Anne Youngson's A Complicated Matter is a thoughtful exploration of resilience and relationships against the backdrop of World War II. The prose is elegant, but the pacing feels a bit sluggish at times. While the story captures the era's emotional weight, it doesn't quite grip you tightly. A good read if you're patient and enjoy character-driven narratives, but it might not satisfy those seeking a more dynamic plot. Solid, but not extraordinary.

A very pleasant read. It’s not challenging or demanding and all the better for that. An interesting story, well told and well-paced. Quite simple and straightforward, a narrative that starts from the beginning and goes on to the end. I found this a refreshing change, to be honest, a book to sink into and simply enjoy. This may sound as though I am damning it with faint praise, but in fact I really appreciated and enjoyed it, rattling through it in just a couple of days. The story starts in Gibraltar at the outbreak of war. I never knew that much of the population of the Rock were evacuated to England for their safety. They’re not badly treated but being uprooted from their homes isn’t a great experience. An interesting glimpse into another aspect of wartime Britain, one completely unfamiliar to me. Rose Dunbar is the main protagonist and we follow her journey through wartime London and on to pastures new, and a future she could never have predicted.

On the whole, I really enjoyed this one! It tells the story of Rose, a woman from Gibraltar, and what happens to her and her family when they're evacuated during the Second World War. Immersive historical fiction telling a good story with lots of attention to detail? I love! I knew nothing about this part of history and it was so interesting learning more. The last third was a bit less engaging and took me away from the characters I'd really enjoyed reading about – but the writing was super thoughtful and considered, which kind of made up for it! Would definitely recommend.

I was automatically sent this, I think because I liked Anne Youngson's previous book (Three Women and a Boat). unfortunately this one just completely did not appeal to me at all and I gave up about 50 pages in. I stay away from war books as a matter of principle and I'm especially fatigued by ww2 books, so while I tried to give it a go because I liked Three Women and a Boat so much, I couldn't get past the disinterest in the setting & time period and as such I was really just bored and felt a real disconnect between me and the main character. I missed the life and sparkle of Three Women and a Boat.

So I will not be reviewing this anywhere else but netgalley.

This book is about a young woman who is forced to evacuate from Gibraltar at the beginning of WWII. She finds herself on a journey to discover who she is, as she is moved about. While I enjoyed the plotline of the story, I found some parts to be a bit lacking. I would have liked to see a little more details about the evacuation and what it meant for people during that time.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Rose Dunbar has grown up in Gibraltar, her father being Scottish she has learnt English but her prospects are bleak as she is responsible for her disabled mother. There is some respite when she gains a job in the Garrison and can read to her heart's content. At the outbreak of war Rose is evacuated to Casablanca and then to London, alongside her mother and selfish sister-in-law. However Rose's hard work see her making friends and eventually gaining a job in the country where she stays to the end of the war. However once the fighting is ended Rose has a choice to make, to stay or to go.
This is quite a pleasant book, it reads quickly and is not too challenging. However I felt it lacked grit, the hardships of being an evacuee are never really explored in detail. It's a nice enough story for a bit of simple escapism.

I’ve enjoyed both of Anne Youngson’s previous two books – Meet Me at the Museum and Three Women and a Boat (now titled The Narrowboat Summer) – and I was pleased to have the opportunity to exchange a few words with her and have her sign my copy of Meet Me at the Museum at Henley Literary Festival in 2018 when she appeared alongside A. J. Pearce, author of Dear Mrs. Bird.

A Complicated Matter is quite different in style and subject matter from Three Women and a Boat, as well as not being set in the present day but during and after the Second World War. However I did find echoes of Meet Me at the Museum in the parts of the book that explore feelings of isolation and finding yourself living a life different from that you’d imagined.

I admit I knew nothing about the evacuation from Gibraltar during the war of those referred to as ‘useless mouths’, i.e. those not required for the defence of the island. This evacuation – of mostly women and children – is the ‘complicated matter’ of the title. Initially, transported to Morocco, Rose and members of her family find themselves separated from loved ones and experiencing the hostility that refugees often face. At one point there is even a plan to evacuate them to Jamaica; Rose aptly remarks ‘as if they’re a parcel’.

