REVIEW: The Bobby Girls' War by Johanna Bell

The Bobby Girls' War (The Bobby Girls #4) by Johanna Bell

Genre: Historical fiction, WW1, Sagas

Read: 9th May 2022

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 14th October 2021

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

1916. Poppy is being transferred to an enormous new munitions complex in Gretna, on the Scottish border. Even though it means moving far away from her best friends Maggie and Annie, she is excited for the challenge.

As a member of the Women's Police Service, it's her job to maintain law and order so that the factory workers can safely carry out their vital war work. She soon makes friends, and even starts to open herself up to the possibility of love.

But then she sees something in the dead of night, and suddenly the dangers of the war are no longer far away on distant shores. With the enemy hot on her heels and no idea who to trust, can Poppy save herself - and avert disaster for her country?

MY THOUGHTS:

I have followed Maggie, Irene and then Annie on their respective journeys from the beginning. Now in this fourth installment THE BOBBY GIRLS WAR focuses on Poppy, the more recent recruit to join Maggie and Annie when Irene was seconded to Grantham in the second book. And I must say, it was a delight to have Poppy shine this time around...and shine, she did.

1916: After Annie's little Christmas surprise the previous year, which therefore lead her to refrain from patrolling and taking over the running of the WPS Mother and Baby home she help set up at the end of "Christmas with the Bobby Girls", Maggie and Poppy took to patrolling the Holborn beat on their own. They had fashioned out a routine that worked for them in and around Kings Cross Station and the areas thereabouts and worked well together.

When Poppy is informed that she is required to see their commandant at WPS headquarters the following morning prior to her shift, she begins to worry that she may have inadvertently done something wrong and was about to be punished for it. Little did she know that Frosty had called her in to make her an offer to good to refuse. She has been recommended to the huge munitions complex in Gretna on the the Scottish border and, although she is saddened to leave her two best friends behind, she is excited at the new challenge that awaits her.

She is met at Carlisle by a somewhat stern looking sergeant who takes her to the complex and gives her a brief rundown before delivering her to the trusted hands of Grace and Ruth for Poppy to shadow for this shift to enable her to learn all she can about the job before her own shift begins the following morning. She feels somewhat thrown in at the deep end in some ways but she welcomes this new challenge and soon makes herself some new friends in Edith, Marie and Bessie.

However, Poppy soon discovers that there is more to learn than she had initially been shown by Grace and is faced with the many dangers the workers encounter on a daily basis. There are explosive chemicals which could be easily triggered with one wrong move and could be deadly. But along with the searches of the factory workers, the patrols, the safety of the township, workers and soldiers comes a different kind of threat...a spy is in the midst. Poppy has never had to deal with anything like this before but can she uncover the spy and keep the women safe? And in the shadow of the grief she carries, can Poppy find love again where she least expects it?

Like each of the previous books, THE BOBBY GIRLS' WAR is a different story again as we shift from London to the Scottish border of Gretna. And it was refreshing to get Poppy's backstory as well as a new one going forward. I love how Johanna Bell has focused on each of the girls respectively with each book so that they have all had a chance to shine. Do I have a favourite? It's hard to say. I really enjoyed the first one probably because it was the introduction to the women and everything that they do. But I would have to say Annie's story ("Christmas with the Bobby Girls") was a personal favourite with Poppy's running a close second.

But now that each of the womens' stories have been told, I have to wonder where do the Bobby Girls go from here?

Overall, THE BOBBY GIRLS' WAR is another fabulous addition to this heartwarming series and if it is to be the last then it has come to a heartwarming end, particularly showing how far the WPS has come in just a few short years. Incredibly well-researched, another wonderful read in this delightful series.

I would like to thank #JohannaBell, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #TheBobbyGirlsWar in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Johanna Bell cut her teeth on local newspapers in Essec, eventually branching into magazine journalism with stints as a features writer and then commissioning editor at 'Full House' magazine. She now has more than sixteen years' experience in print media. Her freelance life has seen her working on juicy real-life stories for the women's weekly magazine market, as well as hard-hitting news stories for national newspapers and prepping her case studies for TV interviews.

Her first book "The Bobby Girls" was published by Hodder in 2019 followed by its sequel "The Bobby Girls' Secrets" in May 2020. The third in the series "Christmas with The Bobby Girls" will be published in November 2020.

When she's not writing, Johanna can be found walking her dog with her husband or playing peek-a-boo with her daughter.

