‘I just couldn’t put this one down. I loved every page and I went through an entire box of tissues before I was done. You will keep turning the pages until the very end because you just won’t be able to put it down at all.’ Crossroad Reviews, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐An utterly heartbreaking tale of two young girls, worlds apart, who are thrown together when they have lost everything. Fans of Wives of War, Before We … Wives of War, Before We Were Yours and Diney Costeloe will absolutely love this poignant and moving World War Two novel.
Germany, 1939: Eleven-year-old Frieda is boarding a ship bound for England with her little brother, Kurt. Life at home is perilous, with synagogues set alight and innocent lives lost to the Nazis, and they have no choice but to flee. But as Frieda stands on the deck crammed with frightened children, her brother jumps off, back to land.
England, 1939: After a devastating childhood at Blakely Hall Orphanage, seventeen-year-old Sandra longs to put her past behind her. But when war breaks out and her brother Alf is sent to fly bombers, she’s completely alone.
1943: When Sandra and Frieda’s paths cross in the remote countryside, each girl finds a home at last. Facing long, terrifying nights in bunkers, they huddle together as planes roar above them and distant explosions shake them to their cores. They console one another – Frieda, with no idea whether her family have been captured or if her brother survived, and Sandra praying that Alf will live to see tomorrow.
The darkness of war may shroud them but as long as they have each other, they can keep a little light in the world. Will Frieda and Sandra ever be reunited with their loved ones? And will the two handwritten letters bound their way hold news of happiness… or heartbreak?
Readers are losing their hearts to The Outcast Girls:
‘Wow. I was totally gone from Chapter 1… The story of Sandra and Freida is one I will not forget for a long time. Written with so much love! While this is my first book by this author it won’t be my last!’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘Heartbreaking and poignant… Best read with a box of tissues handy as this book is sure to make readers tear up and up again.’ Bookish Jottings
‘Outstanding… What a page-turner this beautifully written, heart-wrenching story… This is a real tug-at-your-heartstrings book.’ Chapter Chatter Pub, 5 stars
‘I can honestly say I loved it.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Impossible to put down… I unquestionably loved this book.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘I didn’t want to put it down!… A beautifully written story that pulls at your heart strings. Another 5-star read from Shirley Dickson!’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Wonderful… I loved every page. A heartwarming story of love and sorrow and an endearing friendship.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Rips at your heartstrings.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘Definitely tugged on my heartstrings… I turned the pages quickly.’ Robin Loves Reading, 5 stars
‘Will warm your heart… Will bring tears to your eyes… I truly enjoyed every page. So well worth the stars, and loved it all to the end.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars
‘A captivating and emotional wartime saga which pulls on your heartstrings right from the first page… Mesmerising.’ Stardust Book Review, 5 stars
‘I loved it!… Brilliant.’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘Wonderful… I was extremely invested, hanging on to every last word… It left me longing for more… A captivating story you can get emotionally invested in!’ Goodreads Reviewer
‘I literally just finished this and had to come and start writing straight away! I loved it! Honestly what a story!’ Goodreads Reviewermore
The Outcast Girls by Shirley Dickson
First off I LOVED this book and being a huge fan of the BBC The Land Girls and Home Fires series this is a wonderful story of friendship, coming of age and how Shirley an orphan just released from Blakely Hall who finds a job as a housemaid but the owners sons steps over the line. But when her best friend Olive offers to let her stay with her she applies and is accepted as a Land Girl in the country. She’ll go from cleaning rooms to learning how to milk a cow and cut sheaves of hay to learning how to read with the local parish pastor. Her heart will be broken but she’ll realize that where she’s at is home for the first time and when her brother Alf is shot down his bravery will shine through.
Frieda is a German Jew whose parents manage to evacuate her and her brother Kurt to England but he jumps ship and stays. With the help of her Aunt she’ll learn about her new country, become a Land Girl but also deal with the stress of bullying from her past but most of all grow up during the war.
I do wish there was a second book to conclude what happened with both Shirley and Frieda’s lives but I will look forward to reading the authors other stories and cross my fingers that she’ll someday write a second book about these wonderful girls.
