ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – Christmas for the Home Front Girls by Susanna Bavin
Christmas for the Home Front Girls is the third book in the series by Susanna Bavin. You’ll find my reviews of books 1 and 2 by clicking on the titles below. My thanks to the author for very kindly sending me a copy for review.
Courage for the Home Front Girls
The Blitz won’t break their spirits. And with Christmas approaching, can love really conquer all?
Manchester, December 1940: this winter,the girls boarding at Star House – Betty, Sally and Lorna – are determined to keep a stiff upper lip. Their friendship, and a bit of festive cheer, is all they need during the nightly blackouts.
But for former spoiled debutante Lorna – now dedicated to caring for the bombed-out and wounded with the Women’s Voluntary Service – the past is about to come calling. When the devastating Christmas Blitz reunites her with her ex-fiancé George… Through the bombs, Lorna’s new-found pluck helps them work side-by-side to save a young mother trapped under the rubble, despite Lorna’s heartbreak at seeing George again…
Because not only does charming George have a new girl on his arm: he’s doing nothing to help King and country. But as air raids and rescue missions throw George and Lorna together time and again, it becomes clear that nothing about his visit to Manchester is what it seems. And he desperately needs Lorna’s help…
Can George and Lorna work together, despite everything that happened between them? Will Lorna’s courage to do all she can for the war effort be enough to save George? And when snow begins to fall on a New Year’s Day shattered by the Luftwaffe, will she allow her heart to open once more?
A completely gorgeous and uplifting romantic saga. Perfect for fans of Pam Howes, Nadine Dorries and Vicky Beeby.
Christmas for the Home Front Girls is the third book in what has become one of my favourite book series. This instalment picks up where the previous book left off: Sally is the manager of the salvage depot, Betty is newly in love with Samuel, the gentle bookseller, and Lorna is throwing herself into her work at the depot after the trauma of her failed engagement to George.
It’s December 1940 and the Christmas blitz in Manchester is just around the corner but the girls always manage to stay upbeat no matter what life throws at them. I love all three of the main characters, quite different personalities but they complement each other perfectly. In this book I particularly enjoyed the trajectory that Lorna’s life took and how it threw her back into the path of handsome and debonair George.
As you might expect for the time, there’s quite a bit of make do and mend. The salvage depot collects all kinds of things that are then recycled for a new purpose. As always, I thought it was a fascinating setting and it really sums up the feel of ‘doing one’s bit for the war effort’. The Christmas blitz is distressing for the characters and must have been a horrifying time to live through, with death and destruction never far away. The author describes the terrifying events well, but also gives light to the shade with tales of how people worked together in rescue operations, with everyone playing an important role.
I found this book completely heart-warming to read. The characters and the settings work so well together and the story ended on a truly wonderful note. I’m now eagerly awaiting the next book in the series and to see what happens next.
Susanna Bavin has written 4 standalone sagas and her new WW2 trilogy, The Home Front Girls, will be published by Bookouture in 2024. She also writes as Polly Heron (The Surplus Girls 1920s saga series) and Maisie Thomas (The Railway Girls WW2 saga series)
Susanna lives on the beautiful North Wales coast with her husband and their two rescue cats. She is originally from Chorlton-cum-Hardy in Manchester, where her family has lived for several generations and which provides the setting for her family sagas.
www.susannabavin.co.uk
www.facebook.com/MaisieThomasAuthor
