Mrs Boots Goes to War (Mrs Boots #3) by Deborah Carr
Genre: Historical fiction, WW1, Sagas, General fiction
Read: 24th March 2022
Published: 19th February 2021
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
The world is at war and her country needs her
When Florence’s son, John, announces that he has enlisted, she is horrified but determined to hold her family together during the oncoming hardships they are to face.
Men are returning to England wounded, with many more not returning at all, families are struggling, and Florence's ‘Dear Girls’ are risking their lives in new and dangerous jobs. Florence might be older now, but she has no intention of sitting back on her laurels while others fight for King and Country. She knows what needs to be done…
MY REVIEW:
It has been way too long since I read the first two books in the Mrs Boots series, "Mrs Boots" and "Mrs Boots of Pelham Street", but I soon picked up the story finding myself once against immersed within life with the Boots at St Heilers House in Nottingham.
The first book introduces a young Florence Rowe on the island of Jersey where she was born and grew up working and living above her father's stationery shop, before meeting Jesse Boot. The couple marry against her mother's staunch wishes, as she did not want to see Florence tied to an older husband and ultimately becoming his nursemaid. But the marriage of Florence and Jesse was the beginning of the Boots pharmaceutical empire that Britons still know and enjoy today. The second book expands on their growing empire as well as their family which sees them move to a much bigger house which they name St Heilers, in honour of Florence's roots on Jersey. The growth of their business sees them opening more stores with Pelham Street being their main base. Now in this third installment MRS BOOTS GOES TO WAR, a new challenge meets Florence and her family with the onslaught of the Great War.
Seven years prior, Jesse had been knighted for his service as a businessman with his expanding empire, and Florence was therefore now known as Lady Boot. Now the year is 1913, the old Queen Victoria has passed in 1901 as has her successor King Edward VII in 1910 and now King George V reigns. Tensions are rising in Europe with rumbles of a war in their midst whilst Florence and Jesse welcome the marriage of their eldest daughter Dorothy to Captain Wilfrid Bruce. By the time September 1914 has come around, war has broken out and Florence is shocked to learn her only son John has enlisted and is being sent to France just four weeks after his marriage to wife Margaret.
Meanwhile their youngest daughter Margery is restless after both her older siblings have married and in light of both her sister and sister in law expecting their first children. Margery had contemplated joining the suffrage movement prior to the war and wanted to make a difference to others in life, thus leading her to announce her determination to go to Northern France to help in her own way with the war effort. Florence now has to resign herself that two of her children will be so close to the Front, where danger is most imminent. But it's where she feels she can truly make a difference. After all, that is how Florence and Jesse raised their children.
At home in Nottingham, Florence finds herself dealing with many of "her dear girls", as she always thinks of them, handing in their notice with the lure of higher wages being offered in the nearby munitions factory. She has heard of the "canary girls", so nicknamed for the yellow pallor of their skin handling such toxic chemicals causes. However, the work is extremely dangerous and Florence can't help but fear for the young girls who leave her employ to take on such perilous work for a few extra shillings. But then she remembers that these girls are from working class families and every extra they can earn helps. Even so, Florence continues to help out the families of her employees in any way that she can throughout the difficult times they are all facing.
At the news of the alarming gas attacks inflicted on their men in France, Jesse came up with the idea of producing some kind of gas mask to help their men if ever they come under further attacks. This leads to the production of many other items they can offer the men at the Front. In this way, Jesse and Florence feel they at Boots are doing their own bit for the war effort with the people they employ to manufacture these products also.
With all the changes, Florence continues to remain positive despite and help others where she can, despite her own fears for her children. When the war begins to come a little too close to home with Zeppelin raids over the country, it seems only a matter of time when tragedy will strike someone close to them. For a war that everyone would be over by Christmas that first year, it just seems to continue throughout the coming years with no end in sight thus plummeting those left at home into despair. Florence does her level best to remain positive though it is tough. Her one shining light, besides her work with the Boots empire, is her grandchildren and the delight they bring her whenever she sees them with Jesse being her strength.
