What a great story, i knew as soon as I finished the first chapter it was going to be good.

The story revolves around. Angie, her husband Quentin, and their young daughter Connie.
Set in County Durham in 1949 in a quiet little village Cuthford Manor stands large and proud.
Quentin's parents live with them as do Angie's siblings.

When a tragic accident occurs to one of the family, One family member feels they are owed a higher position.
so goes about plotting a plan and demanding the servants are at their beck and call.

The characters are brilliantly described you felt you knew them. It was a really good book which I enjoyed right to the end.

Good start to a good series

Absolutely loved the shipyard girls so was delighted when the author started a new series. I enjoyed getting to know the new characters, but would have liked to know what happened to the shipyard girls.

The reference at the beginning was a big help, getting a insight into the characters

Although I enjoyed this book as a stand alone read, I felt as if I had missed out on the start of the story having not read any of the previous books in the saga. I must now look out for others and follow the story through. I grew up on the banks of the Tyne with my father working at the shipyards there so it feels as if this is a series I need to get into.

This is first time I have read anything by this author, I realize that a lot of readers do enjoy her books. Sadly for me I found this hard to read, for me it did not flow. I could not get into it. Sadly I gave up.

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Any followers to my blog or reviews will know, that I was a huge fan of Nancy Revell’s Shipyard Girls Saga which spanned 12 books. I was more than delighted to know a new book was coming, and even further excited to know we she was taking gone of the characters and expanding her story.

From being a girl that simply wanted to have fun during the war where she could when she wasn’t welding at a Sunderland Shipyard, we saw her progress and meet Quentin. Their marriage will see Angie finally escape her family, what she doesn’t know is tragedy is just waiting round the corner.

Quentin is the now lord of the manor, Cuthford Manor to be precise and when Angie marries him, and takes her siblings to live there she also encounters more people to share her home and her life. Quentin’s parents are rather an odd couple and there is a divide with how much they like Angie. The archetypal image of a Mother in Law is very prominent and at times made me want to just spit with the nastiness of it all.

There is also the staff, the cook who seems to adapt to a sudden house full again, especially all the children. The groom who looks after the treasured horses and not to mention the countless dogs which seem to run about the manor as if it was there own.

When life is thrown into disarray and there seems to be something going on, that Angie cannot fathom she decides that the best thing to do would be to give up and move away. However as new people have entered her life and her siblings as well as her own daughter, are settled, loved and with a place in the world something they hadn’t had, it seems that perhaps there is a choice after all.

Thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it has all the elements you need, intrigue, wickedness, romance and a great big dollop of the great outdoors. Add in a big house then I was hooked immediately. I was always going to be with a story from Nancy Revell and I was even more delighted to be back with some of the girls from the series before.

What adds to the real characters and writing is you don’t need to have read anything previous to this as it works perfectly as a standalone novel. I cannot wait to see what happens next to all who live in Cuthford Manor.

Another very enjoyable book by Nancy Revell. I enjoyed previous books about The Shipyard Girls. This story is about Angie who we have previously met. It is not essential to have read the previous books to enjoy this one. Angie, from the dockyards marries Quentin who inherited his grandfather's estate. Despite this they are a lovely couple. He welcomed her siblings into their home. Life looks good after the war but nothing goes smoothly. The characters are very well written and it's easy to feel that you know them all.
I read this book in just 2 days as I loved it so much. Highly recommended to those who enjoy women's fiction.

A great story which drew me in immediately. I loved the different characters and the way people dealt with the tough challenges during the war. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

A very good story. Angela has survived the tough workplace of the shipyard and married the man of her dreams.

Thinks don't work out when a tragedy happens which affects all their lives. With the support of her father in law Lloyd, her sisters, brother and her own little girl, Ange is able to pick herself up and face the world.

There's a very wicked person in her life and there are lots of occurrences before Ange can find the happiness which is offered.

Nancy Revell is a good writer. I havn't read the Shipyarf Girls but I will now as my appetite is truly whetted!

