I’m so happy to be hosting my stop on the blog tour for The Lumberjills by M.W. Arnold. Many thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources and M.W. Arnold for the ARC of the book to bring you my honest review today.
Berry Chambers and her co-workers have joined the Women’s Timber Corps—known as the Lumberjills—to do their bit for Britain. On their first day felling trees, they rescue an RAF pilot and become entangled in the loveless marriage of their new landlords.
Danger is never far away, be it an ill-timed axe swing or the occasional activity of the Luftwaffe overhead. Add a psychotic farm cat, a couple of young runaway evacuees, a spate of malicious packages, and the jealousy of the Land Girls next door, and life for Berry and her friends is never boring.
Can the girls find the balance between their vital war work and the natural pull of love?
M.W.Arnold is the author of another historical fiction series that is about the Air Transport Auxillary women from the Second World War. The Lumberjills is the start of a new series about the Women’s Timber Corps. These were the women who took the place of men, the lumberjacks, felling trees during the Second World War.
I enjoyed his ATA series and just knew The Lumberjills would be a great read. One thing I love is to be entertained and educated when I read this type of fiction, and this book did exactly that. For a start, I had never heard of the lumberjills, so this was such an absorbing book. Although I must say every book by this author seems to have the power to glue me to the Kindle.
Set in 1942 in Yorkshire, we meet the women, Beryl (Berry), Vicky, Marie, and Sopie, who all have their billet at a farm belonging to Bob and Sheila. They find themselves faced with the horrors of the war on a daily basis. The dangers of their job they have undertaken have them needing each other to lean on. These women get on so well together that at least they have each other.
Again, M.W. Arnold has written such a well researched and detailed historical fiction story that I was agon totally immersed in the era that the book transported me too. His sense of place is excellent. His characters are well fleshed out, and this made me feel like I was a friend to them by the time the book finished, too. I felt everything they did and was by their sides for the horror of this time.
Another page turner that grips the reader to keep reading. I learned so much about the lumberjills and loved how community and family were central to the story.
The Lumberjills shows us how hard and sad it could be during the Second World War but also the more positive side that brought light and happiness during this terrible time. I am looking forward to reading more about these women and their lives!
Purchase Links
UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lumberjills-M-W-Arnold-ebook/dp/B0BPRFB94M
US https://www.amazon.com/Lumberjills-M-W-Arnold-ebook/dp/B0BPRFB94M
Author Bio
Mick is a hopeless romantic who was born in England but spent fifteen years roaming around the world in the pay of the late HM Queen Elisabeth II in the Royal Air Force before putting down roots—and realizing how much he missed the travel. This he’s replaced somewhat with his writing, including reviewing books and supporting fellow saga and romance authors in promoting their novels.
He’s the proud keeper of two Romanian Werecats bent on world domination, is mad on the music of the Beach Boys, and enjoys the theatre and humoring his Manchester United-supporting wife.
Finally, and most importantly, Mick is a full member of the Romantic Novelists Association. The Lumberjills is the lead book in this new series from the author of the Broken Wings novels.
Social media links
https://www.facebook.com/MWArnoldAuthor
Twitter Mick859
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YouTube Channel tinyurl.com/cymt5zea
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