Lily's War: An uplifting World War II saga of women on the homefront

Not the Best I've read. Plot was slow

I prefer to learn my history through the stories of the people who lived it. I thought that this was a beautifully written and engaging story of a wartime romance, which at the same time taught me about aspects of the Second World War that I didn't know about, such as the fundamental role of women in the war effort. The author has obviously carried out a great deal of research and is able to give us the story of the broader events of the time, but also the more intimate details about day to day life. Highly recommended.

Excellent

As soon as you meet the characters in this book you feel you know them yet want to know more, travelling with them on their very varied but intertwined journeys during WW11. It is not a harrowing wartime read but a gentle one, with the emotional highs and lows of all relationships at work and at play, but inevitably heightened because of the intensity of war. The ways the friendships develop as well as the romances are all fascinating and cleverly portrayed with twists and turns to keep you page turning to the very end. The settings and detailed descriptions feel truly authentic and well researched yet all are slipped in effortlessly without anything smacking of a history lesson. I felt I was stepping back in time to experience some of the things I’d heard my parents and their friends speak of from their wartime lives. I very much look forward to Shirley’s next novel.

Came yesterday and started reading it last night...I just couldn't put it down, (Ive read up to chapter 26) Clearly a lot of research has taken place and the story is super, feels real, giving enough detail to make it feel like you're there, experiencing things you'd never have thought about. Lancaster bombers, tanks, morse code training...this novel has it all from the period. Can't wait to carry on. Highly recommended.