Fantastic plot and characters. A really lovely read. Looking forward to reading more from the author!

I can't get enough of this series of books. They are uplifting, emotional, caring and just full of good old fashioned values that we need at the moment.

Yes it was set around Christmas, but some days you just need a lovely easy to read book that you can sink into.

Perfect.

This book was a brilliant read and one that is perfect to escape for a few hours and loose yourself.
Characters that fall out of the pages of the book and make you fell apart of the story, the setting comes alive and captured is well with words.
A great read. that I would highly recommend.

If you want to know what happened next, this the book for you! Continuing the story of ‘Jambusters’, this novel follows the lives of a group of women during WW2 who all belong to their local WI group. Life on the home Front is clearly and cleverly portrayed through the lives of the women living it. Both life, death and its subsequent bereavement form part of the lives of the women as they struggle to deal with the situations they face. A great read, particularly if you enjoyed the TV series or first book.

Lovely series loved Home fires fill the same about this one.The town the characters drew me right in hope they film this one it would be a must see.# netgalley #awoman’swar

I thoroughly enjoyed this book having followed Home Fires on tv and also in the first book. I followed the adventures of the women happily and silently cheered when one of them got the very thing she needed at the very end. I was a little pulled from the story when there was mention of Bletchley Park and cryptography when no one knew what happened at Bletchley until the 1970s. Likewise Adam writing his Red Cross letters talking about advising escapees was a little odd. That would have been read and censored. But only small inaccuracies in what is a very good semi-conclusion to the series. If another is planned I would happily read it.

While I enjoyed this book I feel like I've missed a book before it as it seemed reference back stories as if I should know what happend. Once you get past that and start to work out what happend it is a good book with a nice story line and touches on subjects that some others dont.
I would like to see if I have missed a book but now dont know if i could go back and read it.

★★★★ 4.5 stars

When I requested A WOMAN'S WAR I had no idea it was the sequel to another. I do wish Netgalley would state if a book is part of a series - sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. I guess it depends on the information received from the publisher. But it would be helpful for reviewers to know beforehand as sometimes it is difficult to pick up series midway through. Fortunately that was not the case with this wonderful book.

However, that aside. A WOMAN'S WAR can be read as a standalone or as a sequel to "Keep the Home Fires Burning" which follows on from the now ended ITV series "Home Fires". You can easily pick up the characters and their stories either way, as they are each recalled well enough to do so.

The women of Great Paxford draw strength from each other once again in the face of their darkest days during World War 2. The year is 1940 and much has happened in their little village since war broke out just the year before. Some have lost loved ones, some are prisoners of war, some have lost their homes...while others fight inner battles that no one else knows about.

Meet Frances, Erica, Laura, Sarah, Pat, Steph, and Teresa - the women of Great Paxford. Each of them have a story to tell but some of them have secrets that they keep to themselves.

The story opens with Frances, the leader of the Women's Institute, addressing the WI ladies of the events that had recently taken place in their little village...and how it has affected each of them. Frances is a born leader but can come across a bit brusque at times though she only has the best interests of the women at heart. She speaks of the Spitfure than crashed landed, destroying the homes of the Simms and the Campbells. She speaks of the death of their local GP and the grief of the family he left behind. She speaks of the German airman shot by a farmer when discovered. Throughout all this and more, the village must come together and find the strength within each other to get through this war. No one knows how long it will go on for - it could end next week, next month or next year. However long it takes, they must stick together.

Erica Campbell is the widow of the village GP, who had recently succumbed to cancer. Her daughters Katy and Laura are also grieving. Katy is studying in Manchester (so she doesn't actually largely feature) and was recently widowed herself when her husband Jack's plane crashed during flight training.

Laura is just 17 and has taken to heart her father's last almost indecipherable words to her, believing him to say that she would make a good doctor, despite her never showing an interest before now to follow her father's footsteps and study medicine. With no money to pay for university, Laura sets about cramming and studying for a scholarship into medical school. When her boyfriend Tom tells her that he has decided to become a pilot, Laura is devastated and says that she cannot step out with a flyer...not after what her sister went through. So will Tom give up his plans to become a pilot and stay with Laura? Will Laura pass her exams and be granted a scholarship?

Sarah Collingborne is Frances' sister and the wife of their local vicar, who is currently in a German prisoner of war camp. Sarah doesn't feature as largely in the story as some of the other women who have a greater part to play, but she is part of the backbone of Great Paxford and one of the few who knows the truth about Pat's marriage to her brute of a husband Bob.

