The Women of Waterloo Bridge by Jan Casey
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2
Read: 25th November 2020
Published: 21st May 2020
★★★ 2.5 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
London, 1940.
After her fiancé breaks off their engagement, Evelyn decides to do her part for the war effort by signing up for construction work on Waterloo Bridge. Enjoying the physical work and her newfound purpose, she begins to realise that there could be so much more to her life than anything she'd ever dared to dream of.
Grieving after her little boy dies in an air raid, Gwen is completely lost when her husband sends their younger children to the countryside for safety. Enlisting as a construction worker, she is partnered with cheerful Evelyn. Despite Gwen's initial reticence, the two women strike up a heartwarming friendship – but will it be enough to save Gwen from her sorrow?
Musical prodigy Joan's life has always been dictated by her controlling mother. When an affair nearly ends in scandal, Joan finally takes her life into her own hands. Determined never to touch a violin again, she soon finds work at Waterloo Bridge. Yet there are other troubles for her to overcome...
For these three women, only one thing is certain: the Second World War will change their lives forever. A heart-wrenching new WW2 saga for fans of Jenny Holmes and Soraya M. Lane.
MY REVIEW:
I love historical fiction particularly those set in the WW1 or WW2 eras, and the years in between. Needless to say, I was excited at the prospect of reading this book with something of a different backdrop. THE WOMEN OF WATERLOO BRIDGE is a tale of three women who helped make history in the construction of the iconic structure when so many men were off fighting the war.
December 1940: The story begins during the Blitz with Evelyn, closely followed by Gwen and then Joan. Each woman has a different story filled with heartache, loss and struggles. It was a dark time for Londoners as Hitler's Luftwaffe stormed the capital day and night for 57 days straight. I will never be able to imagine the terror felt by those people - women and children - at such a time. As each of them were confronted with their own hardships, they then found themselves faced with new challenges and subsequently a new purpose in life.
First, we meet Evelyn Draper who lives with her her father and her sister Sylvie. Evelyn had been a school teacher but had left in the wake of becoming engaged to Ron, who was away training to do his bit for the war, as married women were not permitted to work in those days. Feeling at a bit of a loose end what with Ron away and no job, Evelyn's days basically consisted of cooking for her sister and father and cleaning their house. In preparation for her job as "Mrs Ron" perhaps? Evelyn wasn't sure, but she wasn't satisfied with just that. Sylvie tried coaxing Evelyn out nightly on her jaunts to various dance halls and nigh clubs, but she usually just contended herself with staying in with her father or writing to Ron.
But when Ron writes to her and breaks off their engagement, Evelyn thought she would be distraught but instead found herself feeling relieved. She began going out on the town with Sylvie and started enjoying herself dancing the night away. But still she wanted more. And so, after seeing an advertisement, she signs up for construction work on Waterloo Bridge
Gwen Gregson is a mother of three - Johnny, Will and Ruth - and married to George who works on the railways. During a particularly harsh night of bombing, Gwen huddles her three children into the Anderson shelter out the back before George pokes his head in to let her know it's a bad night out there and all hands on deck are needed. As she bids her husband a safe goodnight, she turns to find her eldest boy Johnny hurriedly dressing and stating he was going to help his dad. Gwen pleaded with Johnny to stay and remain safe but the boy disappeared into the night. Leaving her remaining two children in the safety of the shelter, she hurries off into the night in search her son, calling his name at every corner. But to no avail. Until she sees her husband's bulky form emerge from the smoky remains of a building with the lifeless body of her son in his arms.
Gwen's life changed that December night as a part of her had died when Johnny took his last breath. In the ensuing weeks, George sent their remaining two children to the countryside in Wales for safety, leaving her alone in a house that once held the laughter of children. George and her drew further apart and Gwen found herself falling into the pits of despair. She only had her neighbour Betty to look in on her from time to time, and who they stayed with when their house took a blast in a raid. She wrote to her children regularly and looked forward to their letters or postcards back. Unfortunately, they were separated as there was no room for them to stay in the same place but after a trip to visit them, Gwen ensured that Will was placed in a good home as Ruth had been. But she still missed them constantly and feared they would grow accustomed to the countryside and never want to return to London.
Betty grew concerned for Gwen and her melancholic state and recommended some war work for her friend. But Gwen wanted only her children and her Johnny back. However, after coming across the paper Betty left with her one day advertising various jobs available to women, Gwen almost tossed it into the fire before one job caught her eye. And so Gwen enlists for the construction work on the bridge also.
