The New York Times bestseller from iconic Emmy-nominated actress and producer MILLIE BOBBY BROWN: Nineteen Steps is a captivating novel inspired by the true events of her family's experience during World War II.
Love blooms in the darkest days…
It’s 1942, and air raid sirens continue to wail around London. Eighteen-year-old Nellie Morris counts every day lucky that she emerges from the underground shelters unharmed, her loving family still surrounding her.
After a chance encounter with Ray, an American airman stationed nearby, Nellie becomes enchanted with the idea of a broader world. Just when Nellie begins to embrace an exciting new life with Ray, a terrible incident occurs during an air raid one evening, tearing Nellie’s world is torn apart. But just when it seems all hope is lost, Nellie finds that, against all odds, love and happiness can triumph.
Nineteen Steps is a deeply affecting, mesmerizing page-turner inspired by the author’s family history. An epic story of longing, loss, and secrets, Millie Bobby Brown’s propulsive debut introduces an unforgettable, brave young woman and boldly portrays the strength in the power of love.
“Inspired by my Nanny Ruth, this book is very personal and close to my heart. I grew up listening to stories about her time living through the war. I’m honored to keep her story alive.”—Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown is a British Emmy Award–winning actress. She has been featured in the TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people and is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. Nineteen Steps is her first book.
This book is ghost-written by Kathleen McGurl. She wrote about it on her website in March.
I don’t know, I’m not a fan of big names taking credit for what should be someone else’s intellectual property. Millie’s family supplied the inspiration, but it was McGurl that sat down and did the work for the novel.
That opinion applies to not only books but also composers for music in shows and movies. So many forms of entertainment employ ghost-writers, and I’m sure (or hope) they make a pretty penny from it, but it still feels wrong.
I can be convinced ghost writing isn’t bad, but as of right now, those are my thoughts on the matter.
EDIT (01/04/2024): This was meant to be informative and not an attack against Millie. I’m sure it’s a lovely story—that I regrettably still have yet to read. I did not mean to vilify ghostwriting as I know it happens in all forms of entertainment and is a very respectable position. Similar to how James Patterson has novels cranked out by the dozen under his name (along with co-authors), I’m not the biggest fan of how his authorship has turned into more of a brand than him being an actual wordsmith. The reason I bring up that comparison is because at least one comment was concerned this is something only brought up for young up and coming women, and that is simply not the case.
By now, it's common knowledge that Millie Bobby Brown hired a ghost writer for Nineteen Steps. That should NOT deter you though. This is a beautifully romantic yet tragic WW2 tale, focusing on real life disasterious events.
Nellie Morris is a young woman, living and working in London's East End. She's extremely close to her family, especially her younger sister Flora. Like the rest of the country, Nellie's witnessing the after effects of the Blitz- including the regular air raids that's still occuring.
The closest air raid shelter is the disused Bethnal Green Tube station, where many people were able to comfortably stay the night. However, the exterior wasn't structurally safe. Issues between the local council and government led to 173 civilian deaths on the evening of 3 March 1943.
This was an extremely impactful read that flowed easily. Immediately lost amongst the pages, I saw post Blitz East End London through Nellie's eyes. I'll be thinking about this book for a long time to come.
Please, please, PLEASE give Nineteen Steps a chance. This is ultimately Millie's grandmother's story and with help, it's been brought to life.
5🌟
💕 Thanks to Harlequin Australia for a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review 💕
Jeszcze nie jestem pewna jak ją ocenić i czy zostawię gwiazdki, bo to opowieść na podstawie wspomnień, ale niesamowicie poruszyła mnie historia Nellie — uroniłam nawet kilka łez, a to coś nietypowego. Przy okazji jest we mnie też coś na kształt wzruszenia, że Millie Bobbie Brown postanowiła „ożywić” wspomnienia ukochanej babci
I'll be curious to see if a ghostwriter was hired for this book or if Millie Bobby Brown found time to write an entire adult historical fiction book in between all of the projects she's had in the past year. O.o We'll seeee....
