Francesca Capaldi

Set during the beginning of WWI in a small Welsh mining town, Anwen is dumped by her oldest friend and fiance, Idris, after he returns home with a medical discharge and told he is unfit for battle.

Anwen Rhys is devastated by her fiance canceling their engagement and on top of that she is looking for another job, her mother is an invalid and in her bed all day, and Anwen’s father, a miner, is getting even more drunk and abusive toward her and her younger sister, Sara. Add to that, the show more ramp-up of the war and the scarcity of food and essentials, especially for the working class. What is a girl to do when she is pretty much the adult running the home after working as a screener in the mine all day? After yet another shattering event in her life, she eventually finds a job as a housemaid for a middle-class family and finds a true friend in Elizabeth Meredith, her boss’s daughter, Suffragette supporter, and organizer of the community garden coop.

There certainly is a lot of heartbreak in this emotional story of a close-knit community trying to make a living during the part of WWI. The story is centered around Anwen and Idris who still love each other, but he thinks he’s not good enough for her due to his medical condition. There is also an interesting mystery of food going missing and profiteering. I also really enjoyed the brilliant idea of a food coop creating gardens by helping a local farmer who needs workers and in-kind, he provides the seeds for the garden. The vegetables are then sold to the local grocer who will provide goods to the community.

As you can see there is a lot going on in this somber and compelling historical read which contains serious subject matter such as abuse and bullying. If you enjoy historical fiction set during WWI with strong female protagonists, give this book a try.

Thank you to Ms. Capaldi for the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review. show less

This takes place in a small community in Wales, around the middle of WW1. (It's a continuation of a series, but it makes sense without reading the others first.) The war has everyone's lives running differently than what they had before the war. Women had to fill positions for those fighting and gone, many men from this town were able to stay to work the mines. This story has many of the people from the village, but Gwen and Elizabeth are more of a focus. Elizabeth, daughter of the man show more running the mine, would like to do more with her life. She is somewhat looked down on by the upper class that her mother is always trying to push her into yet she isn't really trusted by the workers and their families. Gwen works at the munitions plant, loving the good pay, but she is turning yellow skinned and getting sick. The entire town is unsure of their future, but you get to see closer into these two girls' lives and the lives of the men they are drawn to. Interesting, long read. Realistic of wartime pressures and social divides, personal struggles, trying to see their futures and trying to find love and happiness with family and with friends.
I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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