A Christmas Wish for the Shipyard Girls (The Shipyard Girls #9) by Nancy Revell
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2
Read: 30th September 2020
Published: 1st October 2020
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Sunderland, 1943: As Christmas approaches in the shipyards, everyone is hoping for a little magic…
Helen would love to find the courage to tell the dashing Dr Parker of her true feelings for him. But how can she when he clearly has eyes for someone else?
More than a year has passed since Bel’s wedding to sweetheart Joe. She knows she has much to feel thankful for and yet there is still one burning desire which she cannot ignore.
And as Polly grows with child, she hopes against hope for a safe delivery – and that her husband Tommy can soon return from the front line to meet their new arrival.
There will be storms to weather, but guided by their strength and friendship there is still hope for each of the shipyard girls that their Christmas wishes will come true.
MY REVIEW:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BlogTour for Nancy Revell's latest in the exciting Shipyard Girls series, A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR THE SHIPYARD GIRLS.
Having come in to the series with the last book "Triumph for the Shipyard Girls", I have only just been introduced to the girls that make up this wonderful series. So needless to say, I was thrilled with the opportunity to read the next installment A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR THE SHIPYARD GIRLS. The lives, the loves, the heartbreaks the girls are faced with continue from where the previous one left off. And what a cliffhanger that was!
Sunderland, 1943: Shipyard manager Helen Crawford spent most of the last book denying and then trying to find the courage to confess her true feelings to Dr John Parker. By the end, she had harnessed that courage and took herself up to the Ryhope and tell him once and for all. But upon arriving, she was greeted with the sight of her beloved John in the arms of another woman, Dr Claire Eris. So Helen has now resigned herself to the fact that she and John will just be friends, after all she was daft to think that he might love her. Men like John didn't marry women like Helen - soiled goods, as her mother was often quick to remind her.
New to the asylum attached to the Ryhope, Dr Claire Eris had set her sights on the dashing Dr John Parker from the moment she set eyes on him. She knew of his close friendship with Helen Crawford and while she openly stated she had no problem with that, inwardly she would do everything within her power to keep the two apart. Claire could see that the two were smitten with each other, even if neither of them could, so it would do nothing for her plans if they were to spend any time together and suddenly realise their feelings were reciprocated. So when Helen would call for John, the message would be surreptitiously be given to Claire who would "pass it on to John"...only she wouldn't. Therefore, John would think Helen no longer wanted to confide in him and Helen would think John didn't care enough for her to return her calls. The next step in her plan was to snare John as her husband...and then Helen would never stand a chance.
Also at the end of the last book, Pearl Hardwick had gotten herself lost in the rabbit warren of corridors of the Ryhope, in search of Bill who had been injured in the latest air raid. The room she found herself in was of someone from her past who she thought she would never see again. Over the ensuing months, Pearl would visit the mysterious Miss Girling in the asylum as the two shared confidences...and Miss Girling ultimately rewarded Pearl with the information she needed to bring down the great Charles Havelock.
In the meantime, Polly is getting nearer her due date still not having seen her husband Tommy since they were married last Christmas. Due to her advance stage of her pregnancy, Polly now works in the office with the intention of returning to the welding yard after the birth of her baby.
Bel Elliot is still coming to terms with the news that Charles Havelock is her father and the circumstances surrounding her conception. Only her and Helen are privy to the information, aside from her mother, but how will the women use this information? Charles Havelock is a powerful man and to bring him down will not only take great courage but an even greater power. But Bel is also unsettled with having been married to Joe for three years and not being able to fall pregnant. Just watching her sister in law Polly glow throughout her pregnancy brings feelings of jealousy mixed with happiness. Polly conceived as soon her and Tommy married, yet Bel can't even manage that.
Gloria is still missing Jack, who has been banished to Glasgow by his wife Miriam Crawford, for daring to fall in love with another and have a child together. Miriam refuses to allow Jack to return, using the secrets she has gathered on each of the shipyard girls as her weapon by dangling the threat of exposure. Little does she know, that threat is an empty one and makes no difference to the girls.
Rosie, and her sister Charlotte, have taken a backseat in this book when they were so much at the forefront in the last one. Despite learning the truth about her sister and about Lily, Charlotte is still enamoured with Lily and insists on spending as much time with her as possible. Rosie's husband Peter is still working undercover for the SOE and eagerly awaits any news from him or of him.
Dorothy, Angie, Martha, Hannah and the others all play their own parts throughout the story as does Agnes, Joe's mum. Dorothy has a beau, Toby, and will Angie finally realise her true feelings for Quentin?
Then as Christmas arrives, the girls gather together to celebrate a little differently than they did the year before when it was Polly and Tommy's wedding. As they gathered around the wireless to listen to the King's speech, Bel and Pearl steal away to deliver a Christmas gift of their own. And what a gift it was!! It was the penultimate climax that brought everything together and you can't help but silently cheer on the two women for their bravery.
One final Christmas wish was fulfilled the following day on Boxing Day, also St Stephen's Day also known as "the feast of Stephen". And it brings a heartfelt close to the story. And yet, there are still questions. Will Helen and John get their chance to declare their love for each other before it's too late? Will the house of Charles Havelock fall once and for all? Will Jack finally return to where should be, with Gloria and his baby Hope? And will Bel have her happy ever after? Those questions and more are yet to be answered and I look forward to finding where the next book "The Shipyard Girls on the Home Front" takes them.
There are some unexpected surprises in A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR THE SHIPYARD GIRLS - some good and some not so good - but for most of the girls, they do get their Christmas wish granted in one way or another.
A wonderful addition to this delightful series that I really must catch up on when I find a moment or three, A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR THE SHIPYARD GIRLS is a heartwarming gentle easy read that brings each of the characters to life. I cannot fault anything except the addition of Claire Eris, who makes my skin crawl and in some ways, spoilt the story for me a little. I didn't welcome the bitchiness and underhandedness she brought to the story as I felt there was enough at the hands of Charles Havelock and Miriam without Claire spoiling things for Helen and John. I really hope to see the back of her in the next book as I am not sure I can stomach her for much longer...lol
Claire aside, I really enjoyed A CHRISTMAS WISH FOR THE SHIPYARD GIRLS and look forward to the next installment "The Shipyard Girls on the Home Front".
A wonderful series that should ideally be read from the beginning and perfect for fans of wartime historical fiction and sagas.
I would like to thank #NancyRevell, #NetGalley and #PenguinHouseUK and #ArrowPublishing for an ARC of #AChristmasWishForTheShipyardGirls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Nancy Revell is the pseudonym of Amanda Revell Walton a writer and journalist that has worked for all the national newspapers, providing them with hard-hitting news stories and in-depth features. She has also worked for just about every woman's magazine in the country, writing amazing and inspirational true life stories.
Nancy has recently relocated back to her home town of Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, with her husband, Paul, and their English Bull Mastiff, Rosie. They live just a short walk away from the beautiful award-winning beaches of Roker and Seaburn, within a mile of where The Shipyard Girls series is set. The subject is close to Nancy's heart as she comes from a long line of shipbuilders, who were well-known in the area.
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