This is a follow up book from the absolutely brilliant series of The Shipyard Girls.
That was my all time favourite series so couldn’t wait to read this new book.
If you read the series you will know that Angie a shipyard girl fell madly in love with Quentin.
She came from a working class background & would not commit to him at first as he came from an upper class background.
Love overcame everything & they eventually marry.
The year is now 1949 & they are living at Cuthford Manor Quentin’s family home & life is really good.
A tragic accident happens & Angie is absolutely devastated.
She had some hard decisions to make that could change all their lives forever.
Will the help of her family & the community together with her shipyard friends get her through this impossible situation.
This new book was well worth the wait I absolutely could not put it down.
Brilliantly written with interesting well developed characters it was another page turner for me.
Nancy Revell really knows how to write an interesting captivating heartfelt story.
Hope I don’t have to wait too long for the next.
Loved it.

Loved the story of Angie and her family, her love for Quentin her husband, after a tragic accident she has to rebuild her life and take stock. Should this be at Cuthford Manor or in Australia with her family. The story unfolds and is the most enjoyable book I have read in a while.
My thanks as always to NetGalley for the early read and to Random House UK, Cornerstone, Penguin.

Rating: 4.5 Stars

The Widow’s Choice is the eagerly-awaited new saga from the much-loved author of The Shipyard Girls series: Nancy Revell.

Angie couldn’t believe her luck when she married her beloved Quentin. After all the worry and uncertainty of the Second World War, Angie and Quentin could finally look to the future and to a lifetime of marital bliss together. Moving to the majestic Cuthford Manor is a dream come true for Angie, who had done her bit for the war effort by toiling away at the shipyards of Sunderland. However, just when she had started to become hopeful and optimistic about her life with Quentin, tragedy strikes and Angie is devastated, heartbroken and all on her own.

Angie’s happiness had been snatched away just when it had been within her reach. Forced to start over again, Angie cannot crumble in the face of all this anguish and sorrow. She knows that she needs to continue to forge forward – especially when she is forced to make a decision that will have far-reaching consequences not just for herself, but for the people she cares about the most.

Angie needs to be stronger than she’s ever been before. Her resilience will continue to be tested, but if she trusts her instincts and relies on her family, neighbours and her old friends from the shipyards, there is simply nothing that Angie cannot do, but only if she’s willing to take another stab at her own happiness.

Nancy Revell has got another surefire bestseller on her hands with The Widow’s Choice. Written straight from the heart, this dramatic, emotional and captivating saga is a spellbinding tale that will have readers reaching for their tissues as they find themselves transported to 1949 and to a brilliantly evoked and wonderfully rendered world.

With a strong, relatable and inspirational heroine and plenty of warmth, pathos, wit and charm, The Widow’s Choice is another superb saga from the fabulous Nancy Revell.

I am a HUGE fan of Nancy Revell and her work and I have been for a few years now. In fact I have been a fan of her work ever since I had the good fortune to pick up the first book in 'The Shipyard Girls' series which incidentally is called 'The Shipyard Girls' and which was released in 2016. Since then there have been another 11 books in the series- all of which I thoroughly enjoyed. I feel as though I am an honorary Shipyard Girl and I have been with the girls through all of the highs and lows. The series sadly finished (boo) and since then I have been (im)patiently waiting for Nancy to release another book. Well ladies and gents, the wait is over because Nancy's new book is called 'The Widow's Choice' and it was released on 4th January 2024. It's another amazing book from a superb author. I thoroughly enjoyed reading 'The Widow's Choice' but more about that in a bit.

'The Widow's Choice' is set during 1949 and focuses on Angie, one of the former 'Shipyards Girls' and the life she led after the conclusion of the Second World War. Angie married her boyfriend Quentin and they lived quite happily in the family hall along with Angie's younger siblings. I have to say that it took me a little while to get used to Angie living in such a big house with staff, knowing her family background and the house they lived in. Angie adapts and tries to make the best of things even though obstacles are placed in her way and people aren't always kinds towards her. I don't really want to go too far into what happens as I would hate to spoil the story for anybody. There are cameos from the other Shipyard Girls and their families.

