The story is set in wartime around a department store
The pace was slow but did speed up
This is the fourth book in the series

This is the fourth book in the Harper Girls series and it’s another great read. It’s set during WW 1 and whilst some of the girls are still working at Harpers Maggie has left to become a nurse abroad to help the war effort. All the girls are still as United as ever and many of the men folk are now gone to fight in the war. There are tears and laughter in which is an emotional read at times.

Harper’s is a departmental store in London. Sally was an employee but she married the boss. Her husband is needed for war work so Sally has to keep things going. The employees are more like an extended family but this is a tough time and more of them leave to support the war effort. This story follows the Harper’s Heroes as they do their bit whether it’s keeping the store going, looking after their families without their menfolk or serving abroad.
I always enjoy novels written by Rosie Clarke and would recommend this book.

More in the series of the Harpers girls. It is wartime and the store is still going along as the men and women struggle to get through it. Life and death come to call and through it all the Harpers girls help keep each other’s spirits up.

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

Love this series the characters their stories, Rosie Clarke writes so beautifully I’ve loved each of the books in the series.As World War One gets closer the women at Harpers work ,support love each other following each of their stories keeps me turning the pages late into the night.#netgalley #boldwoodbooks

London, 1915.

Harpers is struggling to keep inventory and stock to get through the dark days of World War I. Sally Harper’s commitment to the Emporium is unflagging but despite husband Ben off on war assignments, and a new infant who needs her, she is determined to contribute to the cause.

Maggie Gibbs trains as a nursing assistant and ships off to France and faces the horrors of the battlefields. Exhausted and overcome, she suffers a heart-wrenching blow when her fighter pilot fiancé’s plane is shot down.

Beth Burrow misses her husband Jack, who is in the Navy fighting at sea. Wondering if she will ever see him again and be able to have a life and family together, time passes ever so slowly.

This is the first book in the Harpers series that I read…but I’ll be going back to read them all. Harpers Heroes has the perfect backstory balance – no sense of being lost or missing out. Wonderful, warm characters; loved them instantly. Beautiful, touching storylines. Skillful and thorough historical research by Rosie Clarke.

I’m hooked on Harpers.

Historical Fiction fans are going to eat this series up.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the read of Rosie Clarke’s, Harpers Heroes.

Opinions expressed are my own.

First Initial Thoughts

In this story, there were quite a few character’s stories involved. So I will only touch on the main characters.

Sally is newlywed with a young baby. She is very happy with Ben and helps run the shop, Harper’s. Harper’s specializes in a variety of goods, I kind of associated it to kind of like a Macy’s but smaller. Her husband Ben has volunteered to serve in the war. That is one thing I forgot about the first world war. The men in England volunteered to be in the war and were not drafted. I found that to be interesting and that many were up to the job of serving their country.

Beth works with Sally at Harper’s. She is married to a man named Jack and he also serves in the war- in the Navy. She is constantly worried about her husband because of the many ship sinkings during the war. It was interesting to learn that the Germans sank so many ships- even merchant ships that were not affiliated with one’s army.

Maggie is a young girl who has signed up to be a nurse in the army. She has signed up to go on a six-month tour to serve as a nurse at a hospital on the front lines. She is ecstatic but also worried about her boyfriend, Tim. They both wanted to get married but Maggie wanted to wait. She wanted to pursue her desire to be a nurse and then settle down. However, when Maggie starts to be a nurse will she regret her decision?

Setting

Rosie got the setting just right. The tension, emotions, heartbreaks, and love could be felt throughout the entire novel. And that is hard to get just right as an author. Even though the novel took place in different parts of the world, I felt like all the characters were connected in some way. I also haven’t read many novels written during WWI, so it was interesting to learn more about that war and how it impacted everyone in the novel.

Final Thoughts

What I enjoyed about this novel the most is that even though each character had their own story and life events, each of them somehow connected. This made it apparent how the war affected everyone. It was astonishing to learn the facts of WWI and how each country was affected. And not only did the soldiers have to face regular combat but the mustard gas that the Germans brought in. It was a horrific war and this story really touched on that.

That brings me to Maggie’s story. I really felt for Maggie. I think out of all the girls, she suffered the most. She traveled to a whole new country to serve as a nurse on the front lines. To imagine all the horrors she had to see and treat. It must have taken a lot of courage and strength to make it through. Apparently, there were actually quite a few nurses that did the exact same thing so it was interesting to learn a piece of history that is often not told.