Social Media links:

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

REVIEW: Christmas with the Bobby Girls by Johanna Bell

Christmas with the Bobby Girls (The Bobby Girls #3) by Johanna Bell

Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, Wartime fiction, WW1

Read: 8th May 2022

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 26th November 2020

★★★★ 4 stars

DESCRIPTION:

In the midst of war, can they find a reason to celebrate?

1915. Patrolling is the last thing on the minds of Women's Police Service recruits Annie, Maggie and Poppy right now, because Annie and her fiancé Richard are about to get married. She's been waiting for this day her whole life, but when it finally comes it brings only heartache and Annie doesn't know if she can go on.

The influx of soldiers to the capital means that the WPS's work is more important than ever, though, and Annie's country needs her. She and the girls are posted to the bustling heart of the city and she hopes the new job will distract her from her sorrow.

It certainly does that. Soon the biggest bombing raid of the war causes chaos on their patch. On top of that, Annie suspects that a group of men are forcing European refugees into prostitution and resolves to stop them by Christmas. But by the time she realises just how high up the scandal goes, she might be in too deep to get out . . .

The Bobby Girls Series is perfect for fans of Dilly Court, Daisy Styles and Call the Midwife

MY THOUGHTS:

Don't expect a festive read with CHRISTMAS WITH THE BOBBY GIRLS because about the only thing Christmasy is the title. But what a read! As with the previous two books in this charming series, the focus is on the origins of the Women's Police Service (WPS) as well as each of the women who are at the forefront of the stories. First we had Maggie in "The Bobby Girls" and then Irene in "The Bobby Girls' Secret". Now it is Annie's turn to shine.

With Irene now stationed in Grantham, Maggie and Annie now have a addition to their trio in Poppy. As the girls got to know one another, the flat they had set out to rent together welcomed their new recruit as also their new housemate. The women continue to deal with drunken soldiers and the ladies of the night plying their trade, trying to keep them all in line whilst systematically taking the pressure of their male colleagues. Most of the men were skeptical of their presence, seeing it as a disruption to their already well-oiled machine, but the women soon won some of them over with their ability to handle difficult situations and holding their own.

While Maggie and Poppy continue to patrol their patch around Bethnal Green, Annie has taken time off to prepare for her upcoming wedding to the love of her life, Richard. She cannot wait until he returns and makes her his bride, despite him returning to the Front before they can set up married life together. But Annie knows it will all be worth it in the end. On the eve of her wedding she hears a knock on the door and races to greet her fiance, only to find a stranger in a soldier's uniform standing there. The devastating news he has to deliver shatters Annie's world and she crawls back into her childhood bed and stays there where she has no intention of coming out ever again. It takes a special visitor for her to regain her confidence to return to patrolling the streets with her friends. And when she does, she discovers they have a new beat to walk.

After one final shift at Bethnal Green, Annie and her friends relocate to Hunter Street Police Station in the Holborn borough. Again they are given something of a cupboard to change in before heading out on patrol but soon win over some of their male colleagues with home cooked stews and soup in the section house. The women are then faced with a busier sector than their previous beat with the biggest bombing raid of the war and prostitution even more rife in this area.

Whilst patrolling Kings Cross Station, Annie recognises a face from the past and endeavours to investigate and uncover exactly what he is up to, without alerting her two friends. This leads her meeting Bert and the two form an unlikely friendship whilst working towards a common goal. Upon discovering a group of men are forcing European refugees into prostitution, she then resolves to put a stop to them and rescue the women by Christmas. 

Although dangerous, the mission Annie then sets herself appears to be a kind of coping mechanism to deal with her grief with the propensity to land her in unfathomable danger. It is precarious to the point of recklessness. And then she makes an incredibly risky decision without alerting anyone else to her intentions. I wanted to shout at her "NOOO!!" so many times but she didn't listen...not even to her inner consciousness. Due to the depth of her grief I don't think even Annie realise the extent of what she was dealing with and how, not only stupid and reckless, but unprofessional she'd been. As a serving member of the WPS, though voluntary, she owed it to women to not only look out for and protect them but to represent them as capable and well and truly able. Digging herself into a situation from which she barely escapes is not helpful to their cause. Remember, most men believe that a woman's place is at home not in the workforce or on the streets doing "a man's job". But needless to say, Annie finds hope where she leasts expects it and resolves to see each man involved punished. All the way to the top.

