This review was first posted on http://www.rubysreads.com. 
 WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR A BRIEF HISTORY OF MONTMARAY 
 Last summer, when The Niece was born, I spent almost a month in New York. Not the best time of year to be in the city, I admit, but it allowed me plenty of return trips to the Strand. It was on one of those adventures that I picked up A Brief History of Montmaray. And fell in love. By far, the 1930s-40s are my favorite historical era to read about, and in Teen fiction there are pitifully few to be found. I'm pleased to say that I found A Brief History so delightful, it made up for the sweltering wait in the subway. And that's high praise indeed. 
 I think my favorite aspect of these books is Sophie. Which is awesome, because she's the one who writes these journals. Sophie is a refreshing heroine in that she's neither a fierce (but gorgeous) intellectual like her cousin Veronica, nor an rough and rowdy tomboy like her sister Henry. Sometimes, even when they're trying to break the mold, authors create heroines who are just as cliche as those which they're trying to break away from. Sophie isn't like that. She's agonizingly aware of her faults in the way that you are when you're a teenager, and she struggles with the fact that, although she misses living in Montmaray, she's also happy to have the luxuries, and the fripperies, that life in England offers her. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I find Sophie so true, and that her character resonates with me. 
 But while I loved Sophie, I felt that this book covered too much time in too short a book. Not that this is a short book. It clocks in at 464 pages, but it spans two years. There are long gaps in Sophie's journal entries. When you read the book through, it doesn't really seem like so much time is passing, but before I knew it, Sophie was eighteen. I had to go back and check that I hadn't missed something when I got to that part. Cooper does this because it's clear she has a plan for the remaining Montmaravians that fits in with the timeline of World War II. It doesn't work so well in terms of the character development. I found myself wondering about all the blank periods where Sophie didn't write and how much was I missing by not being able to read about them. 
 I'm also not crazy about Sophie's relationships. The only one who seems to have any sense of Sophie's worth is Simon. Simon, whom Sophie's brother is in love with. Simon, the man for whom she still carries a torch. Yet even Simon takes advantage of Sophie when he can. It's not that Sophie doesn't have her own way of getting things done. She's a budding diplomat. She's the one who scurries around behind the scenes, fixing everything. I feel for the fact that she's surrounded by a great bunch of egomaniacs. That's a character trait that's only acceptable in her kid (being the operative word) sister Henry. 
 I'm not sure if I'm meant to like these characters in spite of their flaws, but either way, I didn't. Toby, who wallows in self-pity and takes advantage of his aunt, who has had everything in his life handed to him on a silver platter and who is universally loved because of his charm, irritated me. Veronica reminds me a bit of Blue's mother, from Natural Born Charmer. She's the kind of person who will put those she considers "less fortunate" before her family. I wanted pull her hair, or kick her for the way she treated Daniel. Finally, Simon is so darn calculating it's hard to like him, or trust him, any yet he still can charm you. Even though Sophie knows that Simon and Toby are (presumably) lovers, she can't quite get over him. He has a draw that makes her--and us--hate him and love him at the same time. 
 I'm absolutely dying to get to the next book and see how everything turns out. I can't really see a happy ending in the works for any of them, but I'm hoping for one. Also, since I'm me, I've got my fingers crossed for some romance for Sophie.