Julia | On June 1, 2012

Today’s feature: 77p (historical fiction) ““War Brides”” by Helen Bryan

Synopsis

In 1939, as evacuation gets underway and Britain waits for the Luftwaffe to arrive, the lives of four very different women are about to collide in the sleepy little village of Crowmarsh Priors. Evangeline Fontaine has eloped from New Orleans with dashing naval captain Richard Fairfax. A Sussex village is about as far away from home as she can possibly imagine, away from memories of her first, passionate love. Alice Osbourne, living with her impossible mother, is resigned to life as the parish spinster since being jilted by her childhood sweetheart Richard. But the war will bring her friendships and passion she could never have foreseen. Tanni Joseph has fled from Vienna with her new husband, leaving her sisters to follow on the kindertransport. She arrives in Crowmarsh Priors with her newborn son, not knowing if her family are alive or if she will ever see them again… Frances Falconleigh is to see out the war with her godmother, Lady Marchmont, at Glebe House; her high spirits lead her into the ultimate danger to help her friend Tanni and are to turn her into a woman, almost overnight… Together these four women will face hardship, passion and danger. They form a bond that lasts for the rest of their lives and sees them through their darkest hours.