A Wartime Christmas in the Dales
by Betty Firth
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Pub Date 29 Aug 2024 | Archive Date 13 Aug 2024
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Description
Can the festive cheer warm her heart again?
October 1941. Despite the hardships of life during wartime, Bobby Bancroft has never been happier. Engaged to her airman sweetheart Charlie, living in the beautiful Dales village of Silverdale and gainfully employed at The Tyke magazine, her life seems to be going exactly the way she always hoped it would.
As the festive season approaches, Bobby is recruited to help produce a Christmas pantomime for the evacuee children billeted in the village. The project introduces her to some new friends, including a handsome Canadian, Flying Officer Ernie King, and her friend Topsy’s upper-crust cousin Archie Sumner.
However, fresh troubles arise when Charlie discovers his RAF training is to be cut short and he must prepare to join the fight imminently. What’s more, his upcoming leave has been cancelled, leaving him to spend a lonely Christmas in his barracks. Can a miracle bring Charlie and Bobby together for Christmas?
An absolutely captivating, heart warming and uplifting festive saga that fans of All Creatures Great and Small, Gervase Phinn and Maggie Mason will adore.
Available Editions
EDITION | Ebook |
ISBN | 9781804361955 |
PRICE | £2.99 (GBP) |
PAGES | 400 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc
Another brilliant book on this series
Family Saga, time and Christmas what more could you ask for
Bobby is back and couldn’t be happier with Charlie her dashing RAF pilot still in the Dales and working at the magazine her life is going brilliantly just as she’d hoped.
Christmas is coming and she’s helping to put on a pantomime for the evacuees. She meets some new friends through putting on the pantomime which she needs when Charlie is confined to barracks and is going to be joining the fighting.
Bobby and Charlie are hoping that they can weather the strain of being apart and the loneliness.
Great to catch up with the Silverdale crowd and meeting new friends .
Great series
I loved thus latest instalment in Bobby Bancroft's story. Now well into the war, she and her fellow villagers are doing their best to carry on, despite the men being called up, food on ration, and evacuee children to care for. Bobby's journalistic and investigative skills serve her well as she fights against simply writing a women's page and gets her teeth into something far more important. A pantomime adds some light relief as she worries about her fiance Charlie, seemingly growing more distant, and her friend Topsy who just might be about to marry the wrong man. Plenty of detail make wartime life in the Dales feel very real, whether it's trudging through snow, planning on killing a hen for Christmas dinner, or much more serious matters regarding facial difigurement, homosexuality, or anti Jewish bullying. A bit of a surprise ending that makes me look forward very much to the next book!
A wonderful tale set during wartime and my favourite Christmas! While the war is serious the characters antics and the festive season keep the story lighthearted. I enjoyed the snow and getting into Bobby's life further as details emerge.
The third book I. This series and it did not disappoint. An easy 5 🌟. Bobby Bancroft continues to work for the local paper although has greater aspirations but also still in a relationship with Charlie so knows her job is at risk if she marries. Christmas 1941 approaches so we watch as the scene unravels. Thanks to Betty and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley
This was such a heartfelt story of a beautiful story in the wartime of Christmas. All the feel good, but all the honest feels also. It was wonderful!
This is a delightful read set during WW2. I held back reading it, hoping to find time to read the earlier books in the series, but it didn’t happen. It was fine as a standalone. What could possibly be better than snow, Christmas with diverse characters and an amusing extraordinary engagement party for Norman? Handsome RAF chaps from Canada have made a splash in the village with the ladies and a jolly, festive Pantomime – all set in my idyllic part of the country. By the way, I couldn’t bear to gorge on the adorable Henrietta.
Bobby Bancroft, an inspired reporter of ‘The Tyke’ with innovative ideas, is inwardly beleaguered by anxious worries about her father, who is currently unemployed, suffers shellshock from the Great War in the trenches and has hit the bottle. Her fiancé, Charlie, is inexplicably unhappy. Is he cooling towards her? Lastly, her brother Jake is about to train in bomb disposal. Will the festivities help eradicate her fears, and will they be unfounded?
Thank you to NetGalley and Hera.
October 1941
In spite of the war Bobby Bancroft is happy. She is engaged to Charlie, an airman, lives in the Dales village of Silverdale and is a reporter on The Tyke magazine.
She is involved in the production of the village pantomime and has made new friends through this.
Then Charlie has his Christmas leave cancelled as Pearl Harbour happens and his training becomes reality.
Will Bobby have a Happy Christmas?
this is a book in a series, but can be read as standalones. I love the setting and likeable characters. sweet book.
Picking up a Silverdale story feels like coming home. The setting is so well described that it feels completely real, and the cast of characters are brilliantly drawn and utterly believable, flaws and all. There was less romance for Bobby in this book but that gave us the opportunity to see her struggles as a modern young woman trying to find her place in a changing world. I particularly enjoyed meeting some new characters in this book and I hope we see more of Archie and Ernie in the future. There were some heartbreaking moments in this book concerning Topsy and Lil but I won’t give any spoilers! The ending was totally unexpected and I can’t wait to see where the next book takes Bobby now! This series is a must-read for me.
Amazing storyline, loved the setting and the characters and as always Betty has come up trumps, once you start you can’t put it down
Such a heartwarming read. Written with feeling, especially Teddy’s story.
Bobby is keeping occupied with her job at the Tyke while fiancée Charlie is away training with the RAF. Bobby is excited to meet up with Charlie when he is stationed nearby, this excitement is dampened when she realises that there is something bothering him. Can she use her prowess as a reporter to do something for all involved! Topsy Summer Walsh decides that she needs to do something for the evacuees in the village, she ropes her friends to each take a part in a pantomime. This is described so beautifully, causing laughter as you read.
I felt there was a fine mix of sad, happy and excitement. My favourite characters were Topsy, Jessie and Teddy. Least favourite has to be squadron leader Hunt.
I have so enjoyed this series and look forward to the authors next book.