The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington

Lucy Adlington is a writer and costume historian. I was aware of her non fiction books about fashion history such as the excellent Stitches in Time but I had not realised that she was also a YA author. Lucy has previously published a number of Young Adult books as L.J Adlington. This is Lucy's first foray into historical fiction and it is a fantastic story, deeply moving and full of intricate detail. The book is the story of Ella who must pretend to be old enough to work if she is to survive and as a talented dressmaker she is determined to work at the sewing workshop at Birchwood. We know it as Auschwitz. It is also the story of the people she meets; Marta, Carla and Rose. If, like me you believe in the importance of historical authenticity in children's fiction then you will really appreciate this book. It is painfully truthful about the horrific conditions that Ella and her friends endure. This is a story about friendship, survival and hope, about what it means to collaborate and to resist and about doing the right thing when everything around you is wrong. The writing is powerful and thought provoking. I found myself re-reading passages constantly and the characters stayed with me long after I finished. This is a book that I urge you to read; eye opening, shocking and inspiring. An incredibly difficult and yet hugely important read. Thanks to the publisher Hot Key Books and Midas PR for a review copy which I will treasure. 

Ambulance Girls Blog Tour

I am delighted to be kicking off the blog tour for Ambulance Girls by Deborah Burrows. Deborah Burrows is a bestselling Australian author of fiction set during the Second World War. Although her previous books were set in wartime Australia, Ambulance Girls is the first in a new trilogy set during the London Blitz. Lily Brennan is an Australian girl who came to Europe looking for adventure. She was working as a nanny in Prague when the German occupation of Czechoslovakia began. Having witnessed brutal attacks on the streets particularly of Jewish citizens Lily makes her way to London and before long she is working as an ambulance driver. The work was not without risk and at times Lily puts her own life in danger to help others. Lily becomes close friends with her colleague; Jewish ambulance attendant David Levy and feels aggrieved when some of her other colleagues make racist and anti-semitic remarks. When David disappears Lily is worried and asks his old school friend the dashing RAF pilot Jim for help to find out what happened to their friend. Ambulance Girls is a fantastic book, it's a mystery, a romance and a wonderful insight into war time life with excellent detail about how difficult it was dealing with food shortages and the genuine dangers faced by those who searched for bodies and survivors in the rubble of bombed out buildings. The casual racism and the snobbery and class division are also brilliantly highlighted. I am particularly intrigued by Lily's story because my great-aunt May was an ambulance girl during the Second World War who married her own dashing RAF man, so for me this book held extra special charm. I am delighted that it's the first of a series and I can't wait to read more. Ambulance Girls will make ideal reading for fans of Call the Midwife and the books of Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell or anyone with an interest in women's history and life on the home front during WW2. The blog tour continues tomorrow. Check the poster below for more details. Ambulance Girls is published in paperback by Ebury on 23rd February. Thanks to Josie Turner at Penguin Random House.

When the Sky Fell Apart by Caroline Lea

Caroline Lea's beautiful debut is set on the island of Jersey during the brutal period of Nazi occupation. A group of people are brought together by circumstances during this time of hunger, fear and violence. There is ten year old Claudine, Edith the so called witch, fisherman Maurice, English doctor Carter and Gregor a German soldier. As each story is revealed, overlaps and comes together the characters come to rely on each other and to gain strength from their friendship, strength enough to stand up to the terrifying regime they live under. So little is written about the Channel Islands during the war and this book though peopled by fictional characters is a stark reminder of the harsh realities that Channel Islanders endured during the Second World War. At times heartbreaking at times uplifting this is a beautifully written book with vivid characters and a tense and nerve wracking atmosphere. The descriptions are poetic and the plotting superb. This is a perfect choice for book clubs everywhere.

Available now from Text books.
Thanks to the publishers and the team at Love Reading for sending me a copy to review.

The Nurse's War

The Nurse’s War is the second book in Merryn Allingham’s World War Two set series Daisy’s War which began with The Girl from Cobb Street and will continue with Daisy’s Long Road Home. Although this book is mid series it is relatively easy to read and pick up the thread of the story. Allingham gives us enough of the story so far to save confusion but not so much that the first book is simply re-hashed.  This book sees Daisy back from India and having trained as a nurse she has settled into a routine working at St Bart’s and living at the nurse’s home. She has begun to rebuild her life having found a friend in fellow nurse Connie and a vocation in looking after the many brave Londoners injured in the intense bombing of spring 1941. However Gerald, Daisy’s husband whom she had believed dead turns up demanding her help. Gerald has deserted and wants Daisy to get him false papers so that he can begin again in America. Daisy does her best to help Gerald relying once again on her old friend Grayson Harte. Allingham has written an engaging story with plenty of action and some interesting characters. Daisy’s determination to be self-sacrificing can become quite irritating at times although she usually redeems herself. If you like your villains dastardly and your heroes dashing then this is the book for you, romantic atmospheric and full of great period detail. This series is a must for fans of Emma Fraser.

