Book Synopsis:
Can the Highland girls prove everyone wrong? Don’t miss this poignant and heartwarming WW2 novel for fans of Rosie Clarke, Dilly Court and Rosie Archer, from the author of A Wartime Secret.
Scotland, 1942.
The Lumberjills, the newest recruits in the Women’s Timber Corps, arrive in the Scottish Highlands to a hostile reception from doubtful locals. The young women are determined to prove them wrong and serve their country – but they’re also all looking for something more…
Lady Persephone signed up to show everyone she’s more than just a pretty face – but it’ll take more than some charm and her noble credentials to win handsome Sergeant Fraser over.
Tall, strong Grace has led a lonely life working on a croft, with just her mother for company. All she wants is to find her place in the world – even if that’s a thousand miles from home.
And Irene misses her husband terribly, so until he returns home from the frontline, she’s distracting herself with war work. But one distraction too far leads to devastating consequences…
Can the Lumberjills get through their struggles together – even when tragedy strikes?
My Review:
The Highland Girls At War is a hugely enjoyable, warm hearted read from a new author for me.
Firstly I always love books set in the second world war, especially if it features a new part to the war that I didn’t know about before. I hadn’t heard of The Woman’s Timber Corps so really enjoyed learning more about them and the work that they did. It’s was definitely hard work and I’m not sure I’d have been able to do it.
The girls who make up the Timber Corps are a really lovely group of woman who I enjoyed getting to know throughout the book. They quickly started to feel like old friends and I wish that I knew them in real life. I had a soft spot for Saffy who seemed to have a harder time settling in then the others. She was dismissed as being snooty to begin with but after a few kind acts she soon becomes part of the group. It was nice following the girls through the highs and lows of their lives and to feel included in everything almost like you were there yourself. I especially like the romances that developed between the girls and the Canadian Forest Corps who were working near by.
Overall I loved this book and am really excited to read more. It was a very absorbing and I quickly found I didn’t want to put the book down and leave the fabulous girls behind. Even when I wasn’t getting a chance to read I was thinking about them which is always the sign of a great read. I’m really hoping that there will be a sequel as I’d love to know what happens next.
Huge thanks to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me onto the blog tour and to HQ Digital for my copy of this book.
About The Author:
Helen Yendall has been writing ever since she could pick up a pencil.
She wrote short stories for women’s magazines for many years and after serving this ‘apprenticeship’ – and after winning the People’s Friend magazine serial competition in 2015 – she felt ready to tackle something longer.
Her debut novel, ‘A Wartime Secret’ was published in January 2022 as an e-book and in March 2022 as a paperback and audiobook. It was inspired by the true story of a bank that moved its staff to the countryside for the duration of WW2. One reviewer has described it as, ‘Eastenders meets Downton Abbey’!
Helen’s second novel, ‘The Highland Girls At War’ (also set in WW2 and the start of a series about the Women’s Timber Corps) is due for publication on 4th November 2022 (as an e-book) and as a paperback and audiobook on 22nd December 2022, just in time for Christmas!
Helen’s a member of the wonderful Romantic Novelists’ Association and is represented by Underline Literary Agency.
She has a degree from Leeds University in English and German and has worked in a variety of marketing and export roles and for a literary festival, all of which have provided inspiration for her fiction over the years.
But her favourite job (apart from writing, of course), is teaching writing. She’s taught Creative Writing for adults since 2005, when a friend persuaded her to take on an evening class that was supposed to be full of ‘beginners’ (but wasn’t).
She likes the way fiction can help make sense of the world and that, as a writer, she can give good people the happy ending they deserve.
When she’s not writing, she likes playing tennis, swimming, reading and walking Bonnie the cocker spaniel in the beautiful Cotswold countryside.
Helen blogs at: http://www.blogaboutwriting.wordpress.com and you can follow her on Twitter: @Helenyendall
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