Its a story set in two time lines 1955 and 1975 in NYC - in 1955 Dovie and Ava risk everything to be together - In 1975 Ava lives with her mother who's deteriorating mental health overwhelms her. She can't turn for help to her father because he left them long ago and is shacked up with a younger woman.

This story was not what I was expecting at all, I didn't love the themes, I hated the homophobia and I recognise this was fitting of the time it was written in but in todays world, for me, that still is hard to read.

Whilst the stories of these people were emotional and thought provoking, the time line works well, it takes you on a journey and it's not hard to following the changing timelines. Its well written, the characters like Dovie and Ava are a delight but then there's characters like Judith (a nightmare who you will come to know when you read the book) you would quite happily send on a one way trip somewhere dreadful.

I will say the most heartbreaking thing to read here was the awful treatment Ava's mother received for mental health issues, the fight to get help was real and it really makes you questions todays mental health services, because there's still horror stories around this, conversion therapy and other awful treatments.

The author did a good job of bringing the timelines together and I appreciate her work, it just wasn't what I was expecting from reading the synopsis but, that doesn't mean I didn't like it. I just don't enjoy reading certain things, and some of those are really triggering.

Be transported to mid-century New York in this evocative and page-turning debut. I found this to be a slow burn but very a intriguing read. Set over two timelines it is quite emotional yet written with sensitivity. I enjoyed this book

This book was clever, thrilling, and absolutely fascinating. I loved the interconnected timelines and the author's firm grasp of place and time. She was also fantastic at writing relationships. I was utterly absorbed! Thank you for this ARC!

Not my usual genre but enjoyable just the same. Would like to read more like this and will look out for the author. Well done.

I loved spending time in Gillian and Dovie's world. This book was immensely readable and evocative and I'd love to read more - both of this period and f/f fiction of this kind. The ending wasn't what I was expecting, but the characters and story resonated and will remain with me for a long time to come.

A fantastic story, really well structured - two timelines with different characters and interesting themes really sympathetically but not sentimentally dealt with. I was interested in the characters and their challenges.
As a first novel, it's a great accomplishment.

I'm not usually a fan of anything even remotely 'period' but I'm glad I sprung for this. Although the writing - particularly the dialogue - is a little wooden at times, both parts of the story (1955 and 1975) are really engaging independently, and fit together beautifully. The narrator of the 1955 sections is one of those 'unlikeable' female characters, whose weak character leads her to make bad decision after bad decision. Her unlikeableness is quite pleasing, because the story of two tragically closeted and cruelly manipulated lesbians in 50s New York has the potential to become a bit saccharine, and Dovie's extremely unheroic behaviour is a good foil to that.

My thanks to Penguin Michael Joseph and NetGalley for the ARC.

With grateful thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion
New author for me very intresting subject and an amazing insight into the lives of these amazing ladies an enjoyable read

This novel begins in 1975 in a small, cramped apartment on the Lower East Side of New York where fifteen-year-old Ava Winters lives with her mother. Life for Ava consists of days of worry and broken promises, as she tries to cope without her absent father and care for her mother, whose fragile mental health has reached a crisis point. Out of the blue, Ava receives delivery of a parcel addressed to Apartment B. The contents are puzzling, but Ava is determined to piece together what she can from the box and to ensure that the contents make it to their intended recipient.

Twenty years earlier, in the same apartment, two school teachers, Dovie and Gillian, lodge together. They share a potentially explosive secret. Could the box be linked in some way to them?

This was a beautifully written book. The novel came to life for me through the superbly evocative descriptions of muggy, stifling New York days and smoky nights in cramped jazz clubs. The transition between both timelines was really well done and the writing was so good that I could easily immerse myself into life in the 1950s and the 1970s.

The story was deeply moving and at times I was incensed by the prejudice that existed, but what I particularly loved about this book was how these prejudices of 1955 helped to shape Ava’s life and gave her a different perspective on her own situation.

I felt I knew each and every one of the characters. I loved some and I loathed some and in my opinion it is only the skill of a great writer that can bring out such strong emotions in their reader.

There was one event in the book that I questioned, as I couldn’t quite see a link - perhaps it was a coincidence, but this it was only a minor detail. (To say anymore would be a spoiler.) This book is a marvellous read. I’m often disappointed by the ending in books but I certainly wasn’t in this one. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Michael Joseph UK for an Advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review.

