"...if nothing else, this war had taught her how important human beings were to one another. How everyone needed someone else to rely on, to trust."
"It was time to forget the past and concentrate on creating a different kind of drea. A different kind of future".
The Home Front Nurses by Rachel Brimble is a stirring tale of friendship and loyalty, trauma and challenges, fulfilment and inner strength.
Blurb:
September 1941, Bath - three friends are about to find that some of the biggest battles are to be found on the home front...
As war rages and brave soldiers returning home from the frontline need nurses more than ever, fiercely proud redhead Sylvia Roberts is determined to help in any way she can. In spite of her mother's belief she isn't good enough, Sylvia believes that becoming a home front nurse is her calling.
Together with the two friends she makes on her first day in the job - Freda and Veronica - she knows she can help save lives. And, as the devastation of war shows no signs of ceasing, their work becomes even more vital.
Then Sylvia's life is thrown into the path of a man who might just be able to capture her heart. Even though he is somebody who everyone - except her best friends - seems prejudiced against. Can love really conquer all, in times of war?
One thing she knows is that - in the dangerous days that will follow - she and her friends will all need to support each other right to the end.
Sylvia, Freda and Veronica are newly qualified nurses, working in one of the hospitals in Bath. Their friendship is helping them through difficult times.
The nurses' personalities are quite different, what they have in common is their desire to help save lives.
Sylvia Roberts lives with her mother, who has told her countless times she would fail to become a nurse.
"Having stood firm and determined in her work and mind - not to mention remaining stalwart in the face of the daily physical strain - from today, she was a fully registered nurse. The world was her oyster..."
Sylvia is trying to prove to people that she is nothing like her brass mother who's got quite a reputation locally.
"I might not have been enough for certain people in my life, but I am good enough for Bath hospital and I'm determined to become one of the best nurses this city has ever seen".
Freda is trying to be "a good girl", while cherishing a dream of using her writing skills in the future. Her parents don't mind her being a nurse, as they think it is a good opportunity of finding a decent husband.
Freda, however, has ideas of her own. "She could not waste her life adhering to her mother's well-meant but wholly domestic plans for her and Dorothy [younger sister]. She was made of tougher stuff than to serve and pander to a husband, see to a brood of kids and cook something - to quote her mother - "delectable" every night". While determined to do her job diligently, Freda knows that nursing is not for her, not by a log shot.
Veronica is the complete opposite of self-assertive Sylvia. She is shy and vulnerable, and is hiding a dark secret. Friendship with Sylvia and Freda helps her face her fears and believe in herself. "Sylvia's confidence and humour and Freda's quiet strength and kindness had begun to break down her self-imposed boundaries".
Three friends have to deal with their own personal issues. Sharing their secrets and hopes, they offer advice and support to each other.
"It was time women took control of their lives and openly declared what was best for them once and for all in this stupid messed up world".
The Home Front Nurses will appeal to the fans of historical fiction, set during WWII.
It is a gripping story, that transports you back in time. An unforgettable page-turner of love and hope, grief and resilience, drama and romance.
The book ends slightly abruptly, on a cliffhanger, and some of the plotlines will hopefully be explored further in the next instalments of the series.
Many thanks to Rachel Brimble, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for my e-copy of the book!
Author Bio –
Rachel Brimble is the bestselling author of over thirty works of historical romance and saga fiction. The first book in her series, The Home Front Nurses, is set in Bath.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: @rachelbrimbleauthor
Twitter: @RachelBrimble
Instagram: @rachelbrimbleauthor
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