This was a beautiful story. I like historical fiction and this was a great example of it - I absolutely loved all the characters and didn’t want the book to end.

A fabulous tale that was excellently researched with engaging characters and beautiful descriptions. Allie Burns perfectly captures what life was like for women in the 1930s. I found the women's strength and resilience as well as their friendships moving and uplifting and I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. 5 stars from me!

This was a good historical novel! Clearly well researched, and in a time period that I am always interested in reading more about! The characters were relatable and it felt like a good summer read.

this is very well researched and written. the characters were really engaging and I loved the relationships that they have. a page tuned

"Escape to the inter-war years in this emotional story where opportunity can be found at the pool-side in your local lido… Perfect for fans of Pam Evans and Gill Paul.

Change is in the air...

It’s the summer of 1935 and holidaymakers are flocking to St Darlstone’s magnificent lido beside the sea!

With little hope of finding a husband, no-nonsense Natalie lives for teaching, until she finds herself out of a job courtesy of her best friend Delphi. But if she can team up with Delphi to bring her rigorous physical fitness programme to the people of St Darlstone, maybe there’s a chance she can start again and help her friend to follow her dreams too?

So Natalie takes on the Lido Girls. But, with Delphi’s handsome brother, Jack, on the scene, and Delphi’s desperate struggle to defy her overbearing parents, Natalie must find the courage to face up to her own fears, and realise what she truly wants in life...

Set against the backdrop of the pioneering keep fit movement; this is a feel-good celebration of friendship and what's possible when you follow your heart."

There was a time when the lido was THE place to go when on vacation, hence I'm very excited about this book, even if it isn't a history of this phenomenon, I'm interested.

A brilliant and entertaining book, well written and one you don't want to end for all the right reasons

High quality historical fiction does not get any better than The Lido Girls, Allie Burns’s evocative debut novel set during the inter-war years.

In 1935, the repercussions of the Great War are still being felt by the women who had been left with no other choice but to forge ahead with their lives after their husbands, sweethearts, fathers and sons had died on the front line. Their hearts might have been shattered and the rosy futures which they imagined for themselves an unattainable dream, but these women know that wallowing in misery and self-pity will not bring the men they loved back and that putting one foot in front of the other and getting on with things is the only way forward.

Natalie has long given up hope of ever finding a husband, so she had dedicated herself entirely to her job as a teacher. Natalie’s entire life revolves around her career and she cannot imagine what she would do if she were to lose her job. But when this becomes a reality because of her friend Delphi, a distraught Natalie wonders what on earth is she going to do without the job which means the world to her. No-nonsense Natalie is not ready to throw in the towel and let herself be overwhelmed by pity, so alongside with Delphi, she decides to bring her rigorous fitness programme to the people of St Darlstone, whose magnificent lido bewitches and enchants people from all walks of life and from across the land.

Taking on The Lido Girls forces Natalie to conquer her fears and figure out what she wants out of life and how she wants her future to map out. With Delphi’s handsome brother Jack on the scene, will Natalie follow her heart and find the courage to grasp this sudden opportunity of happiness?

Meanwhile, will Delphi stop living in the shadows and letting her parents control her every move? Will she ever become the mistress of her destiny? Or is she destined to spend the rest of her life wondering what might have been?

A wonderful story of friendship, romance, second chances and healing, The Lido Girls is a well-written, meticulously researched and highly emotional historical tale that will charm, delight and enchant readers everywhere with its beguiling blend of drama, humour, pathos and heart. Brimming with characters that leap off the pages and come instantly to life, The Lido Girls is a terrific read that will go down a treat with fans of Judith Lennox and Gill Paul.

A riveting historical novel that would make an excellent Sunday night drama, The Lido Girls is sure to be one of the best books you will read this year.

I love historical fiction which is set in the twentieth century and this book did not let me down. Allie Burns has researched the period meticulously and all the period details really evoke that period between the two World Wars. Any story set then has pathos built into it as the reader knows what is coming. The story captures life for women in the 1930's and how narrow some of their life chances could be unless they stepped away from the expected norms.
In The Lido Girls, you see different classes of women and how they edge towards new ideas. Anything new seems to be treated with suspicion by the ruling elite who are more than happy to keep the status quo going. Allie Burns manages to show us how different women grew and developed and yet at the same time, still create a heartwarming and engaging story.