This review originally appeared in HNR 73 see it online HERE

Crooked Heart by Lissa Evans

This review originally appeared in HNR Issue 71 Feb 2015 you can view it online here http://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/crooked-heart/

Crooked Heart is the first adult novel from Lissa Evans since the Orange Prize-shortlisted Their Finest Hour and a Half(2009). This novel tells the story of ten-year-old evacuee Noel Bostock, who leaves blitz-ravaged London to stay in St Albans. His new family consists of the scatter-brained and near penniless Vera Sedge, her ungrateful teenage son Donald and her apparently housebound mother.

Noel has had an unusual upbringing; with no family of his own, he has lived most of his life with his recently-deceased godmother, Mattie, a former suffragette who has provided an eclectic education and passed on to Noel her suspicion of and disdain for authority. Vera feels scorn for authority for different reasons; all around her she sees people making money from the war effort, and Vera is determined to get her share, but her haphazard schemes have rarely borne fruit. However, once Noel realises what Vera is trying to do, he becomes the brains behind her scam operations and together they become a team. When they meet a bewildered old woman who reminds Noel of his beloved godmother, things take a nasty turn as Noel tries desperately to help her, thinking that in saving Mrs Gifford’s belongings from a thieving air raid warden he can somehow save his beloved Aunt Mattie, for whom he still grieves.

The novel is beautifully written and very well researched. Evans brings to life the world of scammers and thieves who thrived during the War while also making the voice of the precocious Noel utterly believable.

Friday Feature Author Emma Fraser

After a variety of jobs (waitress, sign painter for archeological sites, barmaid) Emma Fraser trained as a nurse in Edinburgh before going on to study English Literature at university. After graduating she and her husband travelled for a few years, living and working in Australia, rural Africa and the far north of Canada. When they returned to Britain, Emma worked in the Health Sector for a number of years before leaving to write full time. She wrote several medical romances for Harlequin under the name Anne Fraser before her first historical novel, When the Dawn Breaks was published by Sphere in 2013. Her second historical, We Shall Remember, is out in ebook and hardback now and paperback in October. Her stories are about ordinary, but strong and determined women who find themselves in extra-ordinary situations and are based on real people and events.

Emma's Five Favourite Books


I have so many, but these are five of my favourites

Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer
Rebecca Daphne du Maurier
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen
The Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad
Bleak House Charles Dickens

Emma's 5 Top Writing tips


Persevere
Sometimes it feels as if writing a whole book is impossible – think of it in chunks and you'll get there. Which brings me to my next tip...


Write first - edit later

I'm a great believer that we use one side of our brain to write and the other to edit. If you try and apply the editing side while you are writing, you will constantly go over scenes and never get to the end.


Learn to love your delete key

After you've written your first draft, go back. If the scene doesn't push your story on, either by revealing character or advancing the plot, the scene has to go. Learn that this is a good thing. (Sometimes if it's too painful to delete something I have spent hours writing, I put it in a deleted scene file and pretend to myself I will use it in another book. I haven't done so far, but it easier for me to use that key.)


Try and write most days

I don't write at the weekends (unless I am close to a deadline then I write all the time) but I do try to write most days. If I take long periods off I find it more difficult to get back into my writing. It feels to me a little like when I haven't been to the gym for a while. As Stephen King says in his book On Writing, you can't wait for the muse to come to you. Sit down at your desk every day (or most days) and the muse will come and find you there.



Find someone you trust to be your ideal reader.

I'm lucky, I have my sisters and my daughter who I can show stuff to. They can be brutal, far too honest sometimes, but trust me that's better than having a first reader who doesn't want to hurt your feelings.


Emma's books are published by Sphere . When the Dawn Breaks is available in paperback and e-book and We Shall Remember is available in e-book and hardback with a paperback release planned for later this year.

The Girl from Station X by Elisa Segrave

A follow up to Elisa Segrave’s The Diary of a Breast which detailed her battle with breast cancer, in this book she explores her mother’s life. Anne Segrave was an alcoholic and Elisa did not have an easy relationship with her. In her last years as Anne disappeared into dementia Elisa began the daunting task of sorting through her mother’s belongings. She discovered that just like her; her mother had kept diaries for most of her life. Through the diaries Elisa discovered not only the privileged upbringing and spoiled childhood that her mother had enjoyed, but also a secret life during the war as a WAAF officer part of the code breaking and intelligence operation based at Bletchley Park and at Bomber Command. Through the diaries Elisa gains new understanding and insight into her mother’s life and her choices both before and after the war. Elisa discovers a woman of great intelligence and restless spirit and learns of her mother’s loneliness and search for love with both men and women. She also observes her descent into alcoholism and battles with depression and anxiety. Gradually she comes to understand and empathise with her mother who had spent many years grieving for her son who drowned as a toddler, her older son who committed suicide and the loss of her father and brother when she was a young child.  A fascinating glimpse into a time of great change for women and a perfect read for fans of William Boyd’s Restless or Sebastian Faulks Charlotte Grey.

Follow the link below to see my original review and those of other reading panel members at Lovereadinguk.

http://www.lovereading.co.uk/book/8902/The-Girl-from-Station-X-My-Mother-s-Unknown-Life-by-Elisa-Segrave.html

The Girl from Station X is out now in hardback from Union Books.