ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Wartime Mother by Lizzie Page

Posted on 2nd February 2026 By Nicola

The Wartime Mother by Lizzie Page is published by Bookouture and is out now. I purchased my own copy of the book.

This is the third in the Wartime Evacuees trilogy and you can find my reviews of the previous two by clicking on the titles:

A Child Far from Home

The Wartime Nursery

England, 1941: Heartbroken villager Winnie has only just lost her husband when she’s asked to house an evacuee from the city. Will these two lonely souls heal each other’s broken hearts? An inspiring and emotional story of love, loss and hope in the darkest of days.

After her husband died fighting for their country, Winnie is heartbroken, reeling, and suddenly solely responsible for the struggling family pub. With nothing else to focus on, she pours her heart and soul into her work, trying desperately to keep afloat.

When news arrives of a ten-year-old girl who lost her mother and siblings in the Blitz, Winnie is unsure if she can help. She knows little Francine is alone and in need of a home, but she doesn’t know how much love she has to offer. But there is nowhere else for Francine to go, and Winnie can’t bear to think of her without a family…

Caring for a little girl as the war rages and resources run low takes all of Winnie’s energy. But little Francine is full of ideas to help keep the pub open, and as her cheeky sense of humour and infectious giggle breathe life back into Winnie’s world, Winnie’s heart opens to the possibility of love. That is, until the Canadian pilot she’s fallen for has to return home, and asks Winnie to go with him – just as Francine’s relatives appear to try and claim her.

Winnie can’t bear the thought of losing the family she and Francine have become, but is it safer for Francine to let her go or hold her close? And can they leave the past behind and find the happy ending they both deserve?

A heart-wrenching yet totally uplifting historical novel set in World War Two that is impossible to put down and will have you reaching for the tissues. Perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Shirley Dickson and Sandy Taylor.

The Wartime Mother is the third and final book in the Wartime Evacuees trilogy by Lizzie Page. Each of the three (the others being A Child Far from Home and The Wartime Nursery) focuses on one child’s evacuation in WWII. Valerie, Lydia and Francine used to live in the same building in London with their respective families and so we follow each of their individual wartime experiences whilst also getting to know a little of what the other two are going through at the same time. The Wartime Mother is Francine’s story of being evacuated to Kettering after her mother and siblings die when their bomb shelter takes a direct hit.

Francine is sent to live with Winnie, landlady of The Castle public house, whose husband has been killed in action. At first, Winnie doesn’t feel she can look after Francine but circumstances intervene and they end up being a balm to each other throughout the remainder of the war and beyond.

I always love reading a Lizzie Page book and this was no exception. Francine’s story is a heartbreaking one but I felt that things worked out well for her in the end and she became such a strong character. Winnie is great too but at times I wanted to reach into the book and give her a good shake. Talk about blinkered! Part of this story covers the persecution of Jews at home as well as abroad, and I suppose it was just as hard for some people (including Winnie) to comprehend that it could happen here as it was there.

Despite my frustrations with Winnie, it’s the characters that make this book and I found that, as with other books by this author, there is such a variety of distinctive and unique folk that it makes this book (and all of the others) such a pleasure to read. I very much enjoyed this lovely, touching and ultimately inspiring book.

Lizzie Page is the bestselling author of historical fiction books, heart-warming stories featuring women struggling (and triumphing) against the odds.

She loves reading ALL kind of books but especially those concerning adventures of women in the past. As a child her two favourite films were Dr Zhivago and The Sound of Music 🙂 so it makes sense that she now writes twentieth century fiction.

Lizzie’s most popular book is The Orphanage, the first in the uplifting Shilling Grange Children’s Home series. It is about Clara, a young woman who reluctantly becomes the housemother of an Orphanage in Suffolk, in the Post-War years. Clara finds that with the help of her community, she changes the children’s’ lives – and they change hers for the better too.

Her books have been translated into Dutch, Norwegian, Swedish, Hungarian, Czech, Russian and she loves seeing her foreign language editions. She also loves hearing from readers so please feel free to send her a message on FB or Instagram or leave a review here.

Lizzie lives with her family by the sea in Essex, South East England. She enjoys traveling and lived in Japan for several years and had lots of different jobs from waitressing and teaching to admin and bingo-calling – but being a writer is her absolute favourite.

Lizzie is currently writing a heartfelt series about women defying the odds in an unusual workplace in the late 1940s. Do follow if you’d like updates.