Set during WWII, one girl comes from the last group of Jewish children sent from Germany to England. The other comes from the children’s evacuation of areas vulnerable to bombing. The Land Girl portion paints a good picture of the invaluable work these young women performed, keeping crops growing and feeding the country. The characters seemed quite real except in real life they likely would have not been even contemplating premarital sex or anything close to it. Almost all recent books have have much more sex than happened at that time. Fun read and a little different.
I try not to compare books to others in the same genre because I think each book should stand on its merit. However, sometimes it is just unavoidable – that is the case with this book. I liked the concept of two girls from disparate backgrounds meeting in a farm program while WWII raged. I did learn about the Land Army, which was interesting because I didn’t know much about it. But there were times the story seemed to go off-target and some events seemed forced. Compared to other WWII-set novels I have read lately, this one was a tad lacking. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of the book.
Best friends in hard times
Frieda and Sandra meet in England working on a farm milking cows. Frieda is a Jewish girl sent to England to escape the Nazi’s and Sandra is an orphan working as a Land Girl. They become good friends and help each other through some hard times.
Both girls have brothers that are missing, Frieda’s brother Kurt in Germany and Sandra’s brother Alf in the RAF. They both have families that are gone, Frieda’s an unknown fate in Germany and Sandra’s no longer alive. They are both afloat in unfamiliar circumstances and help each other to adapt. Through the trauma of the war and through first love and heartbreak they are there for each other.
It is a heartwarming story of love and sorrow and an endearing friendship. A story of a town with caring people and hard work to be done. The story was interesting, the characters were wonderful and I loved every page. I would like to read a 2nd book with the continuing story showing the girls reunited with their brothers and happy with their own lives and families. I hope the author writes one and continues the story.
I would recommend this book, it is good clean reading , you will not be disappointed.
Thanks to Shirley Dickson, Bookouture Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an advanced copy of the book.
I received a free electronic ARC of this historical novel from Netgalley, Shirley Dickson, and Bookouture. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of the work. Shirley Dickson is on my favorite authors’ list. She paints wartime England beautifully, and her characters are complete, complex people with heart.
After November 1938 Kristallnacht in Berlin in February 1939, Frieda Sternberg, 11 or 12 years old, and her little brother Kurt, two years younger, were placed on a Jewish Children’s emigration train via a group known as ‘Movement for the care of Children from Germany’ which set up transportation and foster families to take-in the children when they reached rural England. The children, all under 17 years, could carry only a small suitcase and they would cross into Holland, train to the Dutch coast and then boat or ferry to England and stay with foster families for the duration of the war. Their father had already been gathered up in one of the pogroms, leaving their mother and grandmother hiding in the home of a family friend. Kurt wanted to stay in Berlin and help out the ladies – his dad had told him that he was the man of the house until father returned. He boarded the train but was known for obstinance and stubbornness. Frieda worried that he would give her trouble. She didn’t anticipate him jumping ship as the boarding ramp was removed, however. He waves her goodbye as she steams out of the Holland port. Frieda arrived in England alone and feeling guilty that she had let her parents down, and of course, worried sick about Kurt. Her foster situation is nice, she works part-time and lived with the post-mistress, Aunty Doris, in Leadburn. Life in England is very trying, however. Frieda is ostracized and resented and occasionally abused by most of her classmates in school, if not for her German heritage and accent, then for her Jewish religion. She develops a food aversion while still in school, finding it almost impossible to eat anything, and dwindles down to a twig. When she is about to age out of the program of relief that helps Doris support her at not-quite-fifteen, Frieda is offered a job on Nichol’s farm on the outskirts of Leadburn. Without other options, she is grateful for the job with housing, though she still isn’t eating enough to keep a bird alive and can add Mrs. Nichols to Doris among those worried about her.
