Reviewed by Emma Crowley
Summer 1945. After victory in Europe, best friends Lily, Gladys and Beryl are looking to the future. But even with this happy news, their lives are far from simple…
Despite Lily’s joyful summer wedding, she has doubts over what her heart wants now. As she adjusts to her role as young wife, could this signal the end of her position at Marlows?
The return of Gladys’s husband Bill raises questions of their family life as he struggles to find work after the Navy, and for Beryl big changes at her bridal shop are afoot.
As the girls start to move on with their lives, they have never needed to stick together more…
Many thanks to Harper Collins UK via NetGalley for my copy of Wedding Bells for the Victory Girls to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
To say I was late to the Shop Girls series by Joanna Toye would be an understatement as Wedding Bells for the Victory Girls is the sixth and final instalment. None the less, I wanted to give this book a try as I love historical fiction set during World War Two. Also, I am always saying a book can be read as a standalone no matter what point you join a series and I wanted to see if this was the case with this book. This is a lovely, easy, relaxing read which I read in a day and yes it can be read as a standalone. I didn’t feel in the slightest that I had missed out on all that had gone before as it was so easy to fill in the gaps and to establish who was who and their connections to each other and to discover what had previously happened. Yes, I didn’t get specific details regarding certain storylines but I wasn’t in any way confused or lost and in fact it has made me want to go back and read the entire series in the future when time allows.
Given it’s the final book there is a sense of wrapping things up but I thoroughly enjoyed becoming familiar with the setting, the various characters and their backstories and how things were coming together for them following the conclusion of the war. I found the start to be quite slow and I was waiting for some more characters to be introduced. It seemed as if not much would happen bar detailing their lives and the work they do in the Marlow’s store. But around the quarter mark I found things settled down and the introductions were completed that the plot branched out a bit and things started to happen. A few challenges and twists and turns were thrown in for each character as they navigated their way to what would hopefully be happy endings for all involved. Things then did seem slightly rushed as problems were solved in a page or two but I understood the need for this as there was clearly a lot to resolve knowing this was the final book.
There is a lovely cast of characters awaiting you between the cover of this book and I soon found myself familiar with each of them and slowly their stories came to light and as I have said filling in the gaps wasn’t too difficult. The reader is not overloaded with information and therefore things would have become confusing and it would have been challenging to keep track of who was who. Instead, there is a gentle, relaxed pace and it suited the book well.
The first person we are introduced to is Lily as she is about to marry her long-term love Jim. They both work together in Marlow’s store in the midlands town of Hinton and now that the war is over they feel the time is right to cement their union. Lily appeared to be the female focal point of the story and I enjoyed her as a characte, she was still fairly young and not always worldly wise. I enjoyed reading the descriptions of the work she does in the store. In fact , the descriptions of the store and all its various departments were wonderful. It truly was fascinating and really brought home how much things have changed. I doubt those characters would even have given any consideration to how we would shop in the present day. The store provided plenty of mini plots throughout the book.
The arrival of new girl Nancy seeking her old job in the children’s wear department had Lily on edge as she knows there is not room for two people. She has come to love her job and it gave her a real sense of achievement given she had been too young to join the ATS. There are changes a foot for Lily and Jim. One major one which this reader would have thought would have had her jumping for joy but the author showed that things are not always clear cut and plain sailing and I felt she gave really valid reasons for the way Lily was feeling when she found out something. She has to cope with guilt when the situation alters, and it really brought home the theme of women in the workplace and their changing roles away from home due to the war. Could women just go back to the way things were or could they find a new position and balance both home and work life?
The storyline that intrigued me the most and is one of the reasons I would love to go back and read the whole series is that of Robert, the son of store owner Cedric Marlow. I sense he was the bad guy who caused much trouble for the store and Lily in the past. It seems the leopard hasn’t changed his spots and following the breakdown of his marriage and the loss of his job due to his shady dealings, Robert is now back on the scene and wants to cause trouble and get his own way. This was a real meaty part to the book and I wanted to know more but I know I should go back and read the backstory to get this. No one seems to like him not even his father not to mention his estranged wife Evelyn. Robert is a self-centred, feckless individual who only thinks of himself and not others in the slightest and you could sense that he was determined that another female main character Beryl would be out on her ear from the unit she rented in the store. He was just out to cause trouble for people and it seemed disrepute and scandal followed where ever he went.
Evelyn featured briefly and I loved how she was utilised within Beryl’s aspect of the plot. Beryl seems to be a kind hearted woman whose passion for her shop renting bridal wear shines through whenever she was featured. But just when she thinks her business is going well her unit is needed by the store now that they can have proper window displays again. Herself and her husband Les haven’t the money to rent a shop of their own and Beryl fears all her hopes and dreams will be quashed in one fell swoop. Is there any way to save the day and see her career go from strength to strength or is the front room of her small house destined to be as far as her little business will go?
The character alongside Lily that I loved the most was her mother Dora. She really was the matriarch of the story and I sense that she is the glue that has been holding everyone together throughout the series. She raised Lily and her two brothers Reg and Sid single handedly following the death of her husband when he was very young and you sense that deep down she too is longing for her own happy ending. She would do anything for anyone as is demonstrated by the help and care she gives to Gladys and her family at the drop of a hat so you hope she too can receive the kindness, love and attention that she so richly deserves. Canadian Sam seems to have caught her eye and they have formed a lovely friendship but I got the feeling she wanted this to develop into something more but how can this happen now that he has returned home and is many miles away across the Atlantic Ocean? Dora was one character I was definitely keeping a close eye on to see how things would work out for her. I felt she had been though so much and deserved a positive outcome.
Everyone has been through a lot in the war and they have all changed and grown up but still there is plenty to navigate their way though as things don’t all suddenly go back to the way they used to be now that the war has been declared over. Rationing is one of the big themes featured here not to mention how the returning men, demobbed from their units, have to cope and adapt to a new way of life having emerged victorious from six hellish years of danger and brutality. The author dealt with the theme of adjustment very well. Most noticeably using the character of Bill, Gladys’ husband, trying to find work away from the coast having served as a sailor during the war. He finds it difficult to return to normal as so much has changed. He loves Gladys and their one year old twins Victor and Joy but trying to provide for them when work is so scarce and his longing for the sea still strong in his heart and mind is not easy. Not to mention dealing with Gladys cantankerous grandmother Florence who seems to have the couple at her every beck and call. I loved reading of the ups and downs the pair faced and the resolution to their story was just so lovely, thoughtful and heartfelt. War had taught them all that in good times and bad that life must go on. This is certainly true for Bill and Gladys and I loved how she always had her husband and children at the centre of everything she did and was trying to do her best to establish a new life for themselves where happiness and contentment would be at its centre.
Wedding Bells for the Victory Girls was a gorgeous read and it’s to my shame that I hadn’t discovered this series much earlier. I know I would have loved it from the very start given the feelings I got from this book. As a new reader, I really enjoyed it and I can tell that long-time fans will be deeply satisfied with the ending. I would love to read more from Joanna Toye in the future and will definitely keep an eye out for any new series she may right. This in the meantime is the perfect book to while away a few hours with.
Thank you x
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