Joan Abbott is a musical prodigy...although that was never her intention. Her mother had seemingly steered her into taking up the violin and controlled every aspect of her life. And Joan reviled her mother for it. So when she found herself handpicked for an orchestra under the great Sir Ralph Meyers, Joan also finds herself falling under his spell and soon begins an affair with him...mostly to spite her mother, knowing how much she would abhor the whole thing. But as affairs often go, Joan finds herself pregnant and her mother takes control of the situation by feeding her a mixture of orange juice and castor oil so it could then begin its lethal task of ridding Joan of what would inevitably be her shame.
After the laborious experience, Joan take charge of her own life, enlisting for work in the Waterloo Bridge construction and finding a room at Hazel's Hostel, alongside her work colleague Alice. Both women had their own secrets and crosses to bear and would reveal them, it seemed, when the time was right. The hostel in which she now live run by Hazel who lived with her elderly and invalid mother, whom she still called "mummy". She may have been a little eccentric but Hazel was warm and friendly and happy for the company. And despite her mother's pleas, Joan refused to return to the mausoleum that was once her home, finding friendship and acceptance at Hazel's as well as with the women she worked with on Water Bridge.
The three women are vastly different backgrounds and together they form a special bond. Evelyn is teemed up with Gwen, who is mostly silent but an efficient worker, and over time Evelyn manages to crack Gwen's hard exterior she has built up around herself and the two women become good friends.
THE WOMEN OF WATERLOO BRIDGE had the makings of a wonderfully different story during wartime. However, it's the structure of the book that lets this story down. While I can see it's value as we get each women's perspective throughout, the four months which are covered during each of their respective chapters meant that we were actually missing out on the other eight months of each woman's life. So therefore it felt a little convoluted and didn't marry up to the next part of their stories. It also distances the characters from the reader as we feel like we are only catching glimpses of their lives.
But I felt that it could have been far more exciting than it was. So often I reached a point that seemed to cut off mid-story and move onto something else entirely. I found some of the plot confusing as I wondered where something that found its way into the story, thinking "where did that come from?"
But one of my biggest gripes will always be the lengthy chapters. I abhor them. And mostly I cannot see the point of them...particularly as the chapter is then broken down within with "asterixes" to separate parts of the story. However, I did see the relevance of the lengthy chapters here what with each subsequent chapter being each woman's narrative. But I still don't like them.
This really was an original and unique choice for a story set during WW2 - as we often hear about nurses, land girls, WAAFs, Wrens or the ATS. But this one focusing on the women who aided in the construction of a bridge during wartime (and not recognised for it in the end, I might add) promised to be something different. And it was. But again, I felt we were missing out on so much more of each woman's story. I think it would have been far better to enmesh these women together in one story and devote a chapter here and there to their respective backstories so it then all moulded into one big story and, as readers, we'd not be robbed of the story as a whole.
I would have loved to have heard more about Gwen's children and their evacuation, Evelyn's love interest Stan (who seemed to pop out of nowhere and then disappear again so much that it felt like he didn't even feature), Joan's story in general as she seemed to be something of an enigma and even Sylvie's wedding was a rushed affair and before long she was gone. Then Evelyn's possible pursual of an engineering course in Canada...was that a done deal or what happened there? And even Olive, who was a force to be reckoned with on the construction site, just disappeared one day with the vague mention of a bomb. There was a lot of vague innuendo to each woman's story that it was hard to find any satisfying conclusion in the end.
It's very hard to rate THE WOMEN AT WATERLOO BRIDGE because while I did enjoy it in part, I also felt that there was so much missing that was left unsaid that could have been to give the reader a satisfying conclusion. It's a shame because it is such a unique tale to tell.
I would still be interested to see any further historical tales by this author.
I would like to thank #JanCasey, #NetGalley and #AriaFiction for an ARC of #TheWomenOfWaterlooBridge in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Jan Casey first heard the little known account of Waterloo Bridge, The Ladies' Bridge, being built by women during the Second World War on a Thames riverboat tour. The story fascinated her and 'The Women of Waterloo Bridge', Jan's first novel, is the outcome of her exploration into that event that had, until now, been erased from history. Before becoming a published novelist, Jan has had short stories and flash fiction published.
Jan was born in London but spent her childhood in Southern California. She was a teacher of English and Drama for many years and is now a Learning Supervisor at a college of further education.
When she is not writing or working, Jan enjoys cooking, reading, swimming, walking and spending time with her grandchildren.
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