"Shelter" is a really well written historical novel set during WWII. The two protagonists both have great character development and the author does a great job showing what motivates them, what they fear, and why they make the decision they make.

I really enjoyed this book. Set during the Second World War, Connie joins the Women’s Timber Core, after losing her family during an air raid. A City girl, Connie finds herself in a remote forest, fragile and hiding a secret, here she meets Seppe , an Italian prisoner of war, and together they both embark on a new life, and friendship trying to heal their troubled lives.
I really liked reading about this core of the women’s war effort, as I hadn’t realised there was such a thing, and the story is not just a run of the mill love story. Connie shows how women cope in adversity, needing independence, and trying to finding her way.
Seppe, is a damaged soul, fragile and venerable, haunted by his own problems, and the two somehow make sense of their lives in different ways.
I loved all the characters, they were sympathetic, but not pathetic, and although their problems seem insurmountable they each in their own way find a freedom of sorts. A lovely, thoughtful and absorbing read. Highly recommended.

What a fascinating read -a slow read that like the trees in the forest, draw you into the shadows and envelopes you right into the heart of the story. You can feel the trees almost like characters grasping and grappling you with their spindly branches, trapping you, tripping you up as you try to work hard and keep your secrets hidden. Imagine then a new relationship in the midst of so much naked despair? Chopping trees, clearing the beauty of England when there were so many scars on the English landscape already.

It's a very unique angle on the 2ww and the insights into what the war effort could really mean. The men and women who carried out such thankless tasks,such hard work..
This is apparently a debut - the sparse debut and the assured writing for me said that it was more. What Sarah follows with this is definately going on my TBR pile!

This book could have been so much better in my opinion. I felt it was lacking. The subject matter was good. 2 lost souls getting together, dealing with their life history's... a great foundation to build on.
The ending was far from satisfactory also, I thought that it was very odd, I appreciate that it would have been obvious, but, it would have been good to finish it properly.
Thanks to NetGalley, Sarah Franklin and Bonnier Zaffre for the opportunity.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for the ARC of this book.

I first heard of this book on Bonnier Zaffre's Instagram and the synopsis seemed really interesting. I love fictional World War II novels for some reason and this one really piqued my interest. I think it also had something to do with the fact that the main character was a lumberjill which was something I was not familiar with.

Anyway, the book is really fantastic. It's Sarah Franklin's debut novel but I really hope she's working on her second one right now. Her writing was really fun. I will admit I tripped up a few times on some of the 40's British slang but that's also what made the book feel really authentic. Also, she builds up each character really well so that you get a sense of who they are and what their "story" is even if they are just background characters. The only thing negative about the book was that I hated but then loved but then hated again the main character, Connie. She could be so cold and selfish at times and I kept screaming at my Kindle for her to stop messing things up but it made her more human. In the end it didn't put me off of the book but it did make me a little frustrated while I was reading it.

A real page turner, love this type of novel. Will definitely look out for this author in future

I really enjoyed this book with its Second World War setting, though with a refreshingly different focus of war work on the home front at its core. Connie is far from the stereotypical girl left to await the outcome of the war and, through an unconventional route, finds herself working as a lumberjill in the Forest of Dean. There she is teamed up with an Italian POW worker and their unfortunate past histories mean that they are drawn to each other's vulnerabilities and provide much needed support in these uncertain times. Her unique and untypical sense of self causes many problems for herself and all who know her. This is an unusual view of a woman at war, yet it remains rooted in the period (despite some rather obvious direct references and similes in the first few chapters to establish the setting) and is a tender, empathetic novel that does not judge in the forest what would probably be outlawed in the general population of the time. A thoroughly engrossing read with warm characters you will miss at the end.

All her life Connie’s had the urge to break away, to explore what life has to offer away from the streets and factories of Coventry. She doesn’t know what form this new life will take or how she’s going to do it. What she does know it that she’s got to do it. Spirited, determined and reckless, the Second world War brings Connie the opportunity to seek what she’s looking for but the price for that opportunity is a high one. Forced by circumstances to be totally self-reliant and desperate to leave bad memories behind, she joins the Women’s Timber Corps and finds herself posted to The Forest of Dean to train as a ‘lumberjill’.

Chance brings together Connie and Seppe, an Italian POW, who is trying to escape his own demons. Thoughtful and sensitive, Seppe is initially cowed by his traumatic relationship with his violent father whose malevolent presence seems able to reach even into the confines of the POW camp.

‘The spikes of his father’s rancour were undimmed by the flimsy paper. A spiral of venom rose from the lines, the sheen of anger, pride and sheer vicious temper bitter in Seppe’s mouth.’

Despite being haunted by guilt and by what he witnessed during the war, Seppe gradually grows in inner strength as he finds acceptance from the local community. For Connie and Seppe, the forest provides shelter from the outside world – quite literally at times. However, for those born and bred in the forest, the war, and those it brings in its wake, is an unwanted incursion into their lives.

‘Those evacuees are still out here, causing chaos in the school. And...we’ve got Yanks in the forest, whole regiments of them...The other big change is that we’ve got POWs up at Broadwell.’

The war is also a threat to the very existence of the forest itself with the constant demands for timber to support the war effort.

‘The forest itself warned them of loss even as they chopped it down. Bloody great gaps staring at them in the very woods that had sheltered them all their lives, and people pulled from this life into a new world that swallowed them up.’

I liked the way the author made the forest another character in the story with nearly human qualities: ‘Amos pushed in amongst the branches until they almost held him in an embrace.’ I thought the author struck a good balance between historical fact about wartime events and the story of Connie, Seppe and the other inhabitants of The Forest of Dean. I did feel the convenience of some events stretched credibility a little but this didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. Furthermore, I always admire an author who is brave enough not to spell out the conclusion of a book but to let the reader imagine it for themselves. I thought this was an impressive debut.

I received an advance reader copy courtesy of NetGalley and publishers, Bonnier Zaffre, in return for an honest review.

A beautifully written book set in England during World War 2. The setting sounded really tranquil and the people and countryside are described really well. The storyline is really good but I would have liked more of an ending. I wanted there to be more to Connie and Seppe's story.

I have to admit I didn't even know the term lumberjill existed until I saw this ARC. In fact I knew hardly anything about the profession. I am incredibly interested in Gender History so this ticked all the boxes when I read the blurb. Thankfully it didn't fail my expectations!
I think it was a wonderful concept and actually very important. For such a masculine profession I think it is a joy to see a historical fiction read focus on a woman and the freedom and sense of power the title gave her.
A really interesting read and I was totally enveloped into the story.

Factory worker Connie is a young lady living in Coventry in 1944. A bomb destroys the world that Connie knows and she decides to move away to work on the land.
She is eventually billeted to a house in the country working for the Forest commissionerst.
A chance meeting between Seppe and Connie becomes a strong partnership with the felling of trees for the war effort.
Seppe is an Italian prisoner of war, who doesn't agree with the fascist beliefs of Italy.. Seppe loves working wood and working in the forest is the escape he needs.
The characters: Amos, Frank and Amos contribute to this love story, of lonely people finding their missing piece.
Great descriptions of life in a prisoner of war camp, wartorn Italy, England.and life during WW2.