Wartime with the Cornish Girls (Cornish Girls Saga #1) by Betty Walker
Genre: Historical fiction, Wartime fiction, Sagas, WW2
Read: 7th December 2022
Published: 29th April 2021
★★★★ 4.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
1941. The Blitz rages over London.
And even in Cornwall, the war is being fought…
When Violet loses her sister in the Blitz, she must take her nieces to safety in Cornwall. On the coast, she meets carefree chorus girl Eva, who is also running from the dangers of London.
But Porthcurno hides a secret military base, and soon Violet and Eva realise there’s a battle to fight in Cornwall, too.
Together with local Hazel, who works on the base, they must come together to help the war effort. But will their friendship be enough to keep them safe?
The perfect uplifting wartime read for fans of Nancy Revell and Donna Douglas.
MY THOUGHTS:
I have all but exhausted the genre for wartime fiction but there are still a few I enjoy, preferring those that war is simply a backdrop to a saga od stories. But WARTIME WITH THE CORNISH GIRLS is also a little different and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did, since the market is flooded with similar tales. But then, I'm always a sucker for Cornwall.
The story begins in London during the Blitz with Violet and her two nieces, Lily and Alice, fleeing the capital for the confines of sleepy Cornwall in the hope of escaping the nightly raids and keeping safe. However, their idyllic dreams of sunswept sands and paddling in the crisp blue waters is shortlived upon arrival. They have taken refuge with Violet's mother's sister and her husband, but Margaret is a manipulative tyrant and her husband a lech and after a shocking confrontation, Violet and the girls flee the farm and yet have nowhere to go.
High-spirited Eva is a chorus girl in London and has caught the eye of American flight lieutenant Max. Until one night a raid sees them seeking shelter nearby, killing many with Max pushing Eva to safety with no thought to for his own. After recovering from near death, Eva is summoned to Cornwall by her father where he heads up a top secret mission on its sleepy coasts.
Hazel is born and bred Cornish who, as a teenager, was in love with one boy but fell pregnant to another and thus marrying said father, Bertie Baxter, who ended up being an abusive tyrant with far too much love of alcohol than for his wife and son. But now Bertie is off serving King and country leaving Hazel to keep the home fires burning and their 15 year old son Charlie with a who has a wanderlust to follow in his father's footsteps.
After a chance meeting outside her aunt's farm, Violet seeks out Hazel (the only other person she knows in Cornwall) in the hope of garnishing jobs for the three of them at Eastern House where Hazel works as a domestic. There they meet Eva who finds life in Porthcurno somewhat sedate and boring after the excitement of London. They become friends and are soon planning a dance to keep spirits up while maintaining a level of fun and excitement amidst the doom of war that overshadows them.
But they soon discover that nowhere in England is safe during the war, not even sleepy Cornwall. And when a nasty surprise turns up threatening to spread rumours about her family amidst her superiors at Eastern House, Violet fears her time in Cornwall and the friendships she has found may be coming to an end. Meanwhile, Eva develops starry eyes for Professor Templeton but feels sure he is keeping secrets. While Hazel harbours her own secret that is bound to change her life, but not as much as the news she receives shortly after.
How will things turn out for these three women?
I liked Violet and her sparky nieces, Lily and Alice. After her sister is killed in the Blitz she decides to take her nieces to Cornwall to keep them safe but has no idea what lay in store for her there. Hazel had my sympathies with a brute of a husband and a moody teenage son who tries to stake his place as the man of the house in his father's absence. But her life shows promise by the end and I look forward to seeing what happens for her. The only thing I liked about Eva was her name. The woman did what she want without a care or thought for anyone else.
I really enjoyed WARTIME WITH THE CORNISH GIRLS which had the right balance of war and life on the home front for me. I enjoy saga stories and following the lives of favourite characters without being bogged down by technical or historical facts. And of course, I love just about everything set in Cornwall.
I don't know where the stories will go from here but I look forward to catching up with the girls in future installments...all of which I have waiting on my kindle.
Perfect for fans of Lizzie Lane, Rosie Clarke, Pam Howes and Nancy Revell.
I would like to thank #BettyWalker, #NetGalley and #AvonBooks for an ARC of #WartimeWithTheCornishGirls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Betty also writes under other names! She writes atmospheric contemporary thrillers as Jane Holland, light-hearted romances as Beth Good, and YA fantasy and Tudor historicals as Victoria Lamb.
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