This story also emphasized how people come together and work together when times are tough. During the first world war, there were many shortages in food, clothing, etc. Harper’s somehow made it work by not only providing goods but company for those that served in the war. I think Maggie inspired Sally in helping out in the war in some way. It was really inspiring to see how each of the women contributed to serving their country in some way.

I enjoyed this heartfelt story about Harper’s shop and the woman who made it through the war with courage and strength.

Although Harpers Heroes is the fourth book in the series, it’s the first I’ve read. I would call this a stand-alone novel as I never felt like I was missing information from the previous books.

Set during World War 1, the story follows the intricate lives of the Harpers Emporium girls. The main characters struggle with love, loss, and the many difficulties of living in London during this period of time.

The author’s research shines through on every page of the book. No detail is too small if it helps set the tone and furthers the story. Kudos to Rosie Clarke for bringing this story to life so vividly. The emotions reach out from the page to squeeze your heart.

I recommend Harpers Heroes to lovers of historical fiction, war dramas, family, and coming of age fiction. If you have the opportunity, please read more books in this series.

Harpers Heroes continues best-selling author Rosie Clarke’s superb series about the brave women working at a London department store during the First World War. Whether this is your first visit to Harpers or you are a regular visitor, you are sure to be completely and utterly absorbed by this fantastic historical saga.

Everybody’s life had changed beyond all recognition when war was declared. Husbands, brothers, fathers and sons had all signed up to defeat the enemy leaving the women behind to keep the home fires burning. Anguish, despair and heartache have become regular companions to everybody all around the world and the staff at Harpers department store are no different. With her husband working all hours at the War Office, Sally has had to step up and shoulder all the responsibilities that come with running a busy department store. But are Sally’s efforts enough? Is she up to running the business when there are so many obstacles standing in her way? Can Sally prove to all of her doubters – and herself – that she is more than capable of running Harpers? Or is she destined to fail?

With her husband Jack away at sea with the Merchant Navy, Beth Burrow is beside herself with worry. Every day she wonders whether she will receive the news she has long been dreading and whether her dream of having a child will ever come true. Will Beth’s marriage be a casualty of war? Or will luck be on their side and Jack will return to her unscathed? Now working as a nursing assistant in France, Maggie Gibbs has to contend with tragedy every single exhausting hour of her day. However, when tragedy hits far too close to home, will Maggie ever know happiness again? Or will she never recover from this catastrophic calamity?

The stakes have never been higher for the Harpers girls. Will they end up losing everything? Or will hope find a way to triumph – even during wartime?

Rosie Clarke, as always, writes with great flair and heart and in Harpers Heroes, she has penned a brilliant tale of hope, survival and resilience that is poignant, emotional, atmospheric and impossible to put down. Full of wonderfully nuanced characters you cannot help but care for and root for, humour, drama and pathos, Harpers Heroes is a superb wartime saga from Rosie Clarke’s immensely gifted pen.

I have followed the Harper Series since book one and I just keep loving each of the book more and more. The writing as I have come to expect from Rosie Clarke is always exceptional, well-written, amazing and complex characters I have come to love both old and new, and well-researched. I enjoyed the time period of early 1900's WWI and the comings and goings of the everyday life of people and how they are affected by the war as it continues to last in the setting of London and Oxford Street at the Emporium.

In this installment the Harper Girls are coming to the realities of the horrors of the war and even experiencing this first hand. Everyone seems to be feeling the effects of the war and most especially Maggie as she is in the front lines as a nurse assistant, but each one of the Harper Girls are suffering at through their own ways. These ladies are certainly heroes.

Amazing writing that just gets better and better. This one was so heart wrenching and a really amazing read of a time so harrowing and yet the Harper Girls seem to always know how to bring hope around this tumultuous times. A tear jerker of a read, and so well done. I really oved it!

Lovely to be back with the Harpers story, The four main female characters are still connected to the London store but several now have other interests and missions in life. Happy and sad times brought about by the war are part and parcel of this great novel. I give this 5 stars and hope that there will be more books coming to follow this series. Great read and well worth buying this book.

Having read the first three books, I was delighted when Net Galley approved my request for book 4. Reading this book was like catching up with an old friend - all the original characters, their relationships and lives followed on throughout and this particular storyline was based during 1914 and the war. Loved the continuing connection with Harper’s store and the staff that work there. It’s such a lovely and absorbing story to follow and even though it’s book 4 the author is very clever in gently reminding you of their connection and past history.