Delphi and Natalie are two women who belong to those who were regarded as 'surplus' and left behind. After the slaughter of the First World War, there were many such women who were unable to find a husband and who were life long spinsters. I can remember relatives of mine being described in these terms. I admired the way that Allie Burns is quite ambivalent about Delphi and Natalie's precise relationship as in a way, that is how they would have been regarded in society at the time.

A lovely summer interlude which I enjoyed reading in the depths of November, this is an evocative read full of lovely moments of light and shade which was uplifting despite what was waiting in the shadows.

In short: a heartwarming look at life in the 1930's with some bite in the centre.

The title of this novel alone was enough to interest me. There's something about The Lido Girls that speaks immediately of a particular time, Britain's heyday I guess. And the cover image is incredibly appealing too.

So what about the story? It's Natalie's story. She's almost 35 and it's 1935. She's teaching PE at a girls' college until she accompanies her best friend, Delphi, to a meeting of The Women's League of Health and Beauty which leads to her losing her job. She ends up working at a lido in St Durlstone for the summer alongside Delphi, and Delphi's brother, Jack.

It's an interesting read. It's set at that point when so many women were considered to be 'surplus', that is many of their potential husbands were killed in the First World War. Whilst Natalie is wedded to her teaching career, she has never been able to shake a need to be married.

Delphi has an illness which means she is looked after and treated with kid gloves. Natalie is devoted to her but their friendship suffers because she longs to join The Women's League of Health and Beauty. Again, this was a really interesting aspect to the story for me. The league is a fascinating organisation, set up to help women exercise together. In The Lido Girls it helps not only the 'surplus' women but also those whose husbands no longer notice them. There's a fascinating piece at the end of the book by Margaret Peggie, who is the Vice President of the Fitness League, the name by which the organisation is now known, who clearly remembers her mother cycling away to the league and leaving her three children with their father, something that rarely happened back then.

The social history side of the book, the lido and life working there seemed to be really well-researched by the author and she really captured the feel of it all. I loved the girls who worked there, Betsy, Edith, Yvonne. I loved the sense of community that came from them working at the lido together and how Natalie became a part of them. She goes through quite a journey of discovery about herself during the summer. I couldn't completely take to Natalie or Delphi though. I think there was an air of detachment about Natalie as a character that carried through to me as I was reading but nevertheless I wanted her to be at peace with herself and her life decisions.

I thought The Lido Girls was an accomplished debut novel and I'm really pleased to note that Allie Burns is writing another book set in those compelling interwar years.

When Natalie loses her job teaching athletics at a private girls school she travels with her best friend Delphi to a seaside resort. She finds a job at the lido, working in the office and organizing events. As she settles into her position, Natalie and Delphi grow apart, each seeming to want different things out of life.

I thought this was a well written and engaging book. I enjoyed the characters and their relationships with one another. I did get a bit frustrated with Natalie's desire to help everyone, even when that person didn't want her help. I would definitely read another book by this author.

Fascinating insight into the Women's League of Health and Beauty during 1930s Britain. Beautifully written with fab characters, this book follows the development of the women's keep fit movement. With so many so called 'surplus' women during the 1930s, women were seeking a different life than that they had expected, and becoming interested in a fulfilled life outside of the home. This book follows Delphi and Natalie as they pursue independent working lives at the lido, and the impact their classes have on the local women. Beautifully written, the descriptions enable you to see the lido and its customers. Well worth reading!

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

This novel was a delight. Rooted in real history, it takes a slightly whimsical and largely fictional turn, pursuing two women to the fictional English resort of St Darlestone, where they try to figure out what to do with their lives. Each has their own cross to bear and they each deal with it in different ways. You can read an interesting mini-biography of the real Prunella Stack here. It's as brief as the shorts these girls wore, but it moves just like the shorts: actively and with purpose! Prunella is a bit like the tornado in Wizard of Oz. She doesn't have a lot to do with the bulk of this story, but without her, the story would not have happened in the first place!

On the fictional side of things, Natalie Flacker seems a bit rebellious and lackadaisical to be a vice principal in a prestigious girls' school, but it seems she was sheltered by the principal. Now that her mentor is retiring die to ill-health, Natalie's future seems a bit uncertain. It becomes downright lost when she's photographed attending a women's physical fitness convention - and one which is frowned upon by the male-dominated society in which Natalie moves. She is soon out of a job, and for want of something better to do, she decides to summer at St Darlestone with her dearest friend Delphi.

