May Lloyd’s father calls her his homing pigeon because of her uncanny knack of navigating her way around the streets of South London—even in pitch darkness. It is a gift that will save her life when the Blitz destroys nearly everything that she holds dear. With her home in ruins, May joins the ATS—the women’s branch of the British Army—and becomes a gunner girl, operating Ack Ack guns against the … the Luftwaffe. Meanwhile, her sister Peggy makes a daring bid to escape a stifling marriage and find love and freedom amid the heady chaos of war.
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A saga of the Lloyd family from Bermondsey in London, England through World War 2, primarily focused on the Blitz and, later, German rocket attacks. The book gives us a keen sense of the misery of working-class life along the Thames during the Blitz: Anderson shelters, explosions, fear, macabre scenes where everyday life should be, docks, blackout curtains, pub life, hunger, petty criminals and profiteers, piles of brick, and water hoses. The Lloyd family suffers death and deprivations, and is a proxy for the untold number of families of the time. Young daughter May finds the courage to “do her bit” by joining up as a gunner girl on an “ack ack” crew, and she and her sister Peggy are our protagonists, survivors who pursue loves that are convoluted and threatened by the war. Authenticity in dialect and setting is terrific, though throughout much of the book I felt I was on a level emotional plane, without the build-ups and peaks the subject matter suggests.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes at https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/.
Didn’t know what it was like in England during the war.
Overall good but a little wordy at times
This is a good story about women in the military in England during WWII. These women manned antiaircraft batteries they were not office clerks. Well written and informative.
This is well written account of London before, during and after WW11. It gives a feminine side to those times. I strongly recommend it.
Interesting story. Heart warming
It was OK but although I like this genre this book just didn’t hold my interest.
This is the first book I have read by Gibson. I loved the characters. A very good read. Outlined the hardships of the war. The hardship of separation. The trails of being married to a soldier during war time. And the hard working women back home. I look forward to reading her other books!
I find myself reading more books concerning the lives and living conditions during the so-called Great War and WW II, and this feels truly representative of one of those times. The conditions that the civilian populations lived in and the war-time lives of those women who volunteered for Armed Services are detailed but not in any pedantic fashion — the story, like all good novels, reveals these details as we follow the lives of friends and new friends as they dedicate their efforts and their lives to a nation at war.
It’s a good read, if you appreciate history and don’t require your characters to live at breakneck speed, hurtling from page to page and on to the end in histrionic fashion. I enjoyed the book and my apprecation trebled for those sacrifices that our parents and grandparents made.
I love books about WWII and how it affected the lives of those who lived through it. This is a really good story, I loved the characters and I highly recommend it.
Part of our world history.Interestingly written.Very informative about the times.
historical fiction at its best
I learned things I hadn’t know about women’s role in WWII.
This story based on the parents and grandparents of the author is well researched, hard-scrabble and ultimately, frankly charming. WWII London during the blitzkrieg takes its toll on all its residents. It’s an intimate look at the day to day life and loves, toils and troubles of our protagonists during the constant bombing raids. Excellent in gritty detail, heart warming, romantic with devastating realism. The British and the author have my sincere respect.
It’s fiction based on fact. I like the characters. I like the the fact that although it is fiction, it is based on a real time in history and how the English endured WWII..
This story is well written, and enjoyable reading. I loved the grandmother, very outspoken and her relationship to her granddaughters. Very graphic description of the blitz of London and how folks were able to cope with their losses.