Dark Days for the Tobacco Girls (The Tobacco Girls #2) by Lizzie Lane
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Wartime fiction, WW2
Read: 17th June 2021
Published: 8th June 2021
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Nothing will stop the The Tobacco Girls, not even war...
BRISTOL 1940.
The Tobacco Girls cling together as they realise that the clouds of war are turning dark, the world is becoming more dangerous and their lives more unpredictable.
Bridget Milligan’s big, happy family fragments when her siblings are evacuated to North Devon, then a letter from America further fills her with dismay.
Maisie Miles safe haven from both Eddie Bridgeman and her father is jeopardised and she is forced to move on, but where too this time?
Phyllis Mason is struck down by tragedy and her life spirals downwards into despair until a new horizons beckons, but also perhaps great danger...
Regardless of the rationing, shortages and an ever-worsening situation, The Tobacco Girls all pull together and hope for better days to come.
MY REVIEW:
I'm excited to be taking part in the #BlogTour for the second exciting installment in Lizzie Lane's wartime saga DARK DAYS FOR THE TOBACCO GIRLS.
Following on from "The Tobacco Girls", DARK DAYS FOR THE TOBACCO GIRLS is the delightful second book revisiting the girls and their ventures in working class Bristol since the outbreak of war. Lives have changed for them all as the danger looms closer than ever before with the growing threat that Britain will be invaded at any time.
Once again we meet up with Bridget, Maisie and Phyllis in 1940s Bristol as the city prepares for bombing with the installation of air raid shelters, ARP patrols and incendiary duty on top of the tobacco factory in which the girls worked. Calling themselves the 3 M's due to their respective surnames - Milligan, Miles and Mason - the three women have remained steadfast friends despite Phyllis' recent marriage which then saw her giving up work at the tobacco factory.
With the threat of invasion and bombings, Bridget's parents decide to evacuate the six younger siblings to the North Devon countryside. But no sooner have they gone than her mother experiences the heartache and anguish of letting her babies go. But they know that the children, ranging in ages from four to thirteen, will be safe from any harm there...which is resoundingly reiterated when bombing soon begins. Spending most of her spare time with her parents in the absence of a house full of children, Bridget watches for the postman every day...hoping against all hope that Lyndon O'Neill remembers her and has written. Bridget met Lyndon, an American whose family own a the factory's biggest supplier of tobacco, the previous year when he was touring the factory. At the time, Bridget had shown Lyndon the historical sites of Bristol but it was apparent that there was really only one sight he was interested in and that was Bridget herself.
But now that he is back in America, his snobbish mother has contrived a meeting of one of her wealthy friends' daughter in the hope of combining their fortunes. But Lyndon, knowing his mother all too well, saw through her scheming and refused to partake in the possible nuptials insisting to his father his intentions of returning to England...and Bridget. But in his absence, his letters have been few and Bridget wonders if he has lost interest. And then, the Milligans travel to North Devon to spend a week with their children in the sprawling farmhouse in which four of their children have been billeted. It is there that Bridget meets their son, James Cottrell. And the likeness to Lyndon is uncanny. Is Bridget about to fall in love with James? Or will she stay true to Lyndon and the hope he will return?
Since escaping York Street in one of the filthiest parts of the city as well as the clutches of Eddie Bridgeman and her evil stepfather Frank Miles, Maisie has moved into the Llandoger Trow pub with Aggie Hill, who also works at the tobacco factory. Whilst by day she strips tobacco and by night she serves behind the bar, Maisie feels as though life is looking up for her at last. She may not have two pennies to rub together or talk proper like her well-read friend Bridget or Phyllis now that she's married up, but she doesn't suffer fools and isn't afraid to call a spade a spade. So when she hears that Eddie has been looking for her and that Frank has been released from prison, Maisie can't help but feel her world is about to come crumbling down. With the younger children having been evacuated, Bridget offers one of their rooms on a temporary basis until she can find something more suitable...preferably as far away from both Eddie and Frank as possible. But just how long can she escape them?
While married women generally do give up work, given there is a war raging they are entitled to remain employed, particularly if their husbands are away fighting. However, when Phyllis married Robert Harvey she gave up her right to independence as he forbade any wife of his working. So Phyllis had to resign herself to life under the same roof as her cruel and unkind mother-in-law Hilda Harvey who saw fit to make her life miserable at every turn. Hilda didn't even allow her friends, Bridget and Maisie, to visit because they were of a lower class and as she was now Robert's wife she had a middle class reputation to uphold. But Phyllis didn't care for social niceties. She didn't love Robert, or even like him! After a fling with her typing tutor, Phyllis had found herself in the family way so she accepted Robert's proposal to maintain her reputation and that of her unborn child. But Hilda saw right through the announcement of a "honeymoon baby" and didn't hesitate to snip and snipe at Phyllis about it. Phyllis found herself missing the life she once had and her friends, locked away in the Harvey household like a virtual prisoner.
Then a telegram arrives from the War Office stating that Robert is "missing, presumed dead". Relief floods through Phyllis at the thought that she could possibly be free and begins to plot her escape from the stifling clutches of Hilda Harvey, who firmly believes her place is at their house awaiting Robert's return. Unable to gain access to her war pension payment book as Hilda keeps it locked in her bureau, Phyllis enlists the help of her two closest friends to find her a job and a place to stay...far away from Hilda and without any chance of her tracking her down. Although she is sad to leave her father-in-law who is lovely, he is sadly so under Hilda's thumb and Phyllis knows if she is to survive she needs to escape the clutches of her dreadful and controlling mother-in-law.
As war continues to rage around Bristol, the three women are battling wars of a different kind as they each face their own personal challenges amidst food rationing and shortages, evacuation, air raids whilst trying to keep a roof over their heads. Relationships can be fleeting but during wartime they are precious, as no one knows what tomorrow may bring. This can lead to decisions made in haste with far reaching consequences.
The story is told from various perspectives but is easy enough to follow throughout. We are privy to secrets, love interests, conundrums and even criminality as the reader is given a glimpse of each character throughout. Although DARK DAYS FOR THE TOBACCO GIRLS is the second in the series, it can be read as a standalone with enough backstory given to keep the reader up to date. However, to do so would rob one of all of the compelling circumstances that lead our Three M's to where they are now. So if you haven't already done so, do yourself a favour and read the first book "The Tobacco Girls".
Wonderful historical wartime fiction, DARK DAYS FOR THE TOBACCO GIRLS touches on the very real circumstances in which those who lived through the war endured. The food shortages, the rationing, the black market, the air-raids, the horror of the bombings and the loss of their loved ones over the course of six years. But throughout such dire hardships, there is a stoicness in these women and anyone who lived through it which shines through the pages of this captivating series set in wartime.
I was a bit surprised by the ending. It just kind of stopped...and to be honest I did expect a little more to end on. Still, this is a series and I expect a third one is in the pipeline as I write this. I look forward to seeing where the next one will lead us...and Bridget, Maisie and Phyllis as we await the happiness for which they are searching.
A tale of lasting friendships and of strength amidst war, DARK DAYS FOR THE TOBACCO GIRLS is both heartbreaking and heartwarming...and is sure to touch your heart.
I would like to thank #LizzieLane, #Netgalley, #RachelsRandomResources and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #DarkDaysForTheTobaccoGirls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Lizzie Lane is the author of over 50 books, a number of which have been bestsellers. She was born and bred in Bristol where many of her family worked in the cigarette and cigar factories. This has inspired her new saga series for Boldwood The Tobacco Girls, the first part of which will be published in January 2021.
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