A thoroughly enchanting and enjoyable novel, telling the stories of three sisters in France during the war. It’s engrossing. Telling the story of resistance, and love and life, I found it totally absorbing and felt transported to their world and their little village.

I am very much looking forward to the second novel

Dinah Jeffries' The Red Tent is one of my favourite books, so I was really excited to receive this arc. A really beautiful tale of love, loss, courage and sisterly affection, I really enjoyed Daughters of War, and will be sure to recommend it to friends and family on its release.

This was an enjoyable Second World War family drama set in Vichy France during the latter years of the War. The beautiful scenery of the Dordogne is wonderfully described and almost becomes another character in the book. The author has obviously done a lot of research about this area or visited in the past- the notes at the back revealed this as Daughters Of War was written during the Pandemic when no travel was possible.
It is about 3 sisters living in a rural house in a small village. With a French mother and an English father, Helene, Florence and Elise have somehow ended up in France whilst their widowed Mother is spending the War in England. Helene is the eldest and although only a few years older than her sisters in her mid 20s , she has taken on the role of mother figure. She works as a nurse for the local doctor, Elise has a cafe and is active in the resistance whilst Florence cooks and looks after their garden providing food at a difficult time when everything is rationed.
There is romance, danger and family intrigue in this story which was easy to read. The wartime setting during the occupation means that some awful things happen and the author does not shirk from describing these. Florence has a particularly hard time, when events beyond her control threaten to overwhelm her. I liked the way the sisters all supported each other despite being very different characters.
I realised at the end that this is part of a trilogy of novels and I look forward to reading more about the Baudin sisters in the future. This was an enjoyable page turner which I definitely recommend.
Thanks to NetGalley and the Harper Collins for my arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first Dinah Jeffries book that I have read & won’t be the last. This is the first in a series of three books I believe, the downside of which is this book doesn’t fully conclude, a few lose ends which I’m sure will be tied up in the following books!

The book is written from the perspective of three sisters Helene, Elise & Florence who are living alone in France whilst it is under German control. I am a fan of historical fiction, especially books set during WW2 & this didn’t disappoint.

Thanks to netgalley & the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A great read. This is a fantastic story set in France and it has everything you would want from a novel. The three sisters who are the main characters are fantastic and each of them have their own stories ,which are inspiring and heartbreaking. There is so much drama including friendships, secrets and lies, romance and when you add in the history of the war it makes for a fabulous read. I'm so pleased there are two more books in this series.

A moving and atmospheric book, which had me drawn in straight away! The story of three sisters and their lives living in France during the second World War. Dinah as always, wrote with passion and understanding and made the characters and their troubles/lives very real.

Have literally just finished this book and feel quite emotionally drained! Three sisters in the beautiful Dordogne area of France during WW2. Left to cope alone by their French mother, the eldest Helene feels responsible for her two younger sistersI Elise, the feisty one who is helping with the resistance and Florence the youngest, faye, country loving and a wonderful cook! Beautifully written with so much pathos, I was there with the girls feeling every different emotion, I could envisage the beautiful countryside, feel the horror inflicted by the Nazis, the cameraderie between the villagers and also their terror! I could not put it down and then when I reached the conclusion I was mortified! I needed to know more - what would happen to the three sisters now? Would Florence reach safety? Would Elise be OK? What was Jack hiding? So many unanswered questions! Imagine my great relief when I read the acknowledgements! This wonderful story is just the first in a trilogy! Please, please hurry and publish the second!

I had such high hopes for this book and it certainly had a lot of potential. The three sisters, Helene, Elise and Florence are living in occupied France in 1944, inhabiting a small farm house on the outskirts of a small village in Dordogne.

The sensible, eldest Helene, the rebellious middle child Elise and the innocent dreamer, youngest Florence. There are lots of vivid descriptions of the lush countryside and the idyllic surroundings but for me, the magic ends there.

The sisters face the horrors of war but the events read like Emotions for Dummies. When sensible Helene does something daring, the author spends far too much time pointing out that this is something Helene wouldn’t normally do. I get it, she’s branching out.

