The Land Girls of Goodwill House (Goodwill House #4) by Fenella J Miller
Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, WW2, Sagas
Read: 29th October 2022
Published: 2nd November 2022
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
August 1940
As Autumn approaches, Lady Joanna Harcourt is preparing for new guests at Goodwill House - land girls, Sally, Daphne and Charlie.
Sally, a feisty blonde from the East End, has never seen a cow before, but she’s desperate to escape London and her horrible ex, Dennis. And although the hours are long and the work hard, Sal quickly becomes good friends with the other girls Daphne and Charlie and enjoys life at Goodwill House.
Until Dennis reappears threatening to drag her back to London. Sal fears her life as a land girl is over, just as she finally felt worthy. But Lady Joanna has other ideas and a plan to keep Sal safe and doing the job she loves.
Don't miss the next heart-breaking instalment in Fenella J. Miller's beautiful Goodwill House series.
MY THOUGHTS:
The Goodwill House series continues with this engrossing read THE LAND GIRLS OF GOODWILL HOUSE which picks up almost directly after the previous one finished. Despite this, the book can suffice easily enough as a standalone as each of the stories therein are separate from those previous, though there is always the underlying theme that remains part of the backstory which is easily picked up along the way. However, to get the full benefit and for character progression, I do recommend reading each of the books in order. Each story is an engrossing one that easily stands alone as well as all together.
The year is now 1940 and war has been raging in Europe and off the shores of Britain for the past year. But now the Germans are upping the ante and increasing their bombing raids in the hope of decimating the nearby RAF base, one of the targets to cripple Britain.
At the end of book 3, Goodwill House had suffered a fire in the old Victorian wing of the house which had remained unused for as long as old Lady Harcourt can remember. The WAAF girls have all moved on to the RAF base at Manston and the last girls have since become engaged to their respective pilots and moved on. And at last Goodwill House will receive the Land Girls they were promised in the beginning but had to suffice with WAAFs in the interim.
The Victorian wing damaged in the fire will have to be demolished which suits Joanna and old Lady Harcourt just fine as they find it a monstrosity and have never used it, let along been inside it. Except when they found poor Lazzy the dog who had somehow becomes trapped in there as a puppy and is now firmly ensconced within the Harcourt household. Life goes on at Goodwill House despite the comings and goings, and Joanna is still mourning the loss of her dear friend Betty who succumbed to measles in the previous book. Her husband Bert went on the run and the police we looking for him.
Now a group of a dozen land girls are arriving at Goodwill House to work on the estates various farms in the area. Sal, Daphne and Charlie are three such women who met at agricultural training and made their way from Devon to Kent together to begin their work on the land. Each woman comes bearing a secret but none more than Sal who has fled an abusive relationship in London and should her ex find out where she is, he would think nothing of coming to end her days in agony, as promised for leaving him.
As well as the influx of land girls, two RAF fire brigade officers were recently injured in a bombing raid at Manston and Joanna offered the use of Goodwill House for their recuperation. However, her goodwill is not all for the war effort but for the increasing attraction she feels for Sergeant John Sergeant...a feeling which is mutual. But Joanna is a lady of distinction, of class, and John is a working class lad with an Oxford scholarship education...aside from that, she is also ten years his senior. None of which seems to matter to either of them...until it does.
I really enjoyed this installment of the Goodwill House series, though the affair between Joanna and John seemed a little pointless. It was always going nowhere and they then set out to prove just that that in the end I kind of felt...what was the point of even including it in the story? For that I knock off half a star because I did in all honesty enjoy this one more than the previous two. I did enjoy the inclusion of the land girls this time as opposed to the continual inclusion of the WAAFs and the nearby RAF base.
THE LAND GIRLS OF GOODWILL HOUSE is a delightfully easy read and a great addition to the series. I look forward to catching up with the girls and the Harcourt family once again in the next book and those that follow.
Overall, an enjoyable and easy read for lovers of WW2 historical fiction.
I would like to thank #FenellaJMiller, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #TheLandGirlsOfGoodwillHouse in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Fenella Jane Miller was born in the Isle of Man and is the bestselling writer of eighteen historical sagas. She also has apassion for Regency romantic adventures and has published over fifty to greatacclaim. Her father was a Yorkshireman and her mother the daughter of a Rajah. She has worked as a nanny, cleaner, field worker,hotelier,chef, secondary and primary teacher and is now a full time writer.
Social Media links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
She has over twenty five Regency romantic adventures published plus one Jane Austen re-telling and one YA romantic fantasy.
Fenella lives in a small village in Essex with her British Shorthair cat.
Social Media links:
Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads
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