Frances Liardet is a child of children of the Second World War. She has an MA in creative writing from the University of East Anglia and studied Arabic at Oxford, before traveling to Cairo to translate modern Egyptian novelists, including Naguib Mahfouz and Edwar al-Kharrat. Liardet currently lives in Somerset, England, with her husband and daughter, and helps to run a summer writing session called Bootcamp. We Must Be Brave is her American debut.
"Poignant and absorbing." —People
“Be prepared to surrender—to Liardet's gorgeous prose, her haunting
storyline, and the question that will lodge in your
heart long after you’ve finished: What would I have
done? For anyone who has ever loved a child, this stirring
debut will work its way indelibly into the folds of
your memory, and of your heart.”—Georgia Hunter, New York Times
bestselling author of We Were the Lucky Ones
“Dazzling . . . As a testament to parental love and its
relationship to the heartbreaking, healing, almost ungraspable
passage of time, We Must Be Brave is a great success:
richly observed, lovingly drawn, and determinedly clear-eyed to the
last.” –Guardian (UK)
“Vividly portrayed....Liardet reminds us that mother-daughter love
can arise from thrown-together hearts during the cruelest rubble of
war. Through every scene, we see the tattered socks, the doll
faces, the honey-smells of baby skin, but mostly we feel the
strength and endurance of heart-crushing love. The war and
weather-etched faces and life-long relationships of the villagers
show us that real family has little to do with worn down
definitions. This is a powerful story that proves how love itself
requires courage.”—Delia Owens, New York Times bestselling author
of Where the Crawdads Sing
“This beautiful novel will make you hug your own family a little
closer. It’s about love, loss, and what makes a family in World War
II-era England. Fans of the sepia tones of historical fiction will
find a lot to love here, and it may even put your own life into
perspective.” —Good Housekeeping
“Liardet’s lovely book [is] about love and loss, and our chosen
families. Dare you not to weep.” —Woman’s Day
“Intense passion is concealed behind a facade of British modesty in
this...blazing story of hearts wounded and restored.”—Kirkus
Reviews (starred)
“Ellen, beset by hardship from a young age, ends up happy in a
marriage blanc with the much older Selwyn, and is convinced she
doesn’t want children until Pamela arrives. Then she experiences an
all-consuming love that Liardet captures on the page with a
heartbreaking conviction.”—The Times (London)
“Filled with rich detail and dynamic characters, this novel
transports readers to England during World War II.” —Woman’s
World
“Moving...Readers will be captivated by Ellen’s story, which is
bolstered by a swift plot and characters who realistically and
memorably grow.”—Publishers Weekly
“[A] tearjerker about motherhood and loss. . . Liardet convincingly
captures Ellen's inner emotional life and movingly depicts how a
woman who thought she didn't want children could bond so strongly
with one child in particular. Readers who enjoy tales of village
life will appreciate the quirky cast of characters who surround
Ellen . . . Recommended for historical fiction fans seeking
slow-paced, emotional reads.” —Library Journal
“This is storytelling at its best. Wise, generous and
captivating.”—Sarah Winman, author of Tin Man
“Beautifully written. Its scope is ambitious, as it seeks to
portray the longtime ravages that the war and its attendance
upheavals perpetrated upon the home front. . . [This historical war
novel] is different and original.” —Historical Novel Review
"Liardet offers up a contemplation on grief and loss through
history’s lens. . . . It’s deeply moving and wonderfully told, so
be sure to bring tissues." —B&N.com
“We Must Be Brave is a wonderful novel. A beautifully written story
of love and loss, with thoughtfully crafted characters and so much
to think about long after you’ve finished reading it. It is one of
those novels you can talk about for hours - the perfect book club
read.”—AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs. Bird
“Deeply moving...A stunningly accurate portrayal of the
all-encompassing depth of a mother’s love (whether she’s the
biological mother or not). Read it and weep.”—AARP Magazine
“A beautifully written story that explores love, loss,
resilience, and the bonds of motherhood over the course of the 20th
century. A sweeping, heartfelt novel about what it means to truly
love a child.”—Jillian Cantor, author of The Lost Letter and In
Another Time
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