4+ stars


There's a few lines in this book,that just left me so sad,about the trials of loving someone of the same set in the 1950's . All things that were so accepted back then,but so very very wrong.
It wasn't the only thing in this book that left me a bit emotional,the whole thing did.
The two main characters Dovie and Ava endeared themselves to me enormously,and before the end of the book I felt I was going to be weeping for them.
There were highs too,of friendships and enduring love and family.
It's a book I'll be buying for a few people. Definitely.

That Green Eyed Girl reads to me as a quiet kind of tragedy. From the first page, there’s that inevitability about it, a sense that this is the happiest moment of the characters’ lives, that they’ll never quite reach this level of happiness again.

The story follows a dual timeline: 1955, with Dovie and Gillian, lovers living together in a small flat, and 1975, with Ava and her mother, living in the same flat. When a mysterious package is delivered to the flat, Ava is compelled to find out who it’s meant for and to pass it along. Meanwhile, the past timeline follows the disintegration of Dovie and Gillian’s relationship as they are forced to take on another lodger.

The best part of this book for me is in its quietness. It’s a book that’s very much about the characters—Dovie trying to balance being blackmailed about her sexuality with protecting Gillian, Ava trying to deal with her mother ending up in hospital, her father’s new (and younger) girlfriend, and the feeling that everyone is abandoning her—and that’s its strength. And Julie Owen Moylan spends a lot of time on creating characters that you can sympathise with. They make mistakes! They’re messy! But you want happiness for them, above all.

I think that quietness also expands into the worldbuilding. It’s very delicately done and you feel as though you’re actually there with the characters for a lot of it. But in a kind of quiet way. The world doesn’t overawe the characters, it’s in the background to everything. It’s quite filmic in that respect—you could see it being turned into a Tell it to the Bees or Summerland style film.

Despite all that, I can only really say that I liked this book. There’s nothing I can point out as being exactly what makes me feel this way, but that was how I found it. I enjoyed reading it, to be sure, and it was a quick enough read. I just never felt that I loved it.

However, since I’m notoriously Not Good at reading adult literary fiction, contemporary or historical, I’m willing to chalk this up as just a me thing. You, of course, might feel otherwise, so I would urge you to keep an eye out for this one. You won’t want to miss out.

I was given a copy of this book prior to publishing in exchange for a review.

My honest review is, I just never got into this book. I liked the premise of the story, LGBTQ+ themes, "forbidden" love and a troubled teen and her family... but I was never hooked. I can't wholly put a finger on why... I think it was a little slow, I picked up where the story was going way before it got there and at times the writing felt bogged down in details? There are aspects to the plot that I think are an attempt to round out the characters but overall the plot is watered down and loses some of its momentum. I found myself questioning some parts, wanting to know more but never finding the answers; perhaps there will be a sequel, I am not sure I would read it though...

This is a book set in two timelines. In the first, it's 1955 and Dovie and Gillian are two women quietly in love during a time that's unreceptive to it. A fellow teacher finds out about their relationship and uses it as a way to insert herself into their lives. In the second, it's 1975 and Ava receives a box with many items in it including a photograph with the word 'liar' written across it. She sets out to find out about the woman in the photo and who she intended this box to make its way to.

This was a gripping, emotional read that struck many chords with me. It balanced up an engaging storyline full of jeopardy with really showing us these peoples' lives very well. I felt a lot for the characters, not surprisingly for Dovie most of all. I wanted so badly for things to work out for them while seeing all of the threats to their chances.

There were a couple of things I could have done without. Mostly I didn't love how the mental illness storyline was handled, it felt a little gratuitous in some ways even though I could see what the author was going for. But overall it's a really engaging read that will surely sit with me for a while.

The same apartment, New York City in 1975 and 1955.

In 1975 Ava Winters lives with the uncertainty of her mothers deteriorating mental health and her father’s relationship with much younger woman, Candy Jackson. A box arrives in the mail from Paris and it contains an assortment of items including a photograph with the word LIAR emblazoned across it. In 1955, teacher Dovie Carmichael lives with a fellow teacher Gillian and impulsively invites unlikeable nosey parker Judith for dinner which she will live to deeply regret.