Sandra Hudson was raised as was her older brother Alf in a British orphanage after their mother died. Their father was an invalid and died soon after they settled into the routine of the children’s home. At 15 she went into service. Her brother Alf was already in the Royal Air Force and stationed on the coast. Sandra was unlucky with the draw of an employer – she is basically slave labor for the Kirton family, taking the place of several staff members as they quit or are laid off, until only she and the Cook, Olive, are left to do the work of many. The only highlight in her life is when she received mail from her brother – which Olive happily reads to her. Olive also has son Kenneth in the military, so in their friendship, they feel like old souls and confidants despite the age difference. The Kirton son Duncan, home from school, does his best to sexually abuse the girl. After Sandra screams for help several times, a nearby bomb knocks the corner off of the house next door and drops ceiling and roof parts onto Sandra. After she is dug out of the debris, Sandra tries to explain how she wound up in Duncan’s bed, but Mrs. Kirton lets her go without reference or past wages and threatens her should she tell anyone what happened with Duncan. But for the assist of confidant and friend Olive Goodwin, she would have been broke and homeless, and Sandra knew she needed to find work fast. She is unable to read or write, so service work is about all that she feels confident to seek, but Olive talks her into shooting a little higher, something where she can learn a new trade or go to school part-time. When Sandra sees the advertisements for The Women’s Land Army at the local bus stop, she is inspired to apply. To her surprise, she is accepted without hesitation, despite the fact that she has never been out of the city. She is sent to the Leadburn hostel in Northumberland. And again to her surprise, she learns many farm skills quickly and finds true friends among the girls from all walks of life that she lives and works with. The farm work is challenging and always interesting. Sandra actually for the first time feels confident and content. And the local clergyman is not only willing to read to her and answer her letters from Alf and Olive, but is also willing to teach her to read.
The two girls meet at the local church in Leadburn and find they have much in common. Often Sandra is sent to work on the Nichols farm, and Frieda helps her learn to milk cows. Soon the girls are friends, a mutual support sisterhood that helps them both find confidence and peace. And they need moral support – Frieda has still after nearly three years heard nothing from her German family including Kurt, and the news of the imprisonment and murder of German Jews is very disturbing. And her Italian POW prisoner boyfriend is going to be a problem. Sandra also receives a telegraph – the Red Cross notifies her that brother Alf is a POW in Switzerland. And her American pilot is actually married. And then Alf escapes to who knows where? Complications. If they can make it through the war, life would be much simpler. But at least they have each other. And Olive.
I was quickly absorbed in this read, and it soon became a page-turner.
We journey from Germany to England, from an evil permeating Europe to living as a refugee, and being bullied. Yes, kids will be kids, but I can’t imagine what this young girl was going through, and her family was in so much danger.
Enter a young woman, girl, who has spent most of her life in an orphanage, and then in service, but she has a bright spot in the cook in the home she works. Love how God puts people in your path, and both these young women receive this blessing.
The author gives us a chance to walk in each of these survivor’s shoes, and we get to really care about each of them.
I just wished that there had been an epilogue at the end, I wanted more information about Frieda’s family, but I did enjoy this story, saw how these people worked so hard on the home front!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Bookoutour, and was not required to give a positive review.
WWII Women at Home in Britain
This is an in-depth tale of the lives of two young women during the Second World War in Britain. Most of the story takes place in 1943 with bombings, food rationing and loss of life. It is a gripping tale that makes the reader feel like they lived this horror. The story is left a bit ‘open-ended’ for either a sequel or the reader to fill in the blanks. I became totally invested in this story almost immediately. I know that I will read this book again. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.
A different take on WWII in England
Frieda Sternberg is a Jewish German girl sent to England by her parents for safety’s sake. Sandra Hudson grew up in an orphanage with her brother after their father left them there. The father was unable to cope with the two children after their mother died in childbirth.
Both girls are haunted by past memories and worried about their brothers and find friendship with each other when both start working for the Land Girls, an organization that put women to work in rural England on farms to help feed the general population while the men were away at war.
I liked this story but wish it had gone into more depth on the Land Girls process. It was a part of World War II I had never heard about and was interested in.
I would have rated this with 3.5 stars if I could have.
I received this book from Bookouture through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
What a page-turner this beautifully written, heart-wrenching story is. Frieda and her brother Kurt are living in Berlin in 1938 when their parents send them to an orphanage in England to be safe. As the boat gets ready to leave the port, Kurt jumps off and runs. Frieda go to the orphanage by herself and is eventually adopted by a woman she calls Aunty Doris. England, 1937, 15-year-old Sandra is released from an orphanage to begin working as a housemaid. Her brother Alf joins the service. Frieda gets fired from her job and joins the Land Army where young girls are hired to work as farmhands. It is there that she meets Frieda and they become friends. This is a real tug-at-your heartstrings book as the two girls grow and learn about life while becoming close friends and confidants. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this outstanding book in exchange for an honest review.