Stratford, 1939.
Britain may be at war, but on the home front keeping up morale and keeping up appearances go hand in hand. For the young women working on the lipstick production line at Yardley's cosmetics factory, it's business as usual.
Headstrong Renee Gunn is the queen of the lipstick belt - although her cheeky attitude means she's often in trouble. When Esther, an Austrian refugee, arrives at Yardley's, it's Renee who takes her under her wing and teaches her to be a true cockney.
But outside of the factory, things are more complicated. Lily, Renee's older sister, has suddenly returned home after six years away, and is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile Esther is finding life in England more difficult than expected, and it's not long before Renee finds herself in trouble, with nowhere to turn.
In the face of the Blitz, the Yardley girls are bound together by friendship and loyalty - but could the secrets they are hiding be the biggest danger of all?
Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton via NetGalley for my copy of Secrets of the Homefront Girls to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
No question about it Secrets of the Homefront Girls, the latest book by Kate Thompson is the best book I have read in the family/war time saga genre in months. This reels you in from the very first page and holds you in its spell right until the very last sentence. Kate has written a story with a variety of strong and multi-layered characters and a vibrant and warm setting all set amidst the backdrop of the early years of World War Two. Such in-depth research and extensive detail helps the characters come alive from the pages to find a place in your heart. There are numerous varied and interesting storylines that really do leave you guessing right until the very last possible moment until revelations simply have to happen.
It would be wrong to say this was a joy to read has all the experiences of the characters are tough to comprehend and they certainly go through the emotional wringer as does the reader but yet at the same time this was an incredible read with characters that really get inside your head and if for any reason you have to put the book down you simply can't bear to be away from them because you are so invested in their lives and are eager to know what is going to happen next. Kate Thompson has given her readers a stunning read that goes beyond your usual run of the mill factory girls during World War Two story which has been done countless times over. Here we have a community where female solidarity is priority and compassion and loyalty are key character traits to people who don't have very much but always make the best of difficult situations even more so now that war has come calling and their lives are about to be altered forever.
In September 1939, with the rumblings of war drawing ever closer Lily Gunn arrives home to Stratford in East London after a six year absence. She has done well for herself working in the Yardley showrooms in Bond Street but now she has been relocated and made charge hand in the Yardley factory on Carpenter's Road. She is nervous and anxious to return to a place she had escaped and is worried about the reception she will receive from her family and her mother Nell, also known to many as Auntie. From the outset we can tell that Lily is harbouring a secret and is not willing to divulge its contents, she is on edge that it will be discovered but also that her family will not accept her back into their fold.
I don't think her family were initially wary as to why she was back given she had little or no contact with them but soon she was back amongst them and just trying to get on with the day to day living in 'The Shoot' and to settle into her new role in the factory. I presumed Lily would be the main character in the story but it was brilliant to see that there wasn't one main character as such rather that the story followed several women all connected and each got an equal footing in which to tell their story. The further we delve into the story the more we see connections and secrets emerge between everybody and I thought the way Kate wrote with such depth and honesty, and with such brilliant twists and turns, made for a fantastic read that became increasingly difficult to put down.
Nell or Auntie is the matriarch of the family, in fact she is the unofficial mother and saviour to her community -The Shoot - which is not the most luxurious of areas. As Lily made her way back to her home the descriptions of the area filled with houses on top of each other, narrow little streets and markets, stalls and shops bursting out from every corner possible were just so real and vivid. I felt as if I was there with her absorbing all the sights, smells, sounds and hustle and bustle as the residents try to eke out a living and keep their families fed .It really does take you back to a time very different from the one we live in today and there at the centre of it all is Nell.
What a character she was. At first I thought she was going to be fierce and indomitable and someone Lily and her sister Renee would never connect with or dare to cross. Yes she does have a reputation as someone who would not wish to mess with but she is resilient, resourceful and deep beneath her layers is a heart of gold where she will always fight for a just cause when she sees trouble or strife befalling those who do not need it. Nell looks out for everyone in the neighbourhood and she is like their unofficial leader. A strong community bound by hardship, deprivation, cruelty and now even tougher times with the outbreak of war seek Nell for wisdom, advice and help and it is only as the chapters fly by do we realise the extend of what a remarkable character she is.
Nell is someone who is always on the go and maybe at some points this was to the detriment of her family but she shows that all that matters is love combined with the traits of loyalty, honour and integrity and this is what shall see you through the most challenging of times. Nell may be fiery and formidable and she has good reason to be but really she is a stand-out character amongst many brilliant characters. She will split readers over her actions and will be cause for great debate but that's what a good story and believable characters should do.