Their prime goal is to secure useful employment, which might be a bit hard to come by since Natalie can't exactly ask for a glowing reference from her last employer. Delphi is game, but suffers from some sort of catatonia or fatigue, and is often invalided by it. Fortunately Delphi's brother Jack is at the resort, working at the Lido swimming pool where one of the summer highlights is a beauty pageant.

I know, I took a vow never to read another novel with a main character named Jack in it because it's the most over-used go-to name in the entire history of literature, and I'm sick of it. I'm sick of authors over-using the name, hence my vow, yet here I am reading one! In my own defense, I didn't know this one would be hi-Jack-ed until I started it. On top of that, a beauty pageant? Fortunately, that's not the most important thing going on here! There's a much better story being told of friendship and perseverance, and this made all the difference for me.

Natalie's life seems to be falling apart at the seams at first, with Delphi growing increasingly distant and her own hopes of employment seemingly limited, but she perseveres and makes friends and eventually manages to earn a decent living, but even as she does so and grows closer to Jack, Delphi seems to be growing ever further from her.

The best thing about this novel is that it was warm and sweet, and completely unpredictable; just when you thought it would go one way it went another and this was the main reason I enjoyed it so much because it did exactly what I love authors for doing: it wandered off the beaten track into new territory, and I was happy to follow because that made it so much more interesting. I have no time for cookie cutter novels with everyone jumping on the successful author's bandwagon and trying to clone her or his best seller. I much prefer authors who carve their own path, and this one did exactly that, and it was the better for it.

This was an advance review copy as I mentioned so there were some minor issues with it, which I imagine will be fixed before the finished version this the shelves (or whatever the e-version of shelves is!). At one point I read, "with curls as luscious as Ginger Rogers'..." This should have read "Rogers's" since her name isn't a plural! Another one was a minor pet peeve of mine: " the poisonous snake at her feet." Snakes tend not to be poisonous - you can eat one with no ill effect, but they can be venomous!

Since my blog is more about writing than anything else, I have to point out that there were some unintentional writing issues such as where I read, "...swimming alone might be a reckless thing to do, but the pull was too strong." I think that could have been better worded (the attraction was too strong, maybe), since 'the pull was too strong" might be conflated with an undertow or a riptide in the water. Again, it's a minor issue but these things are worth expending some thought on if you're all about your writing.

There were also some formatting issues as usual with the crappy Kindle App that Amazon uses. Sometimes the next line would not be indented, particularly if it was a single line, and at one point I read "The redhead was busy devouring..." but the word 'The' was on the next line, superimposed over the first word on that line! This has nothing to do with authorship or writing, just with Amazon having a substandard format for ebooks.

But these were minor issue and inconsequential given that the book itself was so good, so I fully recommend this as a worthy read.

1935 London where the ‘keep fit’ movement is just starting to build, even as reverberations from societal changes from the war, and an increasing threat in Europe are swirling about. Natalie and Delphi have been friends since school, a friendship that has buoyed the two for years. Now in their mid-30’s, and both unmarried and firmly ‘on the shelf’ they are finding it necessary to realign their lives. We follow them through their struggles, interior battles with confidence, choosing one option from a series of limited and limiting directions, and juggling their struggles with family (or lack thereof).

Beautifully researched and well described: the language flow, the dress and even the décor are clearly presented, as are the myriad of issues, some long standing, others newly developing, for women in this time. Particularly two women who are determined and reasonably well self-directed to lead. These are women who were in a bit of a forgotten space: unmarried and self-supporting, they were ‘spinsters’ and ‘strange’ to those attached to the more traditional way of things, but became groundbreakers simply because of their desire to self-determine.

Burns has created a wonderful story that is evocative and engaging, but didn’t quite go far enough. Issues raised are merely presented and not examined, and in lieu of delving into issues and showing a real struggle from either Natalie or Delphi in overcoming that issue, she used action and repeated self-doubts from Natalie to continue the story. The writing is strong, and there are plenty of moments to enjoy as this feels very ‘classic woman’s fiction’, but there’s a depth and solidity to the struggles that is missing or not explored and examined regularly or with any real page time devoted to it. Overall, this is a solid debut, and perfect light reading to escape to a time long ago, but I was left wanting more.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=”http://wp.me/p3OmRo-9mI/”> <a> I am, Indeed </a>

The Lido Girls is not my usual type of read, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was well researched and intrigued me enough to want to learn more about the Women's League. The characters were engaging, and the story zipped along. The descriptions are particularly well written in terms of location, and I firmly think it's a good contender in the genre. I love strong female characters, and this has them in spades, navigating the demands and constrictions of the time. A stunning debut.