Men appear in and out of their lives and over a course mere hours these supposedly independent living ladies form such strong attachments to these men that they are suddenly incapable of thinking about anything else. The author really did the sisters a disservice by reducing them to bags of emotions that can only be soothed by the presence of a man.

Elise’s work with the Resistance is glossed over and played out outside the main narrative, she merely goes off on a mission and comes back with no more than a few words dedicated to her work.

All in all, this had so much promise but fell flat on its face.

ARC courtesy of NetGalley

Another moving well written book by Dinah Jeffries as usual I was drawn right in.Each character came alive there were so many emotions.Even as the story ended I wanted to spend more time in this world so happy it’s first in a series.Will be recommending.#netgalley#harpercollinukfiction

A wonderful absorbing read. Set in France in the tail end of WWII, the story unfolds around three sisters, struggling to make sense of themselves and their place in life while under Nazi occupation. Helene, a nurse, is the caretaker of the family, looking out for her sisters’ welfare, often the sake of her own happiness, something their mother, safe in England and distant in more than geography, never seemed to do. Elise, the middle daughter, runs a letter drop for the resistance through her cafe, a danger that fills her with excitement made even more thrilling by her love for a local resistance fighter, Victor. The youngest sister, Florence, is young, naïve, a dreamer, and finds the most peace in her garden and creative ways to make their food stores stretch. But the war won’t let them alone and the arrival of an English SEO, a German deserter, and a German translator sets all three of them on paths they would never have imagined.

Told from the perspective of all three sisters, the story views the war and occupation from different angles and threads that make up the occupation. It’s filled with accurate details that leave no doubt about the horrors of war and told in such a compelling and nuanced manner the reader can’t look away. Threads of the past are deftly woven in as well to enhance the poignancy and complexity of the story. It’s a classy, classic Jeffries novel full of the usual evocative descriptions of place and the arresting colours and scents of the novel’s location. I look forward to the next book in the series.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Collins for the opportunity to review. I enjoyed this book and would read the sequels. It gives insight into the lives of French people during the occupation and how they tried to go about their daily lives under terrible circumstances. It was very descriptive and the reader is plunged into the beauty and tranquillity of the Dordogne. However,beside the beauty there was dreadful brutality and there is a real feeling of underlying menace. Very readable if you like WW2 background.

Beautifully descriptive of the Périgord Noir, (Dordogne), ‘Daughters of War’ is set in 1944 during a time of great turbulence, with France under German occupation.

Hélène, Elise and Florence are three sisters living together with the uncertainty and terror of occupation, and being the eldest, Hélène sees it as her job to keep her sisters safe. However, that becomes increasingly difficult as the Allies come seeking their help.

Author, Dinah Jefferies, is a brilliant observer of the minutiae of everyday life and scalpel sharp when it comes to describing the effects of war, of invasion and occupation, something that destroys communities and families and often disrupts the development of the social and economic fabric of a country, whilst at the same time she reminds us of the life saving importance of family, friendship and love.

With terrific characters, and a wonderful storyline, I don’t really want to say too much about this one, other than, it is without question, one my favourite reads of 2021, and worth every one of those 5 stars! Just beautiful.

I have read and reviewed many of Dinah Jefferies books but the Daughters of War doesn't (to me) stand up to her previous novels. Dinah has developed a style, mainly with the female characters, where the character's thoughts usually contain a juxtapose element. Something like, 'Her mood brightened when she stepped outside the cottage door and took in the heady scent of woodbine climbing up the trellis but the drone of bees reminded her of that fateful bombing raid..... ' Anyway, she described a lovely soul, Florence, a hedge witch type character, a free spirit with goodness at the very centre of her being. What happens to her I won't begin to describe because it's so sickening. It shocked me as I cannot remember anything quite as horrifically described in any of Dinah's previous works. So for lovers of her novels, be warned! The novel succeeds in giving balance to the whole occupation story and was an engaging read but a slight change in writing style would keep continuing readers coming back for more.