I must say I enjoyed this one more than the previous one but I still find it very wordy with a lot of description. But CHRISTMAS WITH THE BOBBY GIRLS is an engaging tale that will keep the reader turning the pages to find out the fate of Annie and the other women. It is a heartbreaking story, as those of this era tend to be, but it still filled with joys and hopes as well as sadness and sorrow. While she may have joined the WPS as a quiet girl who lacked self-confidence and was unsure of herself, she has come a long way in a short time. The Annie in this story is a far cry from the Annie from the first book.

Steeped in a wealth of history from the origins of the WPS to the Nation Union of Women Workers to the Foundling hospital to the suffrage movement prior to the war, the Bobby Girls series is skillfully crafted with some heartbreaking yet heartwarming tales. CHRISTMAS WITH THE BOBBY GIRLS is another great addition to this series that not all light and fluffy but filled with more sinister and nefarious activities that face the women and help them to make their mark in the police service and take their place them in history.

Overall, another engaging tale highlighting the beginnings of changes to come for women in the Bobby Girls series..with a little Christmas surprise at the end (which I'd already suspected long before). I look forward to Poppy's story next.

I would like to thank #JohannaBell, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #ChristmasWithTheBobbyGirls in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Johanna Bell cut her teeth on local newspapers in Essec, eventually branching into magazine journalism with stints as a features writer and then commissioning editor at 'Full House' magazine. She now has more than sixteen years' experience in print media. Her freelance life has seen her working on juicy real-life stories for the women's weekly magazine market, as well as hard-hitting news stories for national newspapers and prepping her case studies for TV interviews.

Her first book "The Bobby Girls" was published by Hodder in 2019 followed by its sequel "The Bobby Girls' Secrets" in May 2020. The third in the series "Christmas with The Bobby Girls" will be published in November 2020.

When she's not writing, Johanna can be found walking her dog with her husband or playing peek-a-boo with her daughter.

Social Media links:

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Bobby Girls' Secrets by Johanna Bell

 

The Bobby Girls' Secrets (The Bobby Girls #2) by Johanna Bell

Genre: Historical fiction, WW1, Sagas

Read: 27th October 2020

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 14th May 2020

★★★ 3 stars

DESCRIPTION:

As the Great War rages on, will the truth come out?

1915. Best friends Irene, Maggie and Annie are proud members of the newly renamed Women's Police Service. While Britain's men are away fighting in France, the girls are doing their bit by keeping the peace at home in London's East End.

But out of the blue, Irene is given the opportunity to be stationed near an army barracks in Grantham, Lincolnshire. Having recently experienced some heartbreak and keen for the adventure, she decides to go. What could possibly go wrong?

It turns out, plenty. One of the other WPS girls takes an immediate dislike to her and makes her life a misery. On top of that, the man she thinks could be the answer to all her problems isn't all he seems. And when she finds a psychologically disturbed deserter in hiding, she has a very difficult decision to make . . .

Can Irene overcome all these obstacles without Maggie and Annie by her side, and find true happiness at last?

MY REVIEW:

Having thoroughly enjoyed "The Bobby Girls", the first in this exciting new series, I was excited to read the second book THE BOBBY GIRLS' SECRETS by Johanna Bell. The series features three women who volunteered for WPS (Women Police Service) at the beginning of the Great War to aid the actual police in keeping an eye on women and dealing with them appropriately so they didn't have to. They were not looked upon favourably by their male counterparts, who thought they would only be adding to their work should they require their assistance at any time. They had no powers of arrest and they were unpaid for their service. Many women had to work in factories to subsidise their lives financially whilst working their shifts with the WPS.

As the first book focused on Maggie and her story, this second one was followed Irene, who was not my favourite out of the three girls in the first place. But I was eager to find out more about her and what her backstory was. 

1915: The war is still raging while best friends Maggie, Irene and Annie still patrol their beat in Bethnal Green in London's East End. But when Irene's relationship with PC Frank Bird takes an unexpected turn, leaving her shattered and broken hearted, Irene decides she cannot stay to watch the outcome. Upon hearing about the WPS and their plights with the local women and the recent influx of soldiers in Grantham in Lincolnshire, Irene decides to apply for a position there knowing that she could really do some good for the women of Grantham, given her own history. Added to that, the Grantham position is a paid one so there was no need to subsidise her finances with factory work. Maggie and Annie are saddened that she is leaving them but promises to return just as soon her work is done.

