The War Girls of Goodwill House: The start of a gripping historical saga series by Fenella J. Miller

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I really loved this book, the characters are so varied and realistic – ones you love all the way through, ones you learn to love, ones you realise are bad eggs… Just like in real life, there are all sorts of people in here, but they all feel authentic. Sarah Harcourt is a great character! While the 1940s setting is beautifully done, Sarah is quite a modern woman, while still being very realistic and believable. She is feisty and determined to be independent. It is also interesting to see the contrast between Sarah and her mother and how the changes to their life help them evolve. I have not read the first book in the series, but this did not spoil my enjoyment of this one which works standalone. Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah are left to run the estate with less than a handful of staff and very little means to do so after Lord Harcourt spared no time in rejoining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and going off to France to fight the Germans in a war they believed would be over by Christmas. By January 1940, in the grip of a terribly harsh winter, there was no sign of the war coming to an end and Joanna and Sarah found that the funds that Lord Harcourt had left them with were fast running out as he had expected to be home in the autumn.

Fenella J. Miller’s fabulous wartime saga series continues with the latest poignant, captivating and emotional installment, Wedding Bells at Goodwill House. The mother, a mamsy pamsy, Joanna, did nothing...nothing...as matron of a huge estate. She was married to a tyrant, who was serving in France, and he was absent throughout the entire story short of a few letters Joanna ignored. He left them without enough money, so they were living in the freezing cold manor house. She and Sarah enjoyed their new-found freedom without him there. They hoped he wouldn't return. What I like about these books is that they take place during the Blitz in 1940, when every day and night there’s a threat of German bombs. Goodwill House is relatively close to an air base, and the fact that many times during the stories the people need to take shelter makes the horrors of that war come home and make them more real to those of us decades away from that horrendous war. For those of us far away from England because of time or space, it helps us understand the fear one lived with every day during those long years of war.I really enjoyed Ms. Miller’s The Girls in Blue series, so I am so excited that I was able to read this new series from the start. Angus Trent is a dashing RAF officer who might just end up saving the Harcourt women’s futures. With the new RAF base at Marston bursting at its seams with young women wanting to serve their country, Goodwill House would make the perfect home for them. Sarah seems keen on the idea, but will she manage to convince Lady Joanna to go ahead with her plan?

I did though absolutely love the relationship between Flight Lieutenant Angus Trent and Sarah. The pacing of the novel was perfect, there was enough drama to hold my interest throughout and the characters were beautifully written so I cared about them and wanted to know what was going to happen.I cannot wait to see how this series develops especially as the Blitz has yet to begin and Angus being a fighter pilot whose desire is to run a squadron of Spitfires just as much as Sarah longs to become a doctor. Until we meet again... GLC Mins, 1964–5, pp. 339–40, 424: GLC, Housing Service Handbook, Part II, 1969, p. 67: Baumeister (Munich), Jan-March 1969, We rejoin the twins that Joanna took in and employed for kitchen, housework and outdoor duties, as well as new and old ones who pop up from time to time. Romance is also in the air for Millie when she meets Flying Officer Ted Thorrington but is unsure whether she wants to commit to a fighter pilot knowing their life expectancy is extremely low. Will they find happiness in each other or will the war claim yet another casualty? sunshine. (fn. 116) These have not survived, but were presumably of a patent iron-cage type, similar or identical As Autumn approaches, Lady Joanna Harcourt is preparing for new guests at Goodwill House – land girls, Sally, Daphne and Charlie.

New Recruits At Goodwill House’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less fro the superb Fenella J. Miller. She has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. For me the story hit the ground running and maintained a steady pace throughout. Fenella clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem so realistic that they seem just as real as you and I. Fenella has clearly done a lot of research into the period in which she is writing about and this makes the story seem that bit more authentic. Short of inventing a time machine, reading books such as Fenella’s are the nearest that I am going to be able to get to finding out what the wartime era was really like, seeing as how my grandparents all died before I was born. I love the way in which Fenella makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story themselves and at the heart of the action. The story was weak with a lot happening that seemed not to be relevant – for instance I have absolutely no idea what the point of the French immigrants was – unless they turn up again in a later book, they seemed to serve no purpose at all! I also found the relationship between Sarah & Angus odd – though I think that is because the author didn’t really get Sarah’s character right – she would have been better portrayed as a year or two older, perhaps having spent a year in Europe at finishing school or living with Grandmother or doing “the grand tour” rather than as a 17 yr old school girl. Her actions do not seem to fit the character.The Land Girls Of Goodwill House' is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Fenella J. Miller. Fenella certainly knows how to grab the reader's attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a story. For me, the story hit the ground running and maintained a brisk pace throughout. Fenella clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. Fenella has clearly done a lot of research into the period of time in which the story is set and it makes the story seem that bit more authentic. I always find that the sign of a good book is when I become far too involved with the story to the extent where I 'live' the story as if it were real and interact with the characters as if they can hear me. That's exactly what happened with 'The Land Girls Of Goodwill House'. I love the way in which Fenella makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story themselves and at the heart of the action.