Keep The Home Fires Burning
Digging For Victory At Rookery House by Rosie Hendry is a marvellous historical novel. It is part of the Rookery House series but can be read as a stand-alone. I recommend reading the previous books for maximum enjoyment.
The action opens in December 1940 at the height of the Blitz in Manchester. We see the devastation caused and the luck needed to survive. Plus the guilt of being a lone survivor. Bitterness, guilt and fear make terrible masters. We see a character hiding her feelings as a way of coping. Bitterness creeps in until – one day she faces her fears and realizes the enemy are just young men with families who love them. They are just following orders.
Much of the action is in a Norfolk village. There is a great house and a sense of community as we see women making do and mending; running canteens; arranging fetes; working the land etc. The women are definitely keeping the home fires burning while the men are away.
Houses are thrown open to evacuees and land girls. We see the trauma involved as a family home of forty seven years is demolished in order to make way for a new runway.
All the characters are well drawn, likable and realistic. Rosie Hendry draws the reader into the wartime world of Great Plumstead with her words. I am looking forward to subsequent books.
I received a free copy via Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.
JULIA WILSON
Digging for Victory at Rookery House
Spring has arrived and it’s time to Dig for Victory…
March 1941
After Flo Butterworth loses everything in Manchester’s Christmas Blitz, she decides to leave the area and join the Women’s Land Army. Putting the past firmly behind her, she arrives at Rookery House in Norfolk hoping for a new start and a chance to do the gardening work she loves.
The grip of war has intensified and growing more food is vital to keep the nation going. Thea buys an extra field to grow crops, and in the village, her sister Prue leads members of The Mother’s Day Club and Women’s Institute as they take on a derelict allotment. Meanwhile the construction of a nearby aerodrome disrupts village life and brings even more new residents to Rookery House, including Hettie’s difficult sister, Ada. With Rookery House now bursting at the seams, will it still be the happy home it’s always been?
When an enemy plane crashes nearby, Flo must help German airmen who might have been directly responsible for her family loss. She quickly finds that her heart-breaking past cannot so easily be forgotten. Can she do the right thing? And will her new friends help her move on towards a brighter future?
A heart-warming and uplifting novel following the much-loved characters from the award-winning Mother’s Day Club.
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Author Bio
Award winning author, Rosie Hendry lives by the sea in North Norfolk with her husband and children. She writes uplifting, heart-warming historical fiction based on true events from our social history. Listening to her father’s tales of life during the Second World War sparked her interest in this period and she loves researching further, seeking out gems of real-life stories which inspire her writing.
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