Elaine Johns – Please Come Home

I’m super excited to be part of the Bookouture Book Tour for Please Come Home by Elaine Johns. Thanks to Jess Readett of Bookouture foe the invitation to join and the gifted ebook to write my honest review today

Cornwall, England, 1940.

‘Please come back to me. I…’ Anna can barely speak as she clutches Jimmy tight and buries her face in his Royal Air Force uniform. But their embrace ends all too soon. Watching him walk away, Anna feels the tears fall again. What if he never comes home?

Growing up without the care of a loving family made Anna Golding fiercely independent. So, on the eve of war,determined to do her duty, she joins the Women’s Air Force. Her fellow trainees are like the sisters she never had. But, as they all talk of fond memories of home, Anna’s heart breaks. Her past is too painful to share…

Until Anna meets her friend’s brother, Pilot Jimmy Armstrong. She could lose herself in his deep green eyes, and his gentle care makes Anna feel safe for the first time in her life. Anna and Jimmy must snatch every moment together as their duties pull them to opposite ends of the country – and every letter from Jimmy brings a thrill to her heart. But one day, a letter comes addressed to Anna that isn’t in his handwriting.

It’s from an anonymous young woman claiming to be a relative – and that she knows a secret about Anna’s mother. As her mother died in childbirth, Anna anxiously tries to track the woman down and discover the truth about the family she never knew. But with the bombs of the Blitz making every day dangerous, Anna receives harrowing news from the Royal Air Force that stops her search in its tracks…

Will Anna lose Jimmy, and her dream of their future together, to the fighting? Or will the war somehow help her find the family she never had?

An absolutely heart-wrenching, powerful and emotional novel about the hardships of war, and the strength of love. Perfect for fans of Diney Costeloe, Shirley Dickson and Wives of War.

My first book by Elaine Johns. Please Come Home is historical fiction at its best. I am partial to historical fiction, and when it’s about the history of my country, I love it.

Set during the Second World War. Anna Golding, who has been brought up a cold and strict aunt, decides that when she turns eighteen, she will be in control of her own destiny. Signing up for the WAAF, she finds the family she has missed out on in her life. As clever as she is, she is picked to become a plotter. This meant she kept track of the planes and where they were. Another woman is also chosen from her particular unit, a shy woman called Mary. Anna meets her brother, Jimmy, and a beautiful romance is on the cards, and then, the war gets in the way.

A story of loyalty, bravery, and the resilience of true love. I was captivated with the job of the plotters and how important they actually were. The loyalty of the family chosen rather than born in. It was so lovely to see Anna having people at her back. She comes into her own and shines like a star.

Each character is unique, and I connected with the women, especially Anna. She is someone who has already faced adversity throughout her life, and she isn’t about to let a war thwart her life dreams. I was so proud of her and her fellow WAAFs. It just reminded me of how the people pulled together back then.

The research has made this novel so authentic. The small details make the story. The realistic characters, the extreme circumstances of the time. The pressure and the loyalty under that. As a population, we will never experience the same circumstances as that, and I think these historical fiction novels keep this alive in people’s memories.

Elaine Johns has succeeded in taking me back in time so perfectly, and now I have to read the rest of the series!