"As your dad always says, if it wasn't for the Brogans, the neighbours wouldn't have anything to talk about".
A Ration Book Daughter by Jean Fullerton is the latest instalment in the East End Ration Book series, a captivating feel-good family saga set in London during the WWII. It reads as a standalone, but it would help if you know the Brogan family and its complicated dynamics already.
I have read and reviewed two previous books in the series - A Ration Book Childhood and A Ration Book Wedding.
November 1942:
Cathy Wheeler, nee Brogan, helps at St Breda and St Brendan's ARP Rest Centre as a member of Women's Voluntary Service. Her mother and she joined the WVS together a couple of years before to help with the war effort.
Three years earlier when Britain went to war with Germany, Cathy was a happy blushing bride, full of hopes. But her dreams were crushed by her abusive husband Stanley. "...that had been Cathy's dream when she'd walked down the aisle on her father's arm just three short years before: a happy family with a handful of children and a loving husband... It was her fault, of course, that it had all ended up as dust under her feet. She'd seen only the dream of the family she yearned for but had been blind to the man she'd foolishly chosen to build it with". It's obviously not Cathy's fault that her husband has turned out to be a violent bully. It never is a woman's fault. But that's how she feels about her sad life.
Divorce is not an option. Cathy puts on a brave face for the sake of her little boy Peter.
Stanley's involvement with the fascist black-shirts sees him conscripted to fight abroad. An envelope arrives at the Wheelers, saying that Stanley is missing in action. If he doesn't turn up or appear on a POW list in the next six months, Cathy will be pronounced a widow. And she counts every single day until her freedom.
One day Cathy's son Peter runs away from her, and is caught by a passing stranger with a winning smile and the eyes the colour of cornflakes. Archie McIntosh is a sergeant at the Royal Engineers' Bomb Disposal Squad. There is a tragedy in his life as well. His wife was killed in an accident five years earlier, and his little daughter is looked after by his mother in Scotland.
There is an immediate attraction between Cathy and Archie. When she advertisers for a lodger to be able to pay the increasing rent for her house, it's Archie who responds to her ad.
Archie is intelligent, thoughtful, kind and caring. And he's also an aspiring artist, who takes evening classes when he has a break from his dangerous job.
Can Cathy finally allow herself to hope for love?
I've enjoyed the books in the series and will keep reading it when/if new book(s) will be published. Cathy's story is one of the best in the series. And you can't help but fall in love with Archie, he is such a wonderful character.
I've been debating with myself whether to mention it or not, but I can't help noticing the imbalance of characterisation between the "good/positive" and "bad/negative" parts in the books.
While the main protagonists and overall positive characters are allowed their big mistakes and petty foibles (for example, Brogan senior has fathered a child with his wife's best friend, the Brogan matriarch has been involved in illegal betting in the previous books), the negative characters are rather one-dimensional.
In the 4th book, Stella was one such villain, who was conveniently dispatched out of the picture so that her husband could find happiness. Cathy's mother-in-law, Violet Wheeler, is another of the horrid creatures without a single redeeming feature (apart from love for her equally horrid son). And now there is Mrs Paget, the vicar's wife, who's also a nasty piece of work of epic proportions. And don't even start me on the obnoxious lieutenant Monkman.
A Ration Book Daughter is a moving war story, which blends history and fiction perfectly. This is my favourite book in the series yet, with a female lead, who finds strength in what appears the most miserable circumstances to begin with.
Cathy is blossoming in front of our eyes, from a victim of domestic abuse and violence to a mature person who realises her own worth.
The war times made a great change in women's lives, as they had to adapt to the new social standing and find their way in the world ruled by men. Despite the horrors of the war, women were discovering new freedoms, getting jobs and leaving the domestic drudgery to help the war effort.
A Ration Book Daughter is a must-read for fans of books set during the WWII. Fullerton's novel is a tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the people in the times of the Blitz.
I also would like to mention the wonderful nostalgic book covers in the series. The vintage photos used in the design make me wonder who these people are, and how their lives went in the war and afterwards.
Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3ijT3HO
Author Bio –
Born and bred in East London Jean is a District Nurse by trade and has worked as a NHS manager and as a senior lecture in Health and Nursing Studies. She left her day job to become a full-time writer in 2015 and has never looked back.
In 2006 she won the Harry Bowling Prize and now has seventeen sagas published over three series with both Orion and Atlantic all of which are set in East London.
She is an experienced public speaker with hundreds of WI and women’s club talks under her belt, plus for the past fifteen years she has sailed all over the world as an enrichment speaker and writing workshop leader on cruise ships.
Social Media Links –
Website: http://jeanfullerton.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Jean-Fullerton-202631736433230/?ref=bookmarks
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JeanFullerton_
This post is part of the blog tour for A Ration Book Daughter.
Many thanks to Jean Fullerton, Corvus and Rachel's Random Resources for my copy of the book!
If you like the sound of this book, here is your chance to win one of 6 A Ration Book Daughter paperbacks.
Giveaway to Win 6 x A Ration Book Daughter Paperbacks (Open to UK Only)
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The book sounds delightful and it is on the period I'm studying at the moment. I like to read a bit of fiction when I study a period, as it always has some real details in it and it's easier to remember them when it's a fictional story.
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