The fact that I saw Nancy's name on the cover of a book that I knew I hadn't read yet was enough to grab my attention. As soon as I started reading, I felt as though I had been transported back to 1949 County Durham. In 1949, County Durham stretched from the River Tees to the River Tyne and did so until the boundaries were reorganised in 1974. Some traditionalists (of which I am one) still stick to that definition and refuse to recognise Tyne & Wear. Sorry that was my little nerdy history lesson for the day. By the time I got to the bottom of the first page of 'The Widow's Choice', I knew that I was doing nothing other than reading for the rest of the afternoon because I knew that I wasn't going to be able to put the book down. I find that Nancy's books prove to be addictive reading. I was spot on with my prediction. I found it impossible to put the book down. I mean my review copy wasn't exactly glued to my hand but it might as well have been because it travelled everywhere with me. I couldn't bear to miss a single second of the story. I always find that the sign of a good book is when I find myself getting far too involved in the story and 'interact' (talking to) with the characters as if they could hear me. That's exactly what happened with 'The Widow's Choice'. I found myself saying the random swearword out loud as I was disgusted by the behaviour of certain people. I was so wrapped up in the story and in the lives of the different characters that I didn't realise just how quickly the time was passing and how quickly I was getting through the book. All too soon, I reached the end of 'The Widow's Choice' and I had to say goodbye to Angie and the rest of the characters. I found 'The Widow's Choice' to be a gripping, emotional and dramatic read, which certainly kept me guessing.

'The Widow's Choice' is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Nancy Revell. Nancy has one of those writing styles that makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. Nancy clearly cares about her characters and this shines through in the very vivid and realistic way in which she describes them. She makes her characters seem just as real as you and I. Indeed, I ended up feeling as though the characters, with a couple of exceptions, had become friends of mine and I genuinely cared about what happened to them. Nancy has clearly done a lot of research into the time period during which the story takes place and this makes the story seem that bit more authentic. I love the fact that the story is once again set in County Durham in the North East of England but then I might be a little bit biased since that is where I live. I especially loved the fact that my home town of Darlington, Co. Durham was mentioned a couple of times- I may have cheered at each mention of Darlington and subsequently made my dogs jump. Reading 'The Widow's Choice' certainly took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride with all the ups and downs, highs and lows and so on. I found myself going through all of the emotions that the different characters went through.

In short, I ADORED reading 'The Widow's Choice' and I wholeheartedly recommend this book to other readers. I hope to read much more of Nancy's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

It took me a while to immerse myself in this story; at one point, I thought I might not finish it. The pace was a little on the slow side. But I am glad I continued reading because when things started to pick up, I had no problem with immersion and soon cared greatly about what was happening.

The widow, Angie has more than her fair share of trials and responsibilities, and at times the book made me feel down. At one point I truly believed that this would be a book that didn't have a happy ending. I am happy to say that I was wrong and as things started to improve for Angie so too did my mood.

Despite the slow start, I think I could happily read more of Nancy Revell's books and am going to look into buying some of her Shipyard Girls series.

This is the start of what is going to be a great series if this first book is anything to go by. It starts off tragically with the death of Angie’s beloved Quentin. Struggling with her grief and the task of looking after her siblings and young daughter Bonnie, Angie then makes her brother Danny’s grief unbearable by selling Ghost Quentin’s horse that Danny is attached to. With a Mother in Law who is eaten up with envy on finding out the Manor House now belongs to Angie after her sons death and not her and her husband she does everything she can to make Angie feel uncomfortable and unaccepted as Lady of the Manor. This book has lots of ups and downs for Angie and her family as she tries to work her way through the grief and to process the best way forward for them all. I was drawn in from page one by all the great characters some you love and others not so much.

Thanks to the Publishers and Netgalley for an early review copy.

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book, it kept me hooked from the beginning.

A beautiful story of both betrayal and love, with twists so that you continue reading to know what happens next.

I recommend this book.

The storyline follows on from The Shipyard Girls series, but it can be read as a standalone. This book is about Angie, who married Quentin. After a freak accident with his horse, Angie is left without a husband.

I always enjoy books set just after the wars, the wartime spiriis still there, and women become more dominant. I enjoyed this book very much.

Thank you for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest opinion

I had not read any of the Shipyard series and thought this was a standalone novel.
However I found it very hard to follow the storyline and found it very slow going.

I live in the North East and thought I would find this interesting and relevant to the area

Sadly it wasn't for me - and does not encourage me to read anymore of the series.

I liked this novel as the heroine is clever and strong, the sense of community is what makes things happens and the villain is a real villain.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is a great book by Nancy Revell. It carries on the story of one of the shipyard girls Angie after she married Quentin and goes to live at Cuthford Manor .Quentin's mother doesn't like Angie and is trying to get Cuthford Manor for herself.This story tells of the troubles Angie goes to to keep the Manor going.Thank you to Netgalley and Random House UK