When they are moved to London they experience the terror of the Blitz alongside other Londoners. But of course they’re not like other Londoners; they have been placed in an entirely alien environment. Rose’s friend Sonia, working as governess to a family, expresses the feeling of dislocation well when she writes, ‘Isn’t it hard being here instead of at home, speaking English all the time, but never feeling English? Not being able to to see the sea? Being surrounded by greenery instead of by rock. Not knowing what is going to happen to us next?’ Rose struggles to find a useful role for herself, besides caring for her disabled mother, although actually she is more useful than she gives herself credit for.

The book is structured as Rose’s story, written by herself, for the consumption of a person who is not identified until near the end of the book. Slightly confusingly this person is referred to in the third person until such time as their identity becomes clear. The most absorbing part of the book for me was the final section in which Rose takes up a position as secretary to Major Inchbold. I thought it was clever of the author to make Major Inchbold blind as it means he can’t judge Rose on the basis of what she looks like or what she wears, but only what she says and does, how she interacts with other people. There is a moment when Rose enables Major Inchbold to sense her appearance that I found mildly erotic. Major Inchbold’s moments of anger, borne out of frustration more than anything else, are also a neat echo of Rose’s mother’s often spiky personality.

I admired the insightful way the author explored Rose’s situation and that of anyone who finds themselves uprooted from the surroundings they have known and I found the ending rather moving.

A Complicated Matter is a gently paced novel about displacement, identity and finding your place in the world.

Major new novel based on a true story from the much-praised pen of Anne Youngson: a perfectly observed, tender yet unsentimental coming-of-age of an English refugee in London during the Blitz, placed in the faded splendour of a luxury London hotel. As a naive outsider, she emerges as an astute watcher of English society in the Second World War. Thanks to a great author we have warmth, wisdom and emotional intelligence, this book was a huge pleasure to read!

This is a story about a young woman forced to evacuate from Gibraltar at the start of WWII and her journey to discover herself and her place in the world once she arrives in England. It was thought-provoking and well-written.

I loved Anne Youngson's Meet Me At the Museum and here again, some similar themes to that. It starts very strongly - the evacuation of women and children from Gibraltar at the beginning of the Second world War. The family involved, a mix of mothers, daughters, and infants, first are taken to camps and then stay in a local house, before being moved again to England. All the Gibraltans end up in a hotel in London, and live there through the Blitz. I found all of this fascinating - the interplay between characters, the displacement, the alternative viewpoints.
Where the story started to flag for me was the part where Rose got a job in the countryside, as secretary to a blind writer. He was unattractive as a character and this bit went on a bit too long. I guessed what might happen at the end, correctly, and there was a brief bit of drama added, as if somehow it was recognised this bit wasn't quite right. A book of two halves, for me.

For personal reasons I will always read a new book by Youngson and this one is absolutely brilliant.
I think that she has found a new WW2 story to tell, and has told it beautifully, I'd never come across the story of the evacuation of Gibraltar before. Life on the Rock before , the initial evacuation to North Africa and then life as evacuees in London was evocatively drawn and I did feel I could see, feel and smell the world Youngson created vividly.
I did work out where some of the plot was going, but never completely and the restraint shown in the writing really worked in its favour - and I also liked the hints of Jane Eyre that came though.
Already a contender for being in my books of 2023

'A Complicated Matter' is a journey. Like all good journeys, it ambles, stumbles on the unforeseen, and is at times wayward. This story is based on the real-life evacuation of Gibraltar at the onset of WWII. Predominately women and children were wrenched not only from their homes but from their very insular, traditional ways of life. 'It is where I once began and so it is where I will begin this story...'

Rose Dunbar leads a simple life in Gibraltar, with her parents and older brother. She takes care of her invalid mother. She finds a job that nourishes her love of books and gives her peace from the bubbling community which surrounds her. However, at 23 years old, this life comes to a dramatic end with the forced evacuation. First to Morrocco and then on to London at the height of the blitz. Although forced by the British Government's order to leave their homes, the evacuees are completely displaced in a foreign land and climate. 'I was tripped up by those pronouns, 'us' and 'them', and by the realization I no longer understood what they meant'. Rose is forced into a journey of self-discovery; who she really is and who she wants to be. 'War has a way of detaching us from ourselves'.

'A Complicated Matter' at first reads like a memoir, but the detailed observations and ruminations then begin to read like a letter to a friend. However, this journey is a story of love and connection; finding our niche, our purpose and the people who matter the most. Anne Youngson's thoughful introspection and prose is both considered and illuminating. I thought this was a thought-provoking read, touching on an aspect of WWII I was previously unaware of.