Loved this book a d would highly recommend

Harpers Heroes is the fourth book in the Harpers Emporium series by Rosie Clarke. You don't have to have read the other books in the series first but if you have, or do, then you will have a better 'relationship' with the recurring characters and will appreciate their plights that much more.

In this book the people of Harpers Emporium and those with friendships and family ties to them find themselves dealing with living during the first world war. We follow their lives as their men do their various duties fighting, liaising and spying for their country. The women featured are nursing or doing their part to keep Harpers running. but we all know just how much all the women during the war did their bit in every way they could to keep the country going while the men were fighting abroad.

This book made me run the whole gamut of emotions. There were deaths and near-deaths that had me anxious or in tears. There were weddings and budding romances that made me smile. There were lighthearted moments that had me laughing. On the whole, there was just this intense sense of knowing that although these were fictional characters their stories could easily be written about the real people that lived through the war. It made this book one of the most meaningful in the series for me.

I am very much looking forward to the next in the series because I need to know what happens next for the wonderful characters of Harpers Emporium and their loved ones.

I loved this story, I have read a few books by this author now and she never disappoints and this was a pleasure to read.

This book had everything I look for in a book in this genre - it was well written, the characters were excellent and very well developed and the setting was perfect - I love this period of time and this was a great fictional saga - one I would definitely recommend!

The plot is well planned out and I loved being taken back in time, the author clearly know her topic and she brought it to life her.

It is 5 stars from me for this one, it is wonderful story, well written and has some fabulous characters - one I very highly recommend!

Harpers Heroes by Rosie Clarke is the fourth book in the Harpers Emporium series. A great series in which each and every book can be read as a standalone. My advice is read them all in sequence, if only for the fact that this a fab saga and it is just like sitting down with old friends everytime I start to read another book about the department stoare and all the staff.
This time the people of Harpers Emporium and everyone who is connected in some way to the store find themselves dealing with living during the first world war. While the men are away doing their bit for the way the women are either nursing or keeping Harpers Emporium running. This was a time when women kept the country going while the majority of the men fought or did something for the war.
I feel that this book out of all the series is the most meaninful one. We go from the tragedy of deaths that brought tears to my eyes all the way to the lighthearted moments that had me chuckling. It could actually be a book about real people living through the war it is that good of a read.
Roll on the next book in the series so I can see what these characters are getting up to next.
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources, netgalley and Boldwood Books for the copy of ths book so I could write my review today

Touching on life, death, happiness, sadness, comradeship, and the struggles of war, Harpers Heroes is far from discouraging. The associates of Harper’s Emporium, despite the hard times, are inspiring, dedicated, and determined.

Taking place During WWI London, the setting is strong and emotional. The scenes are vivid, the characters are believable, and the story is strong. Life during war is portrayed realistically, and I found myself emotional across many pages of this story.

I have the previous books of this series but haven’t read them yet. Yikes! I’m not one to read a series out of order, but I started reading this one and couldn’t put it down. I’m looking forward to reading the others and finding out more of these heartwarming and memorable characters.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Rachel’s Random Resources.

I have been a fan of Rosie’s work for a while now. I haven’t quite caught up with everything that she has written but I am getting there. I keep pace with her new releases and when I have a space I read one of her earlier works. ‘Harpers Heroes’ is Rosie’s latest release and it is another cracking addition to the ‘Harpers Emporium’ series. I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Harpers Heroes’ but more about that in a bit.
It didn’t take me long at all to get into ‘Harpers Heroes’. Just the fact that Rosie Clarke’s name was on the cover was enough to grab my attention and when I realised that it was the fourth book in the ‘Harpers Emporium’ series, I knew that I had to read it just as soon as I could. I made the fatal mistake of starting to read this book shortly before I went to bed. I became so wrapped up in the story that I read for a solid couple of hours and I had to force myself to switch the light off. This was one of those books that stayed with me even when I wasn’t reading it, as I kept thinking about the different characters and the scenarios that they found themselves in. For me, reading this book was like watching an episode of a period drama. I was desperate to find out how the story concluded and so I raced through this book at speed. I soon got to the end and I had to bid farewell to the ‘Harpers’ crowd and their loved ones.
‘Harpers Heroes’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing else from Rosie Clarke. She has a way of grabbing your attention from the start and then draws you into what proves to be an emotive read that will affect even the hardest of hearts. Rosie’s writing style is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. I found ‘Harpers Heroes’ to be an atmospheric piece of historical fiction that made me feel as though I had travelled back in time to the era of the First World War, which is an era that fascinates me. I was gripped by the story from start to finish and on the edge of my seat throughout. ‘Harpers Heroes’ was a delight to read and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
In short, I adored reading ‘Harpers Heroes’ and I would definitely recommend this book and this series to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Rosie’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

