Reviewed by Emma Crowley
In the darkest days of war, can a land girl’s wish come true?
England, 1943. With Christmas days away, the land girls of Gosling Farm are full of merriment, fetching boughs of holly and cutting down trees. Only Lottie feels far from festive cheer after her sister’s death in an air raid. But with the help of handsome vicar and injured veteran Matthew, she begins to feel hopeful once more.
Then one frosty night, a German bomber plane crashes nearby. A survivor is missing, injured and in desperate need of help. With their own brave airmen risking their lives in the snowy skies overhead, the kindness of the village is tested like never before. But as Matthew preaches goodwill to his flock, his passion captures Lottie’s heart, as well as his sparkling blue eyes…
But this is no ordinary German airman: his capture would change the course of the war. Soon the eyes of Churchill and the whole country are on the little English village. And amid the chaos, Matthew’s young niece Daisy goes missing. As they desperately search the countryside, Lottie sends out a wish to the bright winter moon: keep Daisy safe.
With a blizzard raging and an enemy airman out there in the dark, can the land girls and their brave vicar rescue Daisy? And although the war feels closer than ever, will Lottie and Matthew find their own happy ever after in time for Christmas day?
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of Wartime Wishes for the Land Girls to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Wartime Wishes for the Land Girls is the fourth and final book in the Village at War series by Ellie Curzon. The cover may suggest it’s a Christmas book but really it’s just set in the days running up Christmas rather than the event itself being a major focus. So don’t be put off in the slightest if you feel that it’s too early to read a festive themed book because this isn’t that kind of book at all. More so the weather in the depths of winter plays a big part in the aspects of the plot. Again, as with all the books in the series this is easily read as a standalone story. For those new to the series it’s easy to get a brief insight into what might have occurred in the previous books and for old readers it’s nice to see how old favourites are getting on now. The plot had a lovely gentle, relaxed pace to it and overall the story gives off a good feeling of people working together as one big community in the most desperate of times.
The prologue beings on a cold Winter’s night as the villagers come together to try and find someone. I instantly wanted to know how they had arrived at this point and would their search be successful? Then we are taken a few weeks back in time and introduced to Land Girl, Lottie, who works on the Gosling’s farm on the outskirts of the village of Bramble Heath. Lottie loves working as a team providing food for the country and her former existence as a shop girl couldn’t be further from what she is doing now. It was brilliant to see the vital role women and in particular the Land Girls played in the war effort as it showed that everyone from all walks of life were united as one against the enemy.
Lottie for me for I’d say for around a good half of the book was a divisive character because I wanted to love her but the way she was acting and her opinions I just couldn’t agree with them. I felt her judgements and the actions she wished to take were clouded by her past experience. In one way you couldn’t blame her for that but on the other hand I felt that deep down she knew she had morals and that she should live by them. The impact of the devastating loss of her sister Martha who was killed on the farm when a bomb landed meant she became muddled and confused and was eaten up by hatred. She seemed hell bent on revenge rightly blaming the Germans for the loss of someone she loved so much and she was right to feel that way but she shouldn’t tarnish everyone with the same brush. But will she stay rooted in her stance or can someone make her see the bigger picture?
Lottie as with most of us can’t fathom how God can allow horrors such as bombing, deaths and the existence of the camps to occur and even though she is deep in the countryside war still comes to her door. She knows she has to make sacrifices and keep the home fires burning but when a German plane comes crashing down in the woods near the farm it all brings the realities of the loss of Martha even further home to her. The bitterness, anger and sadness that she feels is felt by the reader and she struggles through her grief and fear. When she finds a watch with the name of a German on it she knows that someone must have survived the crash and soon the village is awash with both fear and anger that a German is on the lose and hiding amongst them. Soon Sidney Gastrell arrives in the village and to be honest he seemed so over the top and flamboyant that he drove me mad a lot of the time. He was like a crazed Nazi hunter on a mission to root out Germans but reading between the lines he seemed to be all talk and no action and was only interested in furthering his fame and fortune. I was desperately hoping that Lottie would wake up and see that morals, being human and doing the right thing should always come first.
Of course, there had to be some romance in a story of this nature and this comes in the form of the new vicar Matthew. I loved the stark contrasts between himself and Lottie but also as the story developed the similarities between them as people and the experiences, they share started to become apparent. Matthew came across as cold, stand offish and aloof at first. I sensed there was a lot more to him than met the eye and that he too battled with his moral conscience at times. His little niece Daisy whom he now rears was a lovely addition to the story as was Blossom, Lottie’s dog. Who would have thought a dog would have brought so much joy and take on almost human like characteristics and have such a prominent and significant role in the book and more so that it would work very well.
I loved how Lottie changed over the course of the book in so many ways. Initially, she couldn’t stand Matthew and there was no way they were agreeing on anything.Yet, there was something there that seemed to draw them to one another and it was interesting to see this develop over the course of the book. When the action ramps up and the tension increases with strange things happening in the village and of course the continuing hunt for the downed German pilot I found myself turning the pages much more rapidly and I was desperate to see how things would turn out for everyone involved.
As with previous books, the story meanders along and at times I did think, oh nothing is really happening especially after the big incident of the plane crashing occurred fairly on the book. But again and pleasantly so I was very much surprised by the last quarter or so. It made me realise that everything that had taken place was vital to the overall plot and in fact the author had been building up a great story. Really, I should have been more hyper aware and focused because there were lots of little clues that had been dropped in that I had completely missed. I was a bit smug thinking I had things worked out where in fact there were two huge surprises thrown in that I hadn’t see coming. They brought a smile to my face at the fact the wool had been pulled over my eyes and my opinion of the book as a whole dramatically changed.
I found myself thinking yes this is a really good book and with those two instances it had gone from being in my mind average to being a fantastic read that was really enjoyable. The residents and incomers to Bramble Heath are ordinary people who find themselves living in extraordinary times and Ellie Curzon has given a pleasant, engaging and insightful snapshot into their lives which was a pleasure to read and just the kind of book you need when you don’t want something too taxing. This may be the end for the villagers of Bramble Heath but I am already looking forward to a news series which will focus on the Blitz and war torn London.
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