Which brings us to Pat Simms. She has been married to Bob for about thirteen years and in the beginning he was an attentive romantic man which soon fell by the wayside after rings and vows were exchanged. There has been many occasions when Pat has turned up to the WI meetings or her job at the telephone exchange with bruises that she tries in vain to cover with plenty of powder. When the Spitfire crashed into their semi-detached house alongside the Campbells' semi on the other side, Pat and Bob were taken in by the kindly and former leader of the WI, Joyce Cameron. Pat soon found the benefit with living with Joyce was that Bob would control his temper whenever she was around, playing the perfect guest and husband. But Pat has another secret. One that Bob inadvertently discovered. She has a lover. A Czech soldier named Marek. They shared a few stolen moments and secreted letters to one another in the graveyard...until Bob discovered their hiding place. Now Marek has been shipped out, leaving Pat with promises of a life together should he survive the war and return. But when Bob shows a complete change, Pat begins to wonder how sincere the change is. She has seen it many times before...only to fall into a false sense of security and feel the sting of his fist before long. But Bob has shown a complete turnaround and, in a gesture of not wanting to outstay their welcome with their incredibly kind host, has decided that the time has come for he and Pat to find a home of their own again. Now that his book is selling and he has the advance for another they now have the money for a comfortable life in a bigger house. Pat cannot help but question Bob's motives or wonder what he has planned...but could this be real? Has Bob truly seen the error of his ways?

Teresa Lucas is newly married to Nick, a Wing Commander for the RAF. But there is someone who suspects Teresa's marriage isn't all it appears - Nick's best friend Annie, also a pilot recovering in hospital after crashing her plane. Teresa's secret is one that would not be understood nor accepted within their quaint little village and so she must keep it from everyone. Only Annie knows her secret...but is Annie the best person to keep that secret? And will it come between Teresa and Nick?

And then there is Steph Farrow. She is a farmer's wife and although it is a reserved occupation, Steph's husband Stan had decided to join in the fight for their country, leaving Steph to farm the land with her 16 year old son Stanley and a kind of helper, Isobel. I'm not sure I knew what Isobel's actual role was though I got the impression she was some sort of farm hand. Steph has one of the biggest secrets that soon everyone in the village will know about. And she doesn't know how she can live with it. She writes a tearful letter to her husband who soon returned and decided to leave the army and maintain his status in the reserved occupation of farmer. But when her son Stanley tells her his news, Steph collapses in shock...and it is then an even greater concern comes to the surface which promises to change all their lives forever.

There is so much packed into this heartfelt tale with a difference and yet there is still so much more to discover. I loved reading about the lives of each of these women and their families and though it did take a little to gain momentum in the beginning, once it did I did not want to put it down. When I finished A WOMAN'S WAR I felt as if I had left Great Paxford and found myself missing the women and their own private struggles.

Although A WOMAN'S WAR wraps all the stories of each character that readers/fans were a part of throughout the the TV series and both books, I still hope the story continues as there is room for expansion on those that we have left behind in this book. I would love to see where the war and their stories take them next.

I thoroughly recommend A WOMAN'S WAR for fans who enjoy WW2 historical fiction, and those who had followed the TV series and the book that followed.

I would like to thank #SimonBlock, #NetGalley and #BonnierZaffre for an ARC of #AWomansWar in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book after reading the Homefires was glad to have this follow up. I loved the tv show and hope there is another follow on . Anyone who enjoys family sagas etc will definetely enjoy

Having devoured the first book in the series in one sitting, I was thrilled to receive an advance review copy of this second book in the series which picks up the story of the lives of the Women’s Institute: the inspirational ladies of Great Paxford. The narrative opens with the funeral of the village’s beloved and much revered GP, Doctor Will Campbell. This allows the reader to reconnect with Teresa, Steph, Sarah, Pat, Frances and Alison and Laura who comprise the main ladies of the WI.

We find our everyday heroines in 1940 as World War Two is still raging and the Luftwaffe have stepped up their nightly bombing campaign of nearby Liverpool., which is bearing the brunt of these ferocious raids. It was an absolute treat to once again immerse myself in the lives of these fabulously endearing characters as they cope with the privations of war whilst each navigating their own personal challenges and individual crises on the Home Front. Simon Block lovingly evokes the detail of this era in a believable and authentic way and it was simply wonderful to read about the ties that bind these characters together, as they face incredible hardships - both as a result of the hostilities and also due to their individual domestic circumstances.

In the author’s note, it is Simon Block’s hope that ‘a return to Great Paxford and its characters proves to be a welcome and rewarding one’. I can wholeheartedly assert that it truly was, and as the book has left the ending open, I am now extremely hopeful that this signals a possible third instalment will be in the offing sometime in the future. For now, I’ll content myself with the Wartime Christmas cake recipe at the end of the book and a fervent hope that ITV will one day also recommission these characters back to the small screen in the TV series, Home Fires. However, not having watched the TV characterisation or read the first novel will be no barrier to enjoying this book as the writer deftly provides background information about each character which is interwoven with their current circumstances. Thank you, Simon Block and Bonnier Zaffre. More from Great Paxford soon, please!