Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Liverpool, 1943. For Bella Rogers, life is looking up. She loves performing with The Bryant Sisters, the singing trio who have become the country’s sweethearts, putting a smile on the faces of the brave boys fighting the Nazis. But then tragedy strikes when a telegram arrives: Bella’s beloved father has been killed in France.
Unlike her poor Mam, Bella has someone to share her grief with. Her childhood love Bobby is home from the war. He lost a leg but she counts her blessings every day that he’s alive when so many young men haven’t made it back. Bella longs to give her heart to Bobby but she is hiding a secret that may change their lives forever. Will he still love her if she reveals the truth?
But when bombs screech down on Victory Street in the middle of the night, blowing houses apart, Bella may lose both the home she loves and the family who mean everything to her. With so much loss around her, will Bella be brave enough to snatch her chance of happiness? And when the war is finally over, will wedding bells ring out on Victory Street again?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Wedding Bells on Victory Street to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Wedding Bells on Victory Street is the second in the Byrant Sisters series from historical fiction author Pam Howes. Pam has written several series at this stage and all are really enjoyable. This book is set during World War Two and is a continuation from the first book but it can easily be read as a standalone as the backstory is supplied within the first few pages. So in that sense new readers are not missing out at all as to what has previously happened and long term fans are given a nice refresher. This makes it very easy to dive straight back into the life of Bella Rogers and her family as they grapple with all the troubles and strife that the war throws in their direction. Life is not easy for any of them but they make the best of the cards that they have been dealt. This book proved to be another great read from an author whose books I have come to always look forward to and the way it all ended, wrapped up everything very nicely which made me think this is the last we will hear from this family and perhaps with her next book Pam is moving to pastures new in terms of introducing us to a whole new set of characters.
But for now I really did enjoy revisiting Bella and without doubt she is the stand out character of this book. Although it was lovely to see some of the more minor characters getting some more attention this time around and being allowed to share their stories. I loved how lots of the unresolved storylines from book one continued and flowed directly into this new book. I had felt upon completion of The Girls of Victory Street that there were numerous loose ends and that perhaps it ended quite abruptly. Thankfully those niggles I had were resolved the further I delved into this story and I thought everything flowed so brilliantly and that there was even more background story coming to the forefront, in particular in relation to Bella’s mother Mary and her sister Molly. Not to mention Bella’s love interest Bobby.
Truly there was a lot going on here but it kept the book fresh and had me rapidly turning the pages to see how would things turn out. Would good triumph over evil so to speak? Would certain characters wise up to what was going on right in front of them? Would Bella find the peace, solidarity, friendship and love that she craves so desperately in the most turbulent of times? I was eager to find out and my only regret is that I raced through the book so quickly that my time with Bella and co was very short. But, that’s my own fault but at the same time it’s a sign of a good book.
Bella continues to travel around the country, working for ENSA, alongside her good friends Fran and Edie. They are a singing group and Bella is getting to follow her passion and at the same time she feels she is doing her bit for her country entertaining the troops. It’s tough being away from her family who have been evacuated to a farm in Wales but she knows what’s happening now is for the best. You do see her loyalties torn though between doing what she loves and being away from her baby Levi who was a result of a brief fling with an American soldier. But Bella knows he is in good hands with her mother Mary and sister Molly.
I loved the chapters set at the farmhouse in Wales. The descriptions of the daily life on a farm during the war were excellent and provided a good contrast between the life Bella was experiencing on the road. In a way the farm offered a bit of normality, if you could call it that, during the most difficult of times. It became a sanctuary for Mary and she felt safe and secure. Although I will say I didn’t particular like Mary’s idea regarding baby Levi. I could see she was coming from a place of love and support but it didn’t sit right with me and I didn’t feel it was her place to be thinking of making such an offer. It slightly turned me off her as a character for a while before my opinion changed once again to that of a more positive one.
I enjoyed the will they/won’t they of the relationship between Bella and Bobby that had spilled over from the first book. There were so many obstacles in their way chiefly that being his wife Alicia, who was such a horrible character and I don’t think I will ever forget how cruel and spiteful she was in her actions. Bobby, was a character who I felt got a lot more attention on him this time around and also his family. We saw a totally different side to his mother Fenella. She is no longer a snob and has been very much humbled and she really did a complete 360 personality wise. She showed much more compassion, care and empathy and I knew deep down she was rooting for Bella and Bobby, hoping that things would turn out ok for them.
An unexpected visitor to Fenella’s doorstep opened up a whole other avenue of storylines within this book and it was just brilliant. I almost forgot the war was happening and this new aspect to the series took hold and held me in its grasp. Mystery, intrigue, danger, hatred and much more abound and as mentioned previously this is what allowed characters who perhaps lingered in the background to step into the spotlight and you get to see something dark and gritty happen to them. Yet at the same time Bella wasn’t forgotten and I absolutely loved how all the various threads that were spun eventually wound together so carefully and a such became deeply satisfying as we neared the conclusion.
That’s what I really enjoyed about this book, it went just that little bit beyond the typical wartime family saga of which I am a big fan and have read so many books based around this time. There was lots of drama throughout and the storyline surrounding Fenella and her guest had such a significant impact on everyone else. I will say I loved that there was no big deal with regard to Bobby knowing the story behind Levi’s birth. That has been done to death in many other books and it was brilliant to see such genuine acceptance and love. It allowed for the focus to shift to other storylines and I was thankfully Levi’s birth wasn’t a huge mystery and Bobby showed what a wonderful man he was, especially given all the trauma he had been through. Losing his father and then suffering such a life changing injury himself was not easy but he showed remarkable spirt throughout and I think his love of Bella and the fact it was reciprocated really stood him in good stead. I was desperately hoping they would get through the obstacles of which there seemed to be many being continuously placed in their way.
Bella has plenty of secrets which threaten to spoil her potential happiness. I think she frustrated me a bit in that in the first half of the book she wasn’t as open as she should have been and she was constantly going back and forth over whether Bobby would accept her. I thought she should have had more faith in him and really listened to what her heart was telling her. But aside from this little issue which in turn went on to be explored very well, I really did like Bella and feel like she the glue that heled everyone together.
Wedding Bells on Victory Street had the most loveliest and apt of conclusions. I loved how the characters all worked together to bring about happiness and make their lives the best they could be so that when war would eventually be declared over they would have some joy and stability in their lives. This is another winner from Pam Howes and old and new readers will enjoy every minute of it.
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