Women

In the modern period, Cara discovers a diary written by a woman who served on a special assignment as a gunner during World War II. In the older story, we see how the woman who wrote the diary (Louise) joined up to escape an oppressive mother. She falls in love with RAF pilot she met at a dance she attended with a cousin. I'm not sure why so many people ruin a good story by using dual timelines. I found the older story the most fascinating although there is plenty of stuff that might attract some to the modern one. I listened to the audiobook. ( )

Gosh, I liked this historical. Told in split timelines as in the present day, Kara discovers a diary detailing a WW2 wartime romance, and back in 1941 England, Louise falls in love with an airman, and joins the military branch where women are allowed to serve, becoming a “gunner girl”, this was a page turner once we got a few chapters in. I will confess to being mostly captivated by Louise’s timeline as that’s where most of the action was. Louise was a delightful, relatable character, so wonderfully drawn, and I found myself eagerly wishing to know what happened next in her journey. It was the perfect blend of wartime details, personal struggles and friendships.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
( )

Cara Hargraves discovers her grandmothers secret past as a pilot in the RAF women’s auxiliary during WWII. Told in alternating chapters between 2017 and 1941. Recommended. Intriguing story. ( )

I'm a huge fan of dual timeline books AND of WWII fiction, so this book ticked all the boxes for me: historical fiction, romance, compelling characters - AND I learned a bit more with the Gunner Girl storyline.
While Cara's present day story was interesting, it was the WWII setting and Louise Keene's storyline that really sucked me in. She was a strong and pretty complex character, and the author paints a vivid (and bleak) picture of life both in Cornwall and London.

Strong women, secrets, the perils of war time romance - this book was hard to put down. ( )