Happy publication day, Kate Thompson! It is an honour to be kicking off the blog tour today for ‘Secrets of the Homefront Girls’. Huge thanks to Hodder for the blog tour invite and ARC. Here is my review:
Stratford, 1939.
Britain may be at war, but on the home front keeping up morale and keeping up appearances go hand in hand. For the young women working on the lipstick production line at Yardley’s cosmetics factory, it’s business as usual.
Headstrong Renee Gunn is the queen of the lipstick belt – although her cheeky attitude means she’s often in trouble. When Esther, an Austrian refugee, arrives at Yardley’s, it’s Renee who takes her under her wing and teaches her to be a true cockney.
But outside of the factory, things are more complicated. Lily, Renee’s older sister, has suddenly returned home after six years away, and is hiding a dark secret. Meanwhile Esther is finding life in England more difficult than expected, and it’s not long before Renee finds herself in trouble, with nowhere to turn.
In the face of the Blitz, the Yardley girls are bound together by friendship and loyalty – but could the secrets they are hiding be the biggest danger of all?
What does TWG think?
Kate Thompson is my go to author for historical fiction, without a doubt. I have never read a historical novel with such grit and factual beauty like the ones Thompson writes, and ‘Secrets of the Homefront Girls’ is no exception.
Set in 1939, during WWII, ‘Secrets of the Homefront Girls’ tells the story of Renee, Lily and Esther, aka the Yardley girls. What I loved most about this book was the fact that, whilst we are aware of what the soldiers endured in the war and what not, we never really hear about what happened behind the scenes so to speak. I know that a cosmetics factory isn’t really behind the scenes of a war as such, however it still had a large role in showing readers how the war affected businesses that may or may not have been directly affected by any shortages.
Renee, deary me..! I loved her character and her fiestiness, but I just knew it was going to get her into trouble somehow. She acted like she didn’t care, yet I could tell a mile off that it was mostly bravado. Deep down she wanted to succeed and do well, and I felt that she knew that too…..she just didn’t know how to. Either that or she felt that she wasn’t worthy of a happily ever after like her sister, Lily.
Kate Thompson is a phenomenal storyteller who takes facts and turns them into a story which ends up touching every inch of your soul. It’s always hard reading a story set during a time where people lost the ones they loved, however the empathy this author showed, despite not focusing directly on the lost lives, was incredibly moving.
‘Secrets of the Homefront Girls’ is a compelling, magnetic read which allows you to touch up your lippy whilst being taken on a journey of self discovery at the same time. A thoroughly enjoyable, indepth and fascinating read.
The Writing Garnet 