Kathy Hamilton 
This books has a bit of a soft, special place in my heart. It’s one of the first books I read where I was really struck by how lovely the romantic story line is. This is a book, as you may guess from the title, that I return to on rainy days, when I want a bit of cheer.
It’s the story of seventeen year old Rose who is sent with her sister to a sleepy seaside town to escape London, and the Second World War. The thing I love about this book is that it ticks so many boxes. Like my last post, it’s a coming of age novel, it’s also a historical fiction and a romance all rolled into to one. This is definitely more of a “Young Adult” novel. However, what makes it different from so many of the other YA novels out there at the moment (apart from its significant lack of vampires), is that the love story Michelle Magorian develops is more of a quiet, slowly developing, and romantic one, rather than the “burning passion of a thousand suns” kind. The thing about Rose is that she has so many other things to learn about herself before she is ready for love, and what’s particularly nice is that Magorian allows her to make plenty of mistakes as she discovers what kind of person she is.
Another thing that really helps make this book good is the quality of the supporting characters and their sub-plots. Through them Magorian manages to show how displaced many women were by the second world war, but also that it was a time that really gave women the chance to do more with their lives. Ultimately, I think the thing that keeps me returning to “A Little Love Song” is the sweetness of the relationship between Rose and Alec, it’s one of those fictional relationships that I secretly wish I could have myself, especially because Alec runs a bookshop! So next time you’re stuck inside on a rainy day, why don’t you give “A Little Love Song” a try? I think you’ll be glad you did!