I don't really understand the hate around this book, because I thought it was a good story and I really enjoyed reading it.
I immediately thought Millie couldn't have written it herself and looked up who the ghostwriter is. That's when I saw a ton of people slamming her for it, but I was wondering.. don't they know how ghostwriting works? Katherine McGurl was most likely paid substantially for the job and accepted the conditions of having Millie's name on her work, so I don't really see the issue 🤔 Millie also contributed with some research and provided the main storyline of her grandmother.
Spoiler ahead, don't read on if you haven't read the book yet!
Aaaanyway, the only thing I didn't like that much was the ending, how it wrapped up with Nellie changing her mind so easily and how fine with it Billy was.
But all in all it was a moving story I thoroughly enjoyed.
Having finished the book I feel that credit should be given to ghost writer, Kathleen McGurl who did a fantastic job of writing the book. She was not credited on the front cover as she should have been. Millie has been at all press events calling herself an author which I find very disrespectful to people who actually write books!!!
I’ve since discovered that Millie’s grandmother who is the origin of the story was only 4 at the time of the tragedy and in fact wasn’t involved and didn’t lose any family members.
This book has left a sour taste in my mouth and I’m struggling to get over how it’s been publicised.
I’d not heard of the Bethnal Green disaster, which was the worst civilian disaster of World War II. It also represented the greatest single loss of life on the tube system, but curiously didn’t involve a train or vehicle of any description - 173 were killed including 62 children with over 60 injured.
This was a story of love, sadness, heartbreak and hope.
Nellie was a great character, she loved those around her so dearly. I found myself rooting for her throughout. That being said, the majority of the characters were very one dimensional.
The details of the disaster were upsetting to read, I cried while reading these pages - it must have so truly awful for all involved.
I'm sorry, but nah, bro, I'm actually laugh. Millie Bobby Brown wrote a book? She actually sat down, went through the entire writing process, and published a book? I don't believe it, there's no way. This girl is actually the last person I thought would write a book. I'm 99% sure this book is ghostwritten by an actual writer
Nineteen Steps follows Nellie, a 19 year old girl in the middle of WW2.
Writing is very simple which I don’t necessarily think was a bad thing, it didn’t seem like it was ever intended to break the boundaries of writing and more so to just get a story out. At times it felt like it skipped over the interesting bits to drag out the romance which admittedly I had little interest in
I will say I’m not really a huge fan of war time fiction especially set in World War Two as it just feels really repetitive in story
It was an ok read, I did find at times I wanted to read on to see what happened but ultimately it is a forgettable story
It didn’t feel like any character had much of a personality. I also found it confusing she was calling her parents by their first name and then switching to mam/dad
Overall a really fast read, I didn’t outright hate it but I didn’t love it either. I think it would be a good story for a bit of a younger audience because of the writing style
AD-PR Product, copy sent from Tandem as part of their Nineteen Steps readalong
So let me just say I have never cried reading a book before this one, and I also will never be reading another war book again.
If you can get past the whole thing about the co writer not getting any credit on the cover (happens waaaay more than you’d expect) and all of the other stories that go around this book-you will end up enjoying this book a lot more.
Now, I have to say I absolutely loved this book. It was written so well, and the story had EVERYTHING. It had love story, war, grief, hope and a bittersweet ending. I loved Nellie, I absolutely adored Billy, when it comes to Ray-I’m not sure how I feel about him lol. I loved the flow. I didn’t get bored, no part of the book dragged. A sweet story of a young woman living through horrific times and tragedies, but still finding happiness at the end.
This book made me think of my grandparents and great grandparents, who sadly had to go through so many wars and who probably felt similar feelings as described in this book. I wish I could hug them all and thank them for getting through that.