"Daughters of War" is the first book of a trilogy about 3 French/English sisters and set in the Dordogne in 1944. Unfortunately this means that there are loose ends at the end of the book but, conversely there are two more to look forward to. I have read most of Dinah Jefferies books and this one is up there with the best of them. The women all have very different personalities and fit in to village life in different ways. This was a trying time for those living in rural France, especially when rumours of liberation encouraged more to join the Resistance, bringing serious reprisals when Germans were killed.

A great read, especially for those who enjoy novels set during WW2.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

A sweeping tale of three very different sisters at the end of the Second World War in occupied France. I enjoyed the different personalities portrayed and thought it was well written. I did find the reference to a box of tissues a little unlikely for the time but otherwise a good read.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book, as I have all of Dinah's books. I couldn't see how the ends were going to tie up, only to discover this is the first of a trilogy. I'll definitely be buying the next 2 books.

I knew I had to read this book as soon as I saw Jeffries’s name on the cover. There is no better author writing historical fiction today. In this first in a new series, three sisters in war weary France in 1944 have to summon up hidden reservoirs of bravery as they are called upon to help Allied troops fight the Nazis who have taken control of France. As always, Jeffries paints scenes so vividly you will feel like you are there

Daughters of War is the first book in a family saga set in the last two years of WWII. It follows the lives of three sisters living in a small village in the Dordogne which is part of Vichy France.
The setting of this story is brilliant. The village of Sante Cecile and its inhabitants really comes alive as well as the area around the village. The narrative is split between the three sisters and at first, I found it difficult to really feel involved with them. However, as the story progressed and they become more and more involved with the local resistance and the occupying forces, I became engrossed with each of the characters and their role in the story.
Each of the three sisters, Helene, Elise and Florence have distinct characters and have very different feelings about the war and their part in it. This leads to friction between them but above all, they are family and their love for each other shines through all of their difficulties. The plot lines weave in and out and each of the sisters is challenged by events and has to face up to unforeseen difficulties. Wanting to find out how each part turns out makes the book really hard to put down.
This is an engrossing book about how the war affected one village and one family in particular. I look forward to reading the sequel.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for allowing me to read this in return for an honest review.

With grateful thanks to Harper Collins netgalley and lastly Dinah Jefferies, for an outstandingly poignant tale.
The story of 3 sisters is unfurled before us and what a journey and this is only the beginning, a tale of love loss fear intrepidation hatred and that's just for starters.
The sisters having had a rather strange upbringing find themselves in the Dordogne area during ww2 in there family summer home there father has passed away and there mother in England for reasons we found out parts during book 1.
The 3 girls have to get on a do the best they can,I want to give nothing away but this book had me sitting on the edge of my seat willing them on its a real page Turner of a book and can't wait for the next instalment.
Dinah Jefferies has excelled herself in this outstandingly beautiful book.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in return for an honest review.

What can I say about this book? Except that I could not put it down from the moment I started reading it.

Full of suspense, mystery, intrigue, romance,, as well as soaring and beautiful descriptions of the Dordogne area of France, Daughters Of The War will get you gripped from the first to the last page.

Helene, Elise and Florence are sisters, living in Sainte Cecile, a village on the Dordogne area of France. France is at war, the Nazis control the entire country. He
Helene has had to be mother and father to her sisters since their mother left them there for England seven years earlier. Unable to return to England, the sisters make a life for themselves. Their lives seem far removed from the actual front line, yet all of their lives will be touched and changed by the war.
Each will have to make decisions, hard decisions that will impact their lives irrevocably.
There are a.so secrets from the past which will come back to impact them in devastating ways.

The descriptions of the loveliness of the area took me to those places. I sat and watched as Florence dug her garden, as Helene tended to patients, as Elise worked in her cafe, really a cover for the resistance. The beauty of France in stark contrast to the horror of war and its effects on ordinary people will stay on my mind for a long time.

This is the first in a series, recounting the lives of the three sisters. I greatly look forward to reading the next book in this series.