Days of Grace by Catherine Hall

This book presents a fascinating story that takes place over a span of fifty years. On the brink of WW II, Nora Lynch is a young girl in London. She lives with her mother in poverty, but since she hasn't known anything else, it seems normal to her. One day she finds out that she is to be separated from her mother. Thousands of London children are being evacuated from the city because of the threat of war. Nora begs her mother not to send her away. Of course her mother does what she must and sends her away on a train. Upon arrival at her destination she is accosted by a young girl her age named Rose Rivers. Rose says that Grace looks just like her and that she just has to come live with them. And so she arrives at the home of Reverend Rivers.
In the present day, Nora is a sick woman who refuses to go to the doctor and just wants to die. Her plan of an isolated death is disrupted when she comes upon a young woman about to give birth. Nora takes her into her home. Through conversations and flashbacks we learn what happened to Nora during the War to turn her into the pathetic woman she seems to have become.
This is a debut novel and I am eager for more!