Together, Florence and Jesse are stalwarts in their partnership, going from strength to strength as their empire booms despite the decimating war in Europe. As a woman, Florence was many years ahead of her time and other women, a philanthropist in her own right with a partnership that was unique bringing a pharmaceutical empire to the forefront of a nation who still enjoy it today.
Based on the actual story behind the Boots empire, MRS BOOTS GOES TO WAR continues where the other two books left off and taking readers into a much darker time for Britons and for Florence and Jesse themselves. In this third book, Jesse is far more infirm than he has been previously with his health having deteriorated to the point he was physically limited in his capabilities. But his handicap did not stop him from continuing with the Boots empire. And as there was no mention in the Author's Note at the end, I have to wonder is there to be a further chapter to the Boots story? As Jesse lives a further decade and thensome after the end of this book...with Florence seeing yet another war come and go, another two Kings come and go, almost reaching her ninth decade herself. I would love to read more of Florence and her family, as I feel though this is a fitting end there is still more to be told.
There was more than one occasion I found myself getting a little emotional and shedding a few tears, as is usually the case when the senseless act of war is concerned. But what touches me most is the strength of the family unit Florence and Jesse have built within their children as well as in their stores and factories.
MRS BOOTS GOES TO WAR is well written and incredibly well researched that I was captivated from the very beginning. The author really brings each of the characters to life as well as the period itself. I felt as if I was living through WW1 myself it felt that real. It is also interesting to draw the parallels between the onset of the Spanish flu at the end of the war with our own pandemic we face today.
Whilst this is a series, MRS BOOTS GOES TO WAR can suffice as a standalone if you haven't read the other books. But to appreciate it in its entirety, I thoroughly recommend going back to where it all began...when Florence was a shop girl in Jersey and meets a man thirteen years her senior who comes to the island for his health. And the rest, they say is history.
I absolutely love this series and, while I hope for more of Florence and Jesse, this one does offer a fitting end should the series finish here. MRS BOOTS GOES TO WAR is a thoroughly enjoyable read that was light and easy that is emotive and inspiring. I have no hesitation in recommending to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.
I would like to thank #DeborahCarr, #Netgalley, #OneMoreChapter for an ARC of #MrsBootsGoesToWar in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Deborah's historical novels have a connection to Jersey, Channel Islands where she lives. Her latest book, An Island At War recently became a USA Today Besteller and is set in Jersey during The Occupation which took place when the German forces invaded the island in the summer of 1940 until liberation on 9th May 1945. Her Mrs Boots series is inspired by Jersey woman Florence Boot, the woman behind the Boots empire. Mrs Boots (Book 1), Mrs Boots of Pelham Street (Book 2), and Mrs Boots Goes To War (Book 3). Deborah is hoping to be able to announce two further standalone novels coming soon from One More Chapter.
Deborah also writes contemporary romance series as Georgina Troy, signing up to the Romantic Novelist’s Association New Writers’ Scheme in 2005 and became a full member when A Jersey Kiss was published. This book is the first book in her Jersey Scene series and was a finalist in the Joan Hessayon Award for New Writers 2015 and Contemporary Romance Category, Romantic Novel of the Year Awards 2016 (RoNAs). Her second four-book series, also set in Jersey is The Boardwalk by the Sea. She also recently signed with the brilliant Boldwood Books who will be bringing out the first books in her new Sunshine Island series, Finding Love on Sunshine Island in May 2022.
As if that wasn't enough, Deborah has also written two psychological suspense novels for Hera Books as Ella Drummond. My Last Lie and The Darkest Summer are out now in e-book and audio book.
Deborah has lived most of her life on the island of Jersey where she now lives a few minutes from the beach with her husband and three adorable but noisy dogs.
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