Set in 1915, England is caught up in the height of wartime, the women at home doing what they can to support their men from afar and to keep themselves distracted from looming disaster. As always, the focus of the Harpers Emporium series remains on the female shopgirls that opened the store, their abiding friendship, and the lives of those they affect.

Sally Harper, the boss’s wife, and new mother to their little girl, balances running the day-to-day business of Harpers Emporium while worrying for her husband, Ben, and his new career working for the War Office.

Beth Burrows immerses herself in her work at Harpers to distract from her concern for her husband, Jack. At sea with the Merchant Navy, she goes weeks without word from him, fear for his safety ever present.

Rachel Bailey is newly-married, her happiness only shadowed by the frequent trips her William must make as part of the war effort. Thank goodness for good friends and trips to the hospital to comfort wounded soldiers with Sally.

Maggie Gibbs, the youngest of the original Harpers quartet, made the decision to leave the shop, and her friends, and all she knows really, to join the volunteer nurses on the front. It’s grueling work but Maggie knows she must do all she can do to give hope to those soldiers fighting for their lives and their country.

Marion Kaye, the newest hire in the lady’s department, is already part of the Harpers family. With her mother gone, her father who-knows-where, and her older brothers all off at war, her younger siblings’ care falls heavy on her shoulders. It doesn’t help that her boyfriend, Reggie, has signed up to fight as well.

Mr. Marco, Harpers resident window dresser, gives us a glimpse at the warfront, having retired from his position to volunteer to fight and being placed undercover by his superiors. Though removed from the heat of battle, Marco’s job is no less dangerous, his assignment placing him up close and personal with the German soldiers his fellow recruits combat.

Clearly thoroughly researched, the world of the story is quite fleshed out. With nitty-gritty details of the daily department grind of Harpers -- prices and stock and all -- to an in-depth timeline of the events of the war, the author is obviously a fan of the time.

I would caution any unsuspecting readers that this story is set in 1915 through and through; there are multiple instances of sexist and misogynist comments and similar internalized beliefs of the time sprinkled throughout this book and the others in the series. For example, without naming who, one of the women finds herself at the doctor to confirm a suspected pregnancy, and her male physician states, in all seriousness, “I hope you will take the time to enjoy motherhood. . .It is, after all, a woman’s proper function.” And the woman in question responds with gusto, thrilled to have a child after multiple misfortunes of many kinds.

Interesting to have such outdated beliefs combined with a very progressive and accepting view of LGBTQ+ characters. It’s a unique contrast of old world ideas with modern knowledge.

The best part of this series, evident throughout, is the strength of the girls’ friendship. Each woman is willing to do anything for any of the others; it’s a beautiful thing. Bonded by both their time at Harpers and their mutual worry for their respective men on the front, the Harpers girls have a deeper bond than ever before.

The book ends with no true resolution, the door wide open for future sequels. Though we have glimmers of hope and a few happy “beginnings” for some of the novel’s many couples, there are just as many groupings that have yet to be reunited. The war is ongoing, after all.

Though helpful to have read the previous three novels, it is not necessary to read the entire series to follow the events of this installment. With a cast of characters that grows exponentially with each new novel, the revolving perspectives fill in the blanks meticulously.

My biggest criticism would be that this book, along with all previous installments of the Harpers Emporium series, feels like a collection of events rather than a story with a plot and purpose. A decent enough read for those who care only for historical details rather than a gripping work of fiction. I left feeling rather blasé about the girls’ plights; though told by the narrative I should care, the story was ineffective at affecting.

Thanks to the publishers for providing a copy of the book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

I have read the other books in this series and so was delighted to continue to share their lives. This book often takes us away from Harpers store and across the channel. We see characters such as Maggie and Marco in a totally different environment and share their struggles, whilst still connecting with those back home and still running the store.

A great mix of domestic life, store life and the war. Written in a way that is easy to read and make you feel as if you are there. I can not wait for the next one because thee are so many unanswered questions still to resolve.