Anyway as I said, I’ve never cried because of a book ever l, but I was absolutely bawling my eyes out, ugly crying, wet pillow from all of my tears like I was a mess the last 4 chapters😭🫶🏻
Heartbreaking. I personally really liked it. I know this is a hot take but I don't think it's bad to have a ghostwriter, and the fact that Millie even thanked her in the acknowledgments? most of the time a ghostwriter isn't even mentioned, it's kept a secret *hence ghostwriter...) The story behind the story is super sweet too.
Anyways, I liked the book and if you see it, maybe pick it up.
(pre-read) Millie wrote a book? Yes girl. Sign me up. I cannot wait to read this.
This isn’t the usual genre of book I would ever pick up but I was pleasantly surprised.
I understand that the ideas came from Millie Bobby Brown and whilst also appreciating that the book will gain more sales with her name on it, I do believe that Kathleen McGurl deserves a lot of credit for this.
This is a historical fiction, set during the events of WWII, following the real life events as lived by Millie’s grandparents.
I loved all of the characters, Nellie, Ray, Billy and Babs all hold a special place in my heart. I think it explained life during this time well and was both incredibly easy to read, emotional and enjoyable.
I felt every bit of pain that was written in this book and was whisked away to a time I don’t want to believe ever existed.
This book is full of love, hope, appreciating the little things, but also loss, pain and suffering.
I cried. I cried a lot, I’m still crying but I loved it. I really loved this book!
Despite the controversial reviews on this book. I still bought it and read it haha. Suuuuupppperrrrr basic writing. Nothing special whatsoever in terms of language and writing style (I feel like I could’ve written it???) Very romance heavy (not WW2 heavy which I was moreso expecting). Was going to give 2.5 stars, but it did pull at my heart strings a WEE bit at the end, so we give it 3. Nothing spesh - just a whirlwind love story
Reading this book I was very excited however the writing is very elementary and basic whilst dealing with difficult and emotional topics. Consequently, at times it felt odd and clunky to read. Was not able to finish due to the poor execution however the story idea is a pleasant one.
Nineteen Steps is a beautiful and emotional story about a girl that navigates growing up, finding love and living through tragedy in the midst of World War II.
Synopsis:
It’s 1942, and London remains under constant threat of enemy attack as the second world war rages on. In the Bethnal Green neighborhood, Nellie Morris counts every day lucky that she emerges from the underground shelters unharmed, her loving family still surrounding her.
Three years into the war, she’s grateful to hold onto remnants of normalcy—her job as assisting the mayor and nights spent at the local pub with her best friend. But after a chance encounter with Ray, an American airman stationed nearby, Nellie becomes enchanted with the idea of a broader world.
Just when Nellie begins to embrace an exciting new life with Ray, a terrible incident occurs during an air raid one evening, and the consequences are catastrophic. As the truth about that night is revealed, Nellie’s world is torn apart. When it seems all hope is lost, Nellie finds that, against all odds, love and happiness can triumph.
Thoughts:
The story is inspired by Millie Bobby Brown’s family history and based on true events about the Bethnal Green tragedy. In all honesty, I wasn’t aware of this tragedy, and it was quite insightful, albeit sad, to learn something new about what people went through during the war.
I also want to give credit to the amazing Kathleen McGurl for ghost writing this book and collaborating with Millie. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but I will definitely be checking them out.
Nineteen Steps follows the life of a young girl, Nellie Morris, who lives with her mum, dad, brother and sister. She works at the town hall, assisting the mayor, and dreams of someday travelling the world, once the war is done.
“But she wanted more from life than to marry the boy next door, the boy who’d said he’d never leave the East End. She wanted to travel, to see the world. When the war was over, she intended to do just that.”
She will very soon experience tragedy and try to continue living with a huge sadness and loss in her heart.
One scene in particular, where a running for a bus is involved, made me cry for hours. For personal reasons, I connected to this scene and it really touched and broke my heart. We get to see Nellie living her day-to-day life, in a very uncertain environment, dealing with things a young woman shouldn’t be dealing with. Her support network through this tragedy is incredible – her family, her friend Babs and of course, Billy, are an incredible help when she is at her lowest.