When Irene arrives in Grantham she is greeted by Helen, a fellow WPS colleague, who is a lot older than she and the other girls...but a far wiser and experienced one. Irene is excited to meet her other colleagues, Ruby and Mary, but is shocked to find that Mary takes an instant dislike to her. Ruby, on the other hand, is quiet and seems happy to let Mary bully the women instead of stepping in, which is at odds with Irene who would rather help the women rather than have them arrested. 

Then on the beat with Ruby one day Irene meets charismatic Charles Murphy, one of the richest men in Grantham running his own very successful business. Irene cannot believe someone of his stature would even look twice at someone like her, poor and penniless with only a couple of tatty dresses to her name. Aware of infatuation, Helen warns Irene about Charles without going into detail but Irene believes Helen just doesn't understand or know him like she does. But even when Charles makes a cruel remark and then rebounds with a compliment, Irene does not heed the red flags...or Helen's warning. But comment after comment, his obvious distaste at her tatty clothing, his views of the WPS, even when he steps in and takes over when she has a situation under control...she does not heed the warning signs. 

By this time I was ready to toss the book as I was hoarse from screaming at Irene to wake up to herself. I was increasingly frustrated that she could be so stupidly naive and be taken in by someone and let him alienate her from her colleagues and even her best friends. Soon, all Irene had was Charles...which is exactly the way he wanted it. And by the time she did see him for who he really was, it was too late. She was trapped. Silly silly girl.

I found Irene's role in the WPS and helping the women, which is why she took the Grantham position in the first place, played a backseat to the blossoming romance between her and Charles. I was more interested in her job with WPS, her patrols, her friendships with her colleagues and those with her best friends Maggie and Annie back in London...than some fly by night romance with a controlling man like Charles. I felt this aspect spoilt the story and I found I didn't enjoy it near so much as the previous one because of it. It overtook every aspect of Irene's life and her story...and left me wondering if we could see through him, how could she not?

There were other aspects of the story that floated around in the background - such as the challenges they faced with the local women and the soldiers at the nearby army camp, prostitution and imposed curfews to help deal with the problem. There is also the attitudes to women police as opposed to the "real" police, being men. But there are also issues surrounding the soldiers who have been deemed "deserters" by fleeing their regiment and therefore their duty to serve their country and the consequences of war on both men and women alike. These are things that are of interest to the story along with the heartache that comes with that era.

Despite much of the story frustrating me endlessly, it does improve towards the end giving readers a hopeful conclusion. As Irene was not my favourite character in the first book anyway, her personality is probably one that just irritated me in this book. Needless to say, THE BOBBY GIRLS' SECRETS did have a relaxed easy pace to enjoy the story as it flowed, despite some of it frustrating me.

It was interesting to read the author's notes at the end, as well as the photos included, which gave a sense of reality to the subplot within THE BOBBY GIRLS' SECRETS.

I look forward to the next book in the series "Christmas with The Bobby Girls" and what I am guessing will then be Annie's story. She has a fiance fighting away so no doubt that aspect will feature somewhere there. 

I would like to thank #JohannaBell, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #TheBobbyGirlsSecrets in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Johanna Bell cut her teeth on local newspapers in Essec, eventually branching into magazine journalism with stints as a features writer and then commissioning editor at 'Full House' magazine. She now has more than sixteen years' experience in print media. Her freelance life has seen her working on juicy real-life stories for the women's weekly magazine market, as well as hard-hitting news stories for national newspapers and prepping her case studies for TV interviews.

Her first book "The Bobby Girls" was published by Hodder in 2019 followed by its sequel "The Bobby Girls' Secrets" in May 2020. The third in the series "Christmas with The Bobby Girls" will be published in November 2020.

When she's not writing, Johanna can be found walking her dog with her husband or playing peek-a-boo with her daughter.

Social Media links:

Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Bobby Girls by Johanna Bell (ARC)

The Bobby Girls (The Bobby Girls #1) by Johanna Bell

Genre: Historical fiction

Read: 21st February 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 26th December 2019)

★★★★ 4 stars

Waiting with baited breath to immerse myself into THE BOBBY GIRLS, I was not disappointed. Although it is a fictional story, it is also steeped in plenty of history through the suffragette movement of how women came to enter the police force in 1914 as Women Police Volunteers (WPV). As volunteers they were not paid nor had they any powers of arrest but they did have specific roles in which they were to assist women in attempting to prevent acts of immorality. In other words, to help control their "loose" behaviour. In addition, women were more likely to respond to women rather than men.

