A Village in the Country by Elaine Spires
Genre: Historical fiction, Post-war, Sagas
Read: 22nd October 2021
Published: 18th August 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
It’s November 1918 and the whole nation comes together to give thanks for the end of a bloody world war that has left few families unscathed. More than seven hundred thousand men have perished; those fortunate enough to return are mere shadows of the men who left. Women who have kept the country going by working in munitions factories and picking fruit and vegetables on farms and in market gardens are expected to give up their jobs to the men returning home. In the peaceful Essex village of Dagenham Milly Brightwell is among the women who are not happy at having to take a step back in peacetime as she dreams and makes plans of becoming her own boss.
But just as life returns to post-war normal, the London County Council announces its plans to build more than twenty-five thousand Homes for Heroes on the farmland and countryside surrounding Dagenham. Within the space of ten years the population will rocket to a hundred thousand people and the quiet country village will morph into the largest housing estate in Europe. For the families in Dagenham Village looking forward to better times in the 1920s, life will never be the same again.
MY REVIEW:
A delightful well-written story set in the village of Dagenham after the end of the Great War, A VILLAGE IN THE COUNTRY centres on the lives of three women - Milly, Maudie and Elsie and their respective families. It's a time of great change as village grows from the quiet peaceful place they grew up in to a small bustling town by the thirties. No one could foresee the changes that were coming...and coming they did.
As the story begins, the war is coming to an end though it hasn't left the village or its families unscathed. Maudie's husband Jim died at the Front, leaving her to bring up her five children, while Elsie's husband Clive and son "Viking" were missing in action.
Milly is in her early 20s and taking care of her father Leonard who has a disabled arm and her younger sister Lou's 15 month old baby daughter Ethel much of the time. But Milly wanted more from life. She wanted to run her own business and become a success. She didn't intend working ina factory all her life, not especially since the menfolk were returning and reclaiming their jobs leaving the women who kept the country running for the past four years out of a job and back in the kitchens. When her time comes and she finds herself out of work, she decides to set herself up in business and approaches Elsie, the local seamstress, with an offer too good to refuse.
Maudie has had to work hard to keep a roof over her children's heads, picking fruit and vegetables at the Williams' market gardens mostly. Godfrey Williams is a kind and gentle man and with the untimely death of his sister Delia on Armistice Day, he needed a housekeeper and someone to keep his books. He offered Maudie the job and with it the cottage on his land for her family which she accepted gladly.
Elsie thrives in her new job as seamstress for Milly's growing business "Brightwell's Bridal Gowns" whilst her daughter Violet has a knack for upcycling old furniture her brother Alfie brings home. When word reaches Elsie that Viking has been found recovering in a hospital in London a year after the war's end, she couldn't be happier. And after a time of convalescence he returns home where he picks up his trade of totting and collecting bits and bobs of furniture for Violet to upcycle.
But changes are coming to Dagenham which will see the once quiet and peaceful village turn into a small thriving town as the councils come together to build several thousands of homes for families escaping London after the war. We watch the lives of these women and their families change with the times as they marry and have families of their own.
But deep in this little village some secrets are buried...some to never see the light of day. Whilst some are too big to live with...
A VILLAGE IN THE COUNTRY is a compelling story with historical details of the changes that Dagenham saw between the two wars. It was a delightfully easy read which I found to be heartwarming and engrossing. It does take a little to get your head around the characters and their families at first but once you do, you find yourself completely immersed within the story.
I did find it interesting that there are no chapters in this book as such. But each are separated by month and year, some of which were lengthy, but are easily broken up within as the story flips between characters at each particular moment in time. It didn't detract from the story at all, but rather enhanced it. Also included is a little bit of a mystery which threw in a bit of a twist at the end.
If you like historical fiction and post-war sagas, I am sure you will enjoy the easy pace of A VILLAGE IN THE COUNTRY and I have no hesitation in recommending it.
I would like to thank #ElaineSpires, #Netgalley and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #AVillageInTheCountry in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Elaine hopes you will enjoy looking further back in time with this book, to an era when Dagenham was simply A Village in the Country.
Also by Elaine Spires and available in paperback and on Kindle from amazon.co.uk
What’s Eating Me
Sweet Lady
Singles’ Holiday
Singles and Spice
Single All The Way
Singles At Sea
Singles, Set and Match
The Single Best Thing
The Banjo Book One
The Banjo Book Two
You Never See Rainbows At Christmas
Weak At The Knees & The Christmas Queen (novellas)
Holiday Reads & Holiday Reads 2 (short story collections)
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