The War Girls of Goodwill House: The start of a gripping historical saga series by Fenella J. Miller

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The War Girls of Goodwill House by Fenella J Miller is a wonderful WWII-era historical fiction saga that is the first in a new series. I just loved it. as at Constant House and Holmsdale House, the hollowtile floors were laid by a specialist contractor. The total I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the World War II historical fiction series Goodwill House While you don’t have to have read all the books in the series, some of the previous stories and characters do pop up in the current volume. The War Girls of Goodwill House and New Recruits at Goodwill House are the previous books in the series. The book is well-researched but unfortunately there were a few aspects that grated on me slightly. The use of slang such as “going for a Burton” or referring to planes as kites just felt too try-hard. One or two references would have been fine, but it felt as though the author thought she would be “more authentic” if she were to use these terms exclusively. I also struggled with the misspelling of the Fairey Battle plane. I have been a fan of Fenella’s work for a while now. I haven’t quite caught up with everything that she has written but I am getting there. I read the synopsis for ‘The War Girls Of Goodwill House’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of book I have come to expect from Fenella – historical fiction at its best. I couldn’t wait to dive in and so without further ado, I grabbed a cup of tea, grabbed my Kindle and settled down for an afternoon of reading. Oh boy, I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The War Girls Of Goodwill House’ but more about that in a bit.

Despite the frequent air raids and bombings and rationing, there isn’t a lot of complaining and despite all the hardships, most everyone maintains a positive attitude. The Greatest Generation continues to amaze me at what they went through, when even in their darkest hour, they show a resilience and never feel a sense of hopelessness. Perhaps that’s why World War II fiction is so popular. Goodwill House is certainly a feel-good series despite the fact that it takes place during the war. I can’t wait for the next volume! Compelling, emotional and atmospheric, Fenella J Miller’s The War Girls of Goodwill House will go down a treat with saga fans. Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah have been very sheltered in their lives so far at Goodwill House, but now that Lord Harcourt is off fighting in France, they are having to fend for themselves and discovering a lot of things they’ve been shielded from – and not all to the good. With limited finances, they need to come up with some way of keeping their home and allowing Sarah to follow her dream of becoming a doctor. Flight Lieutenant Angus Trent is seeking accommodation for WAAF’s sent unexpectedly to the nearby RAF base, and that may just help with Sarah and Joanna’s monetary issues; however, Lady Harcourt may take some persuading but Sarah is one determined young woman who has her sights set firmly on success. Angus has only admiration for this young lady – he has never met her like before! My favourite aspects are the detailed chores the girls were responsible for as I grew up on a farm and did similar chores and I was intrigued by the descriptions of the effects of war. The friendships were lovely. However, the neat ending does not leave many unanswered questions and the forced romance was not enjoyable in my view. Still, this series is well worth reading. The mother, a mamsy pamsy, Joanna, did nothing...nothing...as matron of a huge estate. She was married to a tyrant, who was serving in France, and he was absent throughout the entire story short of a few letters Joanna ignored. He left them without enough money, so they were living in the freezing cold manor house. She and Sarah enjoyed their new-found freedom without him there. They hoped he wouldn't return.Oh, dear, where to start? I can't believe I actually read the entire book. It is so poorly written, and an editor who knows how to punctuate and put coherent sentences together would be a good starting point. A rewrite is badly needed. I could not have cared less about these people in this book. In previous books we met land girl Charlie who is billeted at Goodwill House whilst working on a nearby farm. This book is her story, and centres round her growing friendship with local Doctor James Willoughby whom she initially got to know in a previous book when she spent a while being cared for by him following a concussion.

My favourite part of the book was the love story running through the book involving Angus and Sarah and I’m looking forward to reading how there relationship progresses in future books.As well as the influx of land girls, two RAF fire brigade officers were recently injured in a bombing raid at Manston and Joanna offered the use of Goodwill House for their recuperation. However, her goodwill is not all for the war effort but for the increasing attraction she feels for Sergeant John Sergeant...a feeling which is mutual. But Joanna is a lady of distinction, of class, and John is a working class lad with an Oxford scholarship education...aside from that, she is also ten years his senior. None of which seems to matter to either of them...until it does.