Book Synopsis:
Manchester, 1941
Christmas is the season for family and friends, and this year the railway girls will need each other more than ever.
Cordelia appears to have the perfect life. When her daughter Emily arrives home unexpectedly, she can’t wait to introduce her to her friends. But when things don’t go to plan, Cordelia must decide where her loyalty lies.
Things aren’t going too smoothly for Alison either. Her beloved boyfriend has yet to propose, but there’s a charity fundraiser dance and she’s dressed up specially. Surely, tonight must be the night.
Colette‘s friends are envious of her devoted husband; he meets her after every shift on the railway, and accompanies her around town. But Colette has a secret, one that will change her life – if only she knew who to confide in.
With the festive season fast approaching, the railway girls are hoping for some Christmas magic…
Christmas With The Railway Girls is out in ebook and paperback now. You can purchase your copy using the links below.
My Review:
It’s always great to find a new saga series to enjoy, especially a Christmas themed one, so I was very excited to be invited onto the blog tour for Christmas With The Railway Girls.
Even though I have come into the series in book four I soon found myself emersed into their world as if I’d been there from the beginning. I loved learning more about the girls and discovering more about the close knit friendship group they have created. The support they give each other through difficult times was beautiful to read about and I soon found myself wishing I could be part of their group too. In this book it seemed to be Collette taking centre stage as she tries to solve a problem she’s been having. It was interesting to watch her work through this and I admired the strength she showed.
The author has clearly done a lot of research into the period with her vivid descriptions helping to bring the era to life. I knew little about women working on the railways before reading this book so eagerly drank in every little detail. I was in absolute awe of these women who not only managed to work long hours at a physically demanding and dangerous job but also looked after families and even volunteered at equally dangerous jobs in the evening. It really made me grateful for the war time generation and all they did for the war effort.
I thought this book was well written and very gripping as there always seemed to be something happening to keep me engrossed. There were moments that made me cry and moments that made me want to cheer with the girls which I think shows how much I was invested in the characters. As you can expect with these types of books there are some tough subjects discussed but the author does a great job of handling them with sensitivity. I’m definitely going back to read the other books in the series now!
Hugs thanks to Sarah Hardwood for inviting me onto the blog tour and to Penguin for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Maisie Thomas was born and brought up in Manchester, which provides the location for her Railway Girls novels. She loves writing stories with strong female characters, set in times when women needed determination and vision to make their mark. The Railway Girls series is inspired by her great aunt Jessie, who worked as a railway clerk during the First World War.
Maisie now lives on the beautiful North Wales coast with her railway enthusiast husband, Kevin, and their two rescue cats. They often enjoy holidays chugging up and down the UK’s heritage steam railways.
Over The Rainbow Blog 