The Staffymum's Book Nook: REVIEW: A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House by Fenella J. Miller

Friday, 3 March 2023

REVIEW: A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House by Fenella J. Miller

A Wartime Reunion at Goodwill House (Goodwill House #5) by Fenella J Miller

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2

Read: 27th February 2023

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 1st March 2023

★★★★★ 5 stars

DESCRIPTION:

September 1940

With harvest approaching, land girl Daphne is busier than ever as she ploughs the fields and tends to the animals with her friends Sal and Charlie. All three girls enjoy the relative peace of Goodwill House…but war is never far away.

When a German plane crash lands in the grounds of Goodwill House, everyone is shocked, especially when the two German pilots are declared missing. Where could they be hiding?

Tensions are high, and Daphne is dealt yet another shock, when she meets Corporal Robert Andrews – the man she was once engaged to marry! Goodwill House is the last place she expected to be reunited with Bob and although he looks dashing in his uniform, Daphne doesn’t think she can ever forgive him for breaking her heart.

With the war getting closer every day, can these two to finally be reunited for good or will their love be forever lost...?

MY THOUGHTS:

Parted by trouble...they will meet again...

We return to Goodwill House for the fifth book in this easy to read saga series set just off the Kentish coast. It picks up directly where the fourth one ended, though as with all of them, it can easily be read a standalone. Each story is a new one as the main focus of the book with an underlying theme that runs throughout should you read the books from the very beginning. I do recommend this but as I said, you don't have to to be able to follow the story with ease.

I loved the first book in this series and enjoyed the subsequent ones following though I admit I preferred the direction the series was taking by the fourth book with the Land Girls being billeted at Goodwill House and (as with that one) I thoroughly enjoyed A WARTIME REUNION AT GOODWILL HOUSE even more than the first three which also included something of a different theme.

We pick up the action in September 1940 when the Blitz is just beginning as the Germans rain down their deluge after deluge of bombs, hoping to break the British spirit.

We are thrust right into the action with a stray German bomber crashing into the potato fields of Goodwill House, and thus bursting into flames. Lady Joanna Harcourt saw two airmen scramble from their burning wreck before the ensuing explosions but a sweep of the fields and outbuildings could find no trace of the Germans. The Home Guard therefore ruled they had perished in the explosion.

Corporal Bob Andrews was heading up a skeleton ground crew at the nearby defunct RAF Manston airfield when he saw the plane's descent to its subsequent crash and made his way to Goodwill House with his crew. But when the bomber's remaining explosives on board erupted, their vehicle ended upturned in a ditch and the crew scrambling for their lives.

Land girls Daphne, Sal and Charlie have remained billeted at Goodwill House and working at nearby Fiddlers Farm for Mr Pickering. Daphne joined the Land Army and had herself placed in Kent when she heard her fiance who had suddenly jilted her a week before their wedding was working at the RAF base there. Having never come across him in her time there, she realised that maybe he had moved on and was no longer stationed at Manston.

Until she saw that familiar mop of red hair so like her own climbing out of the upturned RAF vehicle in the ditch outside Goodwill House. And before she knew it, she had fled into the bushes before the men could see who it was that had pulled them to safety.

It goes without saying that Bob and Daphne undergo many run-ins, while Daphne would prefer nothing more than to stay clear out of Bob's way. Whatever his reasons for breaking her heart, it's too late. She cannot bear to be around him and does everything possible to avoid him.

And then the Lady Harcourts receive the most disheartening news and with Peter's help, Joanna enlists her solicitor Mr Broome to get to the bottom of it before it's too late. This sends her to London and to its outskirts and is sure to rock her to the core. But at least it gives her the opportunity to catch up with her daughter Sarah, whom we have not seen since the first book, who has just completed her first year of medical training to become a doctor.

As always, life goes on in Ramsgate for Goodwill House and those in its surrounds, despite the war threatening their lives and those of their loved ones. Time marches on and so does the war. And with it, the women of Goodwill House only become stronger.

I thoroughly enjoyed A WARTIME REUNION AT GOODWILL HOUSE. It is a little different than the others, I feel, though with the same heartwarming feel throughout. I have enjoyed getting to know each of the characters with my favourite being the irascible dowager old Lady Elizabeth Harcourt, Joanna's mother in law. When she turned up in the first book, I was horrified that she would be a thorn in everyone's side but she has proved to be such fun.

I was hooked to this story and devoured it in a day, though it's taken me another day to actually review it. How dare real life get in the way??!! lol I cannot wait for book six to see what awaits those at Goodwill House.

There is one thing that really irritates me with this series, as the author continues to use it throughout, and that is the constant use of the expression "gone for a Burton" regarding men who have perished in the service for their country. Instead of saying the driver succumbed to his injuries, she says "Jim went for a Burton". It is a silly expression in my opinion and it annoys me no end as it is not used just once or twice...but constantly throughout when referencing men dying for their country. Please stop using it...it sounds so crass. It sounds more like they are nipping out for a burger or fish and chips. It makes me cringe every time I read it and is probably the reason I rate the books down a star.

However, this time, despite the constant use of the ridiculous expression I am giving it a well deserved 5 stars because it really is one of the best of the series so far. I cannot wait to see what the sixth book has in store for us!

I would like to thank #FenellaJMiller, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #AWartimeReunionAtGoodwillHouse 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.