Big London Dreams Review — Is It Worth Reading?

Verdict: Clare Lydon’s most emotional book: a first love between two young women in late-1950s London, torn apart by the times and reunited sixty years later. Readers call it heartbreaking, beautifully researched and one of her best — the main caveat is that series readers already know how it ends.

Best for: Readers who love historical sapphic stories, second chances and a good cry.

Heat level: Not rated — readers focus on the emotion

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.3/5 — a 4.42 Goodreads average across 220 ratings, 4.16 on StoryGraph from 41 reviews, and 4.7 stars across 214 Amazon ratings)

Tropes: Second chance, first love, forbidden love, dual timeline, historical, older leads.

Big London Dreams is Clare Lydon’s 2021 lesbian romance, book eight of the London Romance series, told from 1950s London to the present day. Eunice Starling didn’t mean to fall for Joan Hart, but she did. Months later, she didn’t want to leave Joan and marry a suitable man — but she did. Sixty years on, Eunice comes face to face with Joan again.

It holds a 4.42 average across 220 Goodreads ratings, with 87% of them four or five stars, 4.16 on StoryGraph from 41 reviews, and 4.7 stars across 214 Amazon ratings.

It sits between our historical and contemporary lesbian romance coverage.

What Is Big London Dreams About?

Two young women meet working side by side in a London clothing factory and dream of Paris together. Family, religion and the homophobia of the era make that dream impossible.

After so long apart, is love still enough? Letters, memories and a reunion answer the question.

What Works in This Book

1950s London: Readers praise vivid, well-researched period detail — the Tube, the rain, pie and mash.
Emotion: Many readers describe being an emotional wreck, in the best way.
The letters: Several reviewers found them stunning.
A tribute: Readers value a story honouring the women who came before.

Book Synopsis

They were each other’s first love. But that was a lifetime ago.

Get ready to have your heart broken, then pieced back together again.

My Review

Lydon, better known for romcoms, shows real range here, writing yearning and loss with beauty and restraint. Several longtime fans call it her best work.

The one structural drawback: if you have read book seven, or even the opening, you know the outcome, and one reader found little tension as a result. Another wanted less time in the past, finding the middle slow. A couple of readers warn it may stir painful memories for those who lived through that era.

My honest note: Knowing the ending doesn’t stop it from landing — keep tissues handy.

Element	In Big London Dreams
Central relationship	Eunice Starling & Joan Hart, first loves
Core tropes	Second chance, forbidden love, dual timeline
Setting	London, late 1950s and present day
Heat level	Not rated
Length	296 pages (about 74,000 words)
Series	London Romance #8 — best after book seven
Content notes	Period homophobia, forced separation, death of a parent

How Spicy Is Big London Dreams?

Readers don’t discuss heat; they talk about passion, yearning and heartbreak.

StoryGraph users flag homophobia and the death of a parent.

Who Should Read This Book?

You’ll likely love it if: you want a sweeping, emotional love story across a lifetime. It is on our women over 40 list.

You may want to skip it if: you need suspense about the ending, or want Lydon’s usual comedy.

In short: Sixty years in the making.

What Readers Are Actually Saying (September 2026)

On Goodreads the split is 57% five stars, 30% four, 10% three, 1% two and under 1% one. On StoryGraph, 80% tagged it emotional and 80% hopeful.

Why readers love it (according to the discourse): The emotion first. Second, the period detail. Third, the letters. Fourth, the tribute to history.

What readers argue about and complain about: A known ending, above everything. Second, too much time in the past.

The comparison worth making first: Love Changes Everything, another second chance romance told largely in flashback.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to read the other London Romance books?

No, but Eunice and Joan first appear in book seven, and several readers recommend reading it first. Be aware that doing so reveals how their story ends.

How much of Big London Dreams is set in the 1950s?

Most of it. The present-day reunion frames a long historical story, and one reader wished for more time in the present.

Is Big London Dreams sad?

Yes, in places. Readers describe heartbreak and tears, but also a moving, hopeful ending.

Is it a comedy like Lydon’s other books?

No. One reader notes it is far more emotional and less comedic than the rest of the series.

Is Big London Dreams on Kindle Unlimited?

Not when we checked; the Kindle edition was listed at $7.99. There is an audiobook narrated by Claire Storey.

If You Loved Big London Dreams, Read These Next

Read London Romance book seven, or try Love Changes Everything. Browse our women over 40 list or the full Book Reviews archive.

The Bottom Line

Big London Dreams sets out to tell a love story sixty years in the making, and it breaks and mends readers’ hearts. What holds it back is only a predictable outcome. Highly recommended. Check Big London Dreams on Amazon →