In a highly male dominated profession, the women came up against a lot of resistance to the idea by men who thought they would merely be creating extra work for them, rather than alleviating it. And while not every woman was a suffragette, many believed that they could play a more active role in society rather than their only value being for cooking, cleaning and producing offspring.

It's London 1914 and many men are away fighting the Great War while a call has gone out for female volunteers to join the newly formed WPV. Amongst the many applicants, four women from different backgrounds join the ranks of volunteers and go through weeks of study and training in preparation for the tasks they will be undertaking. Of the four - Sarah, Maggie, Annie and Irene - only the latter three go on to complete their training as it is revealed that Sarah is far too short sighted for the job. Devastated, she returns to the one she was passionate about - a writer at "The Vote", a suffragette newspaper campaigning for the rights of women.

Maggie, Annie and Irene become fast friends as most of the other women are far older than they are. Then when, at the end of their training, they discover they are all placed at Bethnal Green Police Station in the East End, they are ecstatic. However, upon their arrival, just about every officer makes them feel unwelcome, making snide comments about their abilities and with no provision made for them they are forced to change in the toilet cubicles, in case a male officer should enter. Only one police officer, PC Frank Bird, welcomes their arrival and is responsible for showing them where they will be focusing their attentions and easing their role into the community.

But it seems no one is happy about their presence, neither the male officers - who see them as just creating extra work for them when they call on them to get them out of whatever scrapes they may find themselves in - or the community - who laugh at the very thought of "women policemen"! But with Frank's help and the support of each other, they soon fall into their roles within the community when the locals see they really are there to help them. Their daily patrols see them gaining the trust and advice from prominent locals such as Sally from the launderette, Bob the landlord of the local pub The Lamb and the elderly Arthur. Recording their daily activities in a diary in their breaks and at the end of the day soon provides evidence of their worth and the invaluable work they carry out every day.

When the Chief Constable gets wind of their activities through the daily diaries, he congratulates them on their work and begins them on night patrols. The three women are a little naive in what to expect of their night patrols believing them to be no different from their daytime ones. But they soon discover after dark a whole other world comes alive and their work intensifies but equally rewarding.

But trouble is brewing when a face from Maggie's past recognises her on patrol and realises he could capitalise on her duplicity by blackmailing her. Maggie soon finds herself in way over her head and without confiding in her two friends, lives to regret her decision.

Each women have secrets. Maggie comes from a privileged background in Kensington but has a traumatic home life with a controlling father who instills fear and compliance from his wife and children by beating them. Not only that, her beloved brother and best friend, Eddie has signed up to fight for his country, much to the chagrin and outrage from their father. But Maggie has an even bigger secret. She has lied about her age to join the WPV, and at 18 would have needed her parent's consent...which her father would never have given. And so she sneaks out daily on the pretense that she has taken up a volunteer position at an orphanage, which would be more acceptable to her father. Annie is incredibly shy and timid but gains her confidence through her work with WPV; her only fear is the fate of her beloved fiance Richard who, when he returns on leave, is a shadow of his former self. Irene comes from an impoverished background, working another job to pay the rent on a pokey little room with barely enough to eat. She finds their presence in the East End a little too close to home and lives in fear she will be recognised.

The depiction of the roles in the early 20th century is an authentic picture of the distinctions between the classes as well as those of men and women. The poverty, the injustice, the social aspects and the attitudes the first women police officers faced has been well researched as we follow Maggie, Annie and Irene in their journey as WPVs. Although the story followed is predominantly Maggie, the other two provided good background though I do hope future stories in the series will feature the other two respectively, as they featured so little in this one.

A delightful story with some lighthearted moments, a bit of tension and a little heartbreak, THE BOBBY GIRLS is a smashing debut and promises to be the beginning of a warm historical saga.

I love how the author ended the book with some photos of the real Bobby Girls, giving a real authenticity to the story and the era. I look forward to reading "The Bobby Girls' Secrets" in May, "Christmas with the Bobby Girls" in November and "The Bobby Girls' War" in May 2021.

A highly entertaining and easy read, THE BOBBY GIRLS is perfect for those who enjoy wartime historical fiction.

I would like to thank #JohannaBell, #NetGalley and #HodderAndStoughton for an ARC of #TheBobbyGirls in exchange for an honest review.