This is an emotional, poignant, thoughtful and thought provoking novel which digs deep in both timelines taking you on a moving journey. The alternating timeline is done extremely effectively, it’s not forced and doesn’t seem to jump about. The quality of the writing is very good so you feel the heat of summer in NYC and want to loosen your collar, your eyes water in the smokey jazz clubs of 1955, and you taste and smell the coffee in Paris where Dovie and Gillian dream of living. The characterisation is deft, Dovie is extremely likeable, you want to hug Ava and are so glad she’s got such a lovely friend in Viola and you definitely want to punch Judith who is sly, manipulative, taunting, treacherous and hateful. Yes, I’ve not hung back and with good reason!! There is so much tension when she’s around you could cut it with a knife. The portrayal of Ava’s mothers mental health issues and the treatment she receives in 1975 breaks your heart and Ava’s stress, anxiety and loneliness is palpable. Other issues such as relationships, including hidden ones, friendship, love and loss are done well too. What we end up with is a mystery in 1975 surrounding the box and bravery, fear and heartache in 1955 both of which connect together with all the little clues being pieced together cleverly.

Overall, this is such a compelling and impressive debut. Yes it’s painful and sad but you are swept along in a desire to see how it all pans out. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin Michael Joseph for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

A story of love, romance and secrets. It was both bittersweet and sad, but I couldn’t put it down! I’d definitely recommend. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for the advance copy

"That Green Eyed Girl" is a story of love and betrayal, told from two perspectives. In 50's New York Dovie and Gillian, two teachers, hide their relationship from the world until someone threatens to expose their secret. Twenty years later, a lonely, neglected teenage girl tries to discover their secrets. I definitely enjoyed the story of the teachers more and thought the narration was very tense and atmospheric in places, however, the second timeline was not as engaging, especially as for me, it did not concentrate on Ava’s mother enough.

Evocative prose and a bittersweet romance transforms this novel from good to stunning. Seldom does a book leave me feeling so emotional but its exquisite layering creates characters that now haunt my heart. I adored Dovie, Gillian. Ava and her mother. I thought their tale was powerful and poignant. It reaffirmed my belief in the power of love and I will remember them all for a very long time.

Not only striking in its depiction of the dual timelines 1955 and 1975 - all the little details that conjure up their world in vivid images of smoke and jazz - but it presents us with a mystery that compels us to read on. I didn't just want to find out what happened. I needed to know every little detail.

Emotionally gripping with themes of jealousy, loyalty, and the secrets we keep to protect those we love. This book made me smile, cry and rage at the world. I am astounded by its smooth prose that is both sensitive yet potent and the accomplished plotting that elicited so many feelings.

That Green Eyed Girl had me so enraptured that I feel I've just watched a film. I can still see their apartment from the corner of my eye and catch glimpses of them both smiling at each other.

It is a beautiful original book and is sure to win accolades in the book world and love from all its readers.

A sensitively written, achingly sad story of lives and histories that were left hidden for too long. I felt the older chapters worked better than the newer, 1970s story, but this was clearly well researched and written from the heart.

Dual timeline thrillers have been popular for a while, as well as thrillers tied to a specific setting. This novel manages to be both, and to be successful at it. It focuses on a New York Lower East side apartment and the human experiences and frailties that are experienced in this space. In 1955, it is Gillian and Dovie who share the apartment. By day, they work hard as school teachers and at night, they try to hide the true nature of their lesbian relationship from the contemptuous societal attitudes. Twenty years later, in 1975, the apartment is inhabited by fifteen year old Ava, who struggles to combine her school work with looking after her mentally fragile mother. When Ava receives a box, posted in Paris and addressed to the previous apartment lodgers, she is keen to discover their identities but has no idea what chain of events she will set in motion….
Sensitively and beautifully written, this is a novel that deserves a big readership. Warmly recommended! I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for granting me a free ARC in return for this honest and unbiased review.

I know it's a cliche to say, but I could not put this book down! It's a beautifully written yet gripping novel, so evocative of time and place that I still feel as if I'm living it. That Green Eyed Girl takes place in two timelines in New York - 1955 and 1975 - but the two converge when teenager Ava receives a box of belongings that links back to the past, and a forbidden relationship between Dovie and Gillian. What this novel does so well is make both narratives compelling. Dovie and Gillian's love story is the heart of the novel and it drives both timelines, but Ava's story about her mother's struggling mental health and her quest to uncover the secrets of the box are just as engaging.

I loved this novel and Dovie in particular is a character I really took to my heart. The heady atmosphere of whiskey and jazz and all the little touches to the writing made this historical setting come alive in a way reminiscent to Clare Chambers' Small Pleasures and I think fans of that novel will love this too.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Michael Joseph for this ARC in exchange for a fair review.