Sunderland, 1942: Christmas is fast approaching, and with it comes a flurry of snow and surprises…
Against all odds, Polly’s fiancé has finally returned home from the front line. If they can keep things on an even keel, she might get the winter wedding she’s always dreamed of.
Meanwhile shipyard manager Helen is determined to move on after a turbulent year. Her sights are set on breaking the yard’s production record and no one, not even the handsome Dr Parker, is going to get in her way.
And head welder Rosie’s little sister Charlotte has turned up unannounced. Why is she back and so set on staying?
Many thanks to Random House UK, Cornerstone via NetGalley for my copy of Christmas with the Shipyard Girls to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Christmas with the Shipyard Girls is the seventh in the Shipyard Girls series which follows a group of incredible women who work at the docks in Sunderland helping to manufacture ships for the war effort. Nancy Revell continues to bring this series from strength to strength and I always eagerly await each new book as at this stage all the women have become firm friends. It didn't at all feel like it had been several months since the last story, instead it was just a case of picking up the book and continuing right where we left off. All the group women have had good times and bad, peaks and troughs and ebbs and flows in their lives since the outbreak of war but one thing is clear their bond of unity and friendship strengthens with each book and they are more like sisters now rather than co-workers and friends.
Once again the message of love, hope, faith and charity radiates from the book and I thoroughly enjoyed the story and seeing the continuation of certain storylines which have kept me riveted but also the introduction of some new ones. That's what makes this series so good, nothing is rushed and resolved within a chapter or dealt with in a light-hearted manner. Instead I think everything is very true to life at the time and having plots begin in book one and even now at this stage said storylines are still progressing that's what keeps the reader glued and always eager to return and read more about the shipyard girls.
Those new to the series will easily have no problems catching up on what has already happened. There is plenty of back story provided at just the right points without unnecessary pages dedicated as filling in. Long term fans will be deeply satisfied with this book as there is lots of excitement and plenty of twists and turns. Storylines for characters I have been deeply invested in since book one are really starting to pick up the pace and are starting to reach their climax. Although saying that I am sure there are lots more books to come given we have only just reached 1942.
I really loved the prologue set in Gilbraltar, it gave us a really good insight into Polly's fiancé Tommy and how he came to arrive back home to Britain. I felt in the last two books or so that he had been more or less forgotten about and I remember saying a chapter or two from his viewpoint would have been good. Well this time around I certainly got what I had been asking for and it's made me realise that the author really has everything planned out so well and that she has such a clear vision for the direction she wishes the series to take. Things can't be rushed and just like the women at the time anxiously waited for news of their loved ones fighting abroad as a reader even though I am so keen to see how everything will pan out I just have to be patient.
Tommy is not the same man that left the shipyard to do his bit for the war effort. He couldn't be, given all that he had witnessed in his role diving in the waters to check for mines. He has been through such a trauma and although Polly and all his friends and family welcome him back with open arms, they slowly start to realise that they have to be careful as this war is having such a devastating effect on everybody that people are no longer the same and can't perhaps always be treated like the way they were before. I really enjoyed Polly and Tommy's storyline and was pleased that finally some sort of happiness may be on the horizon for them but of course not without its trials. Polly frustrated me slightly in this book in that she knew what her heart wanted but because she had done something that she believed others would perceive as being wrong she was going up the walls so to speak and not being very clear with anyone least of all Tommy. Though even the reader could see her intentions were all in the right place. She was frightened that she had made a mistake that there was no coming back from but really Polly should have more faith in both herself and those around her.
Gloria very much featured on the periphery in this book but I didn't mind in the slightest because she had had an awful happen to her in the last two books so I was glad to see that Rosie and in particular her sister Charlotte recently 'escaped' from boarding school now were once again getting a chance to have their storyline explored in much more detail. It really had been niggling away at me as to just what was up with Charlotte and why she kept begging Rosie to come home. I could see Rosie was torn in two in that she wanted to keep her sister happy as she was her sole 'mother' figure but yet at the same time she was playing a dangerous game.
Her double life was in danger of being exposed and that was her main reason for giving Charlotte such short shrift. Yet at the same time similar to Polly I think Rosie should have given her sister more credit than she did. People won't always judge you first hand. Instead they will take the time to listen to what is being said and make their own decision. Rosie was afraid of losing Charlotte's respect but also everything she had worked so hard for. She had reached a point where her work and private life were going well and although she deeply misses Peter she feels some sort of positivity starting to shine through. Would Charlotte's arrival upset the apple cart big time and throw plenty of spanners in the works? Will Rosie crack under the strain of keep a secret that has stayed that way for quite some time? The way this strand of the book played out was brilliant and engrossing.
Helen again was a character who I felt didn't feature as prominently as before although I am keeping a close eye on whether things with her doctor friend will develop into something more. At this stage, I am still questioning whether she is too good to be true. Had she been demonised for too long by her cruel, narcissist of a mother? Or can a leopard really change its spots? I'm reserving judgement on Helen until we get even further into the series because I still think something major is in store for her. After all both her and her mother's actions have already played such a crucial role in several of the events that have occurred. A string of events have been set in motion by the pair but said events have not yet been begun to be reeled in and dealt with by several of the girls. Simply because the time is not right for confrontation or perhaps the full facts or the wrongdoings have not yet been exposed.
Given the title of this book does have Christmas in it, I would have hoped that this special event would feature at some point in the story. It soon became evident that this wasn't just a normal run of the mill Christmas book that flood the market at this time of year, more so that it suited timeline wise for the author to have Christmas feature in the story. It wasn't a dominant force at all and featured more so towards the end as everyone bands together to hopefully make a special occasion come to fruition especially when it seemed very much in doubt for the majority of the book. It didn't bother me in the slightest that this wasn't a full blown Christmas book because to be honest I am more interested in the overall story arc that is being created with this special and unique group of women some of whom I haven't even mentioned here. But really I did love this book which once again highlighted the bravery, sacrifices and selflessness and Rosie and co. I can't wait until book eight -Triumph of the Shipyard Girls is published next year.
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