We get to see her fall in love, a beautiful romance starts, promising light at the end of the tunnel. Nellie’s first kiss and her thoughts are written so beautifully!
“It felt as though her whole soul was melting into his, as though time had stopped, the world was no longer turning, the war was a distant memory. If ever she had to pick a moment she’d want to last for eternity, she thought, this would be the one she’d choose.”
And then, when everything seems to be going okay, despite the terrible war, Nellie, her family and friends, and the people of Bethnal Green will experience a tragedy that will change their lives forever. Nineteen steps is an emotional rollercoaster. It’s a story full of emotions, from the beginning to the end. There is romance, but it’s not the main part of the book. There is sadness and grief, but it’s a story about looking forward. A story about coming-of-age and being brave when it seems impossible. A story where in times when you cannot be brave, there will be people ready to be brave for you. As a historical romance, it’s not the best in its genre, but it’s a story that will certainly touch a person’s heart.
I scored myself front row seats to SnoreFest 2023. I can’t believe I persisted with this. I can appreciate Millie used her own families story and research for the inspiration of this book but fuck me - it couldn’t have had a more boring story to write about, even if she tried. I also had to Google the ghost writer to confirm she wasn’t a high school student who was tasked to write a war time book. The writing was so lacklustre and it was cliche as anything. The author described every detail, inner dialogue and potential foreshadow, as if I was too dumb to pick up on it on my own. I genuinely love Millie and I really wanted to love this book too, hence why I pushed on hoping for redemption. Maybe I’ve read too many WW2 books about MUCH larger tragedies and events that I just couldn’t connect with this one at all.
Das Schauspieler/innen sich als Schriftsteller versuchen, ist ja bekanntlich nichts ungewöhnliches....und oft werden diese Bücher ob der Berühmtheit ihrer vermeindlichen Autoren gekauft, gelesen und gehypht...
In diesem Fall meiner Meinung nach zu Recht....Dieses Buch hat mich tief berührt!
Miss Brown schreibt gekonnt und ungekünstelt die Geschichte ihrer Großmutter, die im London des zweiten Weltkriegs Schlimmes erleben muss ....ein wichtiges Stück Geschichte!
Ich habe gelernt, dass es in den USA gang und gäbe ist, dass sich bekannte Namen vor einem Ghostwriter stellen. Ich finde es etwas peinlich, aber das ist meine persönliche Meinung. Vom Buch habe ich tatsächlich erwartet, dass es den Fokus mehr auf das Historische legt. Stattdessen habe ich eine höchst kitschige Liebesgeschichte (und dann auch noch ein Liebes-Dreieck!) bekommen. Viele, viele überflüssige, in die Länge gezogene Dialoge, gespickt mit unfassbar viel Kitsch, wenig Historie. Dazu noch Charaktere, die so unglaublich flach und glatt sind, dass ich fast ausgerutscht wäre - und das Ende ist reine Utopie. Nein, das Buch hat mir gar nicht gefallen. Zwei Sterne vergebe ich, weil es sich gut lesen lies - der Schreibstil ist definitiv nicht herausragend und verschwindet in der Masse, aber zumindest bin ich gut durchgekommen.
Disclosure. This book was written by Kathleen McGurl. She was given research done by Millie and her family to which Kathleen wrote up a first draft. This is not Millie’s writing.
With that being said, I loved it. I’m sure Millie said it was inspired by one of her family members. I am not usually a historical fiction girlie. I tend to stay away from it cause it usually bores me or just doesn’t peak my interest unless there’s fantasy elements, however, I don’t know if it’s the pure tragedy and devastation that takes place in this book that spoke to me or the romance subplot, but I couldn’t put it down. Once you get past chapter 20 you honestly can’t stop.
Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown is not a book I would recommend for Audio. It has a decent story line but slow moving. Not a lot of depth to it. Similar to many other WW2 novels.