Renee, Nell's daughter, is delighted to see the return of Lily and feels she can now get to know younger brother Frankie who was just a baby when she left. Oh god how I loved Renee. She may not have lived in the best part of London or had money on tap but she loved the area and its cast of characters where everyone looked out for and after everyone else. I thought she was ambitious and had the world at her feet. She was someone who made the most of every moment and lived her life to its fullest. Renee worked in the lipstick room of Yardley's factory nestled amongst many other factories which had kept many generations of families in employment. The detail regarding Yardley's factory was fascinating and of course this will inspire nostalgia and many memories in people who read this wonderful book. I can always remember the smell of the Yardley's soap and perfume that my granny had. Sure it is an institution and Kate Thompson with this book reminds us of this fact.
Renee sees herself as the Queen Bee in the factory but in a good way. She is brash, exuberant and has shed lots of confidence which makes her the centre of attention. Initially when we first meet her as much as I loved her character straight away I thought she was slightly immature. That she didn't realise that with war looming things were about to change and that she needed to grab every opportunity that came her way. Alfie Buckle had his eye on her and he was so charming and would have done anything for her but was she leading him on? I loved the way Renee's character was developed. Through one thing and another she had such life changing decisions to make but she didn't want to let certain people down or be known as a person who did the wrong thing resulting in consequences she would have to live with.
The final girl to feature, perhaps not as strongly as the others but none the less a very valid and worthwhile character was Esther. She had recently arrived in the East End with her mother Julia having escaped persecution of the Jews in Vienna. Her father had been left behind and taken to a detention camp and now both Esther and her mother are trying to come to terms with a new life that they did not wish to have to create. Esther may only have been 15 but she grew up and learned a lot on the floor of Yardley's factory working as a service girl. I thought it was brilliant that Kate Thompson included this character because it helped bring about the realities of the war for the residents of The Shoot.
That yes their men are going away to fight and so many will lose their lives but it's for people like Esther and Julia that they are fighting for and to stop a megalomaniac invading their country. It was good also that life wasn't plain sailing for Esther and that people like Nan and some of the other workers showed that maybe a new life wasn't always as welcoming for those that had escaped. Esther's storyline and the romance angle that developed was lovely to see and she really did show her metal and true worth when everything seemed to be in danger of being destroyed around them.
I mentioned Nan who is Renee best friend at the factory and who is just about to be married to sweetheart Jimmy. I thought she was going to be a confidant of Renee and that their friendship would only deepen and strengthen the further the story progressed. Well what a turn up for the books in the 360 her character did. I absolutely detested her and I hadn't an ounce of compassion for her even when the reasons for her abhorrent behaviour were revealed. She was mean, nasty and had such a dangerous chip on her shoulder that I wanted her to definitely get what was coming to her. She deserved no sympathy or support and although her character was crucial to the overall storyline I found her to be a cold fish, lacking in emotion and I hoped the girls would see what she was up to.
Secrets of the Homefront Girls had so many storylines going on but they weren't in the least bit difficult to keep track of. I loved how so many secrets and connections began to became apparent but things didn't become clear too soon. Yes I did guess at the Lily storyline simply because of the timing of some subtle hints and because of what characters were featured during these times but not in any way did it detract from my overall enjoyment of the storyline. The last quarter of the book was really nail biting stuff, my heart was in my mouth as devastation unfolds and the Germans really make their presence known. It's hard not to get emotionally invested in what is going on and at one point I did shed a tear and let out a wail of no. That's what makes this an outstanding read is that Kate Thompson never shied away from the realities and never gave her characters an easy get out clause and off they go skipping happily ever after into the sunset. That would have been a cop out which I have seen plenty of other authors in this genre do. That wasn't what happened during the war years and even though I mightn't have liked what happened, and I may have had many emotions stirred up, I think what happened was fitting for the story.
The closer I got to the end and as the pages remaining grew smaller and smaller I was worried that there were too many loose ends and that it was still only 1941 and surely this couldn't be it from these wonderful and inspiring characters. It was only when I got to the very very last page that I saw there will be more to come in the future as Secrets of the Lavender Girls will be published in 2020. I am so glad because this has been an inspiring, heartfelt, remarkable and impressive read with storylines and characters that I desperately want to read more of. I can't recommend this superb read enough. It's one you'll want to go back to the start and read all over again as soon as you have finished it.
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