Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown marked the debut novel of the Stranger Things actress. I read this book out of curiosity because I didn’t know much about it. I prefer going into books with little background and story knowledge.
I didn’t even know the plot of Nineteen Steps by Millie Bobby Brown before reading it. I knew, however, that Brown’s grandmother-inspired the novel. Reading the book without knowing much about it helped make the experience of reading it more enjoyable and surprising. However, I encourage others to know some things about a book before reading it. So let me tell you about Nineteen Steps.
Nineteen Steps Takes Place During World War II
Nineteen Steps falls into the historical fiction category. It takes place during World War II and starts in 1942. The events of the piece occur over several years. The book portrays the war in a realistic manner but from the point of view of someone not in combat. The main protagonist, Nellie Morris, and her community depict what’s happening in London during it. The novel showcases the war from the civilian perspective.
Like many award-winning war movies, the presence of the war is very prominent. Just because the characters aren’t shown on the battlefield doesn’t mean that their lives aren’t altered and suspended because of World War II. Many WWII novels and movies are told from the point of view of a soldier, so it’s refreshing and interesting to read stories about those not directly fighting in the war but still suffering from it.
It Was Inspired by Millie Bobby Brown’s Grandmother’s Life And Experience
The opening dedication of Nineteen Steps mentions that the book is for those who lost their lives in the tragedy mentioned in the book and for Brown’s Nanny Ruth “who told me this story.” In an interview with TODAY, Brown shared that every night as a young child her grandmother told her stories about her life during World War II. She took these stories and fictionalized them for Nineteen Steps.
Brown specifically focused on the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster of 1943. According to Historic UK, 173 people were killed that day, 62 were children and 60 were injured. The incident happened when a noise caused the air-raid warning to sound and people to start to panic and take cover in the Bethnal Green Tube station, which served as an air raid shelter.
At the time, mystery surrounded what happened, but Nineteen Steps provided some answers. According to the New York Times, the Bethnal Green Tube Disaster was the biggest civilian tragedy during the war. Brown’s grandmother experienced the incident and survived it. The book is titled Nineteen Steps because that’s how many steps it took to get into the tube station.
Nineteen Steps Has A Love Triangle
The Bethnal Green Tube Disaster plays a major role in the second half of Nineteen Steps, but the first half focuses on establishing Nellie’s life. Part of that involves a love triangle between an American US airman named Ray and her childhood best friend Billy. Billy has been in love with Nellie all his life, but never told her how he felt. Ray enters the picture and immediately enthralls her. Eventually, Nellie must pick between the men.
Nellie falls deeply in love with Ray, but it’s unclear if it’s going to be a friends-to-lovers romance book, or if Ray and Nellie are meant to have a happily ever after. The end game for the romance keeps you guessing until near the latter half of the book. Nellie is still a teen when she falls for Ray and at one point, they’re planning to get married. People marrying young was more of a norm in the 1940s but the Stranger Things star could have pulled from her own love life when creating Nellie’s love story.
The Family And Friends Aspects of The Book Are Critical To The Story
In her TODAY interview, Brown talked about how her grandmother’s life had a lot of tragedy during World War II but it also had some light in it.
Of course there is a lot of tragedy within the stories that she was telling me, but there is also a lot of humor and a lot of love, community and friendship, and I felt like this could be something really important for people to know about.
The community, friends, and family aspects of the story are very ingrained in Nineteen Steps. The Bethnal Green community plays a huge part in Nellie’s identity. She is who she is because of her friends and family. That’s why you feel the weight of the losses. Her friends and family are also a driving force to get answers for the tragedy.
The community and family parts are some of the best moments of the novel. I almost wish we got more family and community scenes in Nineteen Steps because the citizens and Nellie’s family really helped shape the story and give it foundation and sentimentality.
It Has Had Some Controversy
Millie Bobby Brown collaborated with Kathleen McGurl to write Nineteen Steps. Brown officially thanked her ghostwriter on her Instagram. This sparked some backlash because many believed McGurl should receive the credit for writing the book. I own a copy of the UK edition of Nineteen Steps and inside it, it says written by Brown with McGurl. As the Guardian points out, many celebrities have ghostwriters.
Most famous people, however, are not as transparent as Brown about using them. Many memoirs, cookbooks, novels, and such use the famous name to sell copies but the actual writing is done by a ghostwriter. Generally I assume most celebrity books are not written by the celebrities themselves. Therefore, I think it’s commendable that Brown acknowledged that she didn’t write her book and publicly thanked her ghostwriter.
This allows McGurl more exposure and may encourage more people to read her books that are penned under her name. I also understand the backlash because it may seem misleading and unfair to some people. The important thing for me, and why I think of Nineteen Steps as Brown’s book even if she didn’t write it, is because it is inspired by her grandmother’s life and experience. The story exists because of Brown's connection with her grandmother.
Fans Of Historical Romances May Enjoy This Book
While reading this book, I thought a lot about the movie Brooklyn. They are very different stories but somehow felt similar. Fans of historical romances will probably enjoy this story. I could associate it with several well-known historical romance movies.
I found the romance of Ray and Nellie all right, but I wouldn’t call them an epic love story. If they ever make Nineteen Steps into a movie, I don’t think it will be one of the greatest romance movies of all time, but I think it will be an enjoyable romance drama. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, especially not historical romances, but Nineteen Steps definitely made me want to read more in the genre. I enjoyed that everything in it felt heightened and more dire because of the setting and time.
It’s A Quick Read
If you’re curious about Nineteen Steps but don’t want to devote too much time to reading it, well, I have news: It’s a pretty quick read. It only took me a couple of hours for two days to read. I read at an average speed, so I think anyone can read it fairly quickly. Additionally, Millie Bobby Brown voices the audiobook, if you want to consume the book in that way.
It’s always interesting to hear a celebrity author read their own books to hear them bring their vision of their characters to life.
Millie Bobby Brown’s upcoming projects include the movies Damsel and The Electric State with Chris Pratt. Hopefully, future projects include another book. Overall, I enjoyed Nineteen Steps and would read the Stranger Things star next creation.
