrating the innermost thoughts of its characters. Very well written.