Set between the wars, this novel has it’s roots firmly planted in historical accuracy, and is a good reminder of a lost generation of men and the women left at home with very little hopes of ever marrying. Thus began the revolution of women making a life for themselves and showing they were capable of sole support.

Natalie and Delphi have been friends since school and are both now in their mid-thirties. We follow them through their ups and downs as they seek their niche in life. One with an overbearing family and one with very little in the way of family, it’s not a straightforward situation.

This is a well written novel but, for me, it did tend to rather lose it’s way. The doubts in Nat’s mind came and went just a little too often and I found myself feeling quite ambivalent about where the story was going. Having said that, as a debut novel it rates higher than some and is a pleasant enough read.

My thanks to publishers HQ Digital for permitting me to read an arc via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, original and unbiased review.

I very much enjoyed this nicely written historical fiction. It's classic "women's fiction" with a setting in between the World Wars and about women who are at odd ends because of it. Natalie, who has had some grim times, takes on the challenge of working with other women to bring them into better physical condition. That might not sound like much but the lovely setting in St Darlestone and the women themselves made it a very good read. I was not aware of the Women's League of Health and Beauty before reading this book so that was another benefit. Thanks very much to net galley for the ARC. Try this one for an interesting and different take on the time period.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This book was an unexpected delight, and is immediately on my "best books of 2017" list.

This book was an unexpected delight, and is immediately on my "best books of 2017" list.

The tells the story of the women left behind after WW1, the women who didn't marry and had to forge ahead trying to find another way of life. It also tells the story if The Women's League of Health and Beauty - a exercise programme that had the potential to change women's lives (I've always had a soft spot for the Women's League, based as it was in yoga - and we all know how I feel about yoga's life changing potential!).

Natty, our heroine, has two paths she can follow; the conventional safe one or the one where her heart truly lies. I loved that we didn't find out which way she'd go until the very end.

All in all a hugely uplifting book about the power of female friendship. Highly recommended!

Thanks HQ Digital and netgalley for this ARC

I didn't get thru much of this book. It just was not for me.

I could almost smell the sea and fish and chips from this novel! So when I found out that it was partly based on the world around St Leonard's Bathing Pool (Lido) near Hastings in East Sussex, near to where I had lived I realised why it all seemed so familiar.
We meet Natalie (Miss Flacker) as the somewhat stern but likeable PE mistress in 1935 when young girls attending Physical Training Colleges were much in vogue. This section reminded me of the world and novels of Josephine Tey (the crime writer of that time) who also trained at the Anstey Physical Training College and set one of her novels in such an establishment.. Natalie's friend Delphi Mulberry leads her astray one day to attend a display by The Women's League of Health and Beauty at Olympia where the formidable leader Prunella Stack causes a backlash for Natalie when she finds herself unemployed and her very ill friend Delphi, encouraging her to leave London for the coast and stay with Delphi's handsome brother Jack.
The context of life in the 1930's is very interesting with the many local women the two friends meet at the Lido where Jack works as Manager. They and other characters make Natalie realise that her future plans for life may still need to be resolved.
There are some excellent scenes and dialogue but because of the time period some stereotypes (maybe a touch of Hi-De-Hi?!) with the contestants for the beauty competitions and the gruff Council man Arthur putting his wife Betsy in the shade.
But the plot flows well and you get a real sense of place and time. I learnt a lot about the pre WWII role of women struggling physically and emotionally to make their mark on a country(and world) whose leaders were moving closer and closer to another conflict. The role of the Women's League was something akin to Rudyard Kipling's call to arms for men to be fit to fight prior to 1914 and true enough strong women would replace the men on the land in factories between 1939-45 and then become abandoned.
There was sunshine, fun, optimistic belief and freedom extolled in this novel. As the last summer sun set on the August Bank Holiday for Natalie and all those she meets perhaps her experiences were just what were needed to put off the inevitable tragedy soon to emerge.
A great read