The Last Telegram

By Liz Trenow

Can their love survive the hardships of war?

As the Nazis storm Europe, Lily becomes an apprentice at her family’s silk weaving factory. When they start to weave parachute silk there is no margin for error: one tiny fault could result in certain death for Allied soldiers.

The war also brings Stefan to Lily: a German Jewish refugee who works on the looms. As their love grows, there are suspicions someone is tampering with the silk.

Can their love survive the hardships of war? And will the Verner’s silk stand the ultimate test?

The Last Telegram is an evocative and engaging novel for fans of The Postmistress and Pam Jenoff.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Sep 13, 2012
• ISBN: 9780007480838

Liz Trenow

Liz worked for many years as a journalist for national and regional newspapers, and for BBC radio and television news, and is now a full time writer.

Reviews for The Last Telegram

[hoosieriu97 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Enjoyed the history of silk included. A story of love, loss, and regret, along with hope. I've read a lot of World War II books, but none from the perspective of a silk maker's family.

[karin7-11 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lily Verner, daughter of a silk miller, is grieving the recent loss of her husband and thinks back over a significant part of her life. She had learned to weave silk when her year in Switzerland was cancelled due to the threat the Nazi's were posing in Austria prior to the start of WW II. During the war she ended up running the mill, overseeing the weaving of parachute silk. At one time when faced with enormous pressure, she made a terrible choice she has lived with ever since, and in this novel she finally confronts it.

The characters are well done, and it is fairly easy to root for Lily and those she loves. There are mysteries which are well kept, and it's not easy to see certain answers just by reading the ending (which I always do).

One of the key elements in this story not seen in the summary is Lily's convincing her father to bring home three Jewish youths who have been allowed to leave Austria after the Nazi's conquered it. These three were employed at the mill, but as war began became persecuted for being "German" Jews, but mainly for being "German," despite the fact that they were Austrian. Stefan, in particular, becomes very close to Lily, and their budding romance becomes forbidden due to this persecution.

I recommend this book.

[castironskillet · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I read a review of this book that compared it to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. This book is no Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. It was a rather boring, predictable love story set in WWII in England.

[pjhess · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this authors first book. The Last Telegram takes place in the British countryside during WWII. How Lily finds love with a refugee and has to take over managing her families factory making parachutes for the war and then deal with all the loss and changes that war brings to her and her country.

[adonisguilfoyle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this on my new Kindle Fire, because the cover looked attractive and the price was too tempting to resist, but the gamble didn't quite pay off. The Last Telegram is the debut novel from journalist-turned-author Liz Trenow, about a plucky young woman who takes over her family's silk weaving mill during the Second World War, and the factual bones of the story are largely based on the author's own family history. I loved learning about the production of silk, and how the manufacturers of decorative costume trimmings came to make an important contribution to the war effort by turning out silk parachutes instead, but the 'weft' of the author's research wasn't woven into the 'warp' of the fictional setting with enough care or ease. Nor did I take to Lily, the 'gutsy' heroine, or believe in her romance with Jewish refugee Stefan. I think, with a little careful editing for language and sex scenes, Liz Trenow's book would be better marketed as a Young Adult novel, because she conveys the anguish and bravery of wartime very well, but fails to create fully realised characters. Lily, who works in a man's world, stands up to bullies, falls in love and endures the tragic loss of those closest to her, would make a great role model for impressionable teens, while sneaking in a history lesson or two!