Wartime for the Chocolate Girls by Annie Murray

 Wartime for the Chocolate Girls

 by Annie Murray

Wartime for the Chocolate Girls by Annie Murray was published on 13th April 2023 by Pan Mcmillan. My thanks to the author and publisher for sending me a copy to review and Random Book Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Synopsis

April 1941.

Almost losing her life in a bomb blast while serving in the Women's Volunteer Service has made Ann Gilby take stock of what's really important - her family.

With daughter Sheila back home, and Joy still working munitions at the Cadbury factory and engaged to her soldier sweetheart, home life feels more settled too. Ann has even come to an uneasy truce with her husband, Len, despite her recent discovery of his infidelity and the fact that he has fathered a child with another woman.

But what Ann has not reckoned with is, Marianne, Len’s other woman, turning up on her doorstep - a woman with a mysterious past.

Only Ann has secrets of her own and one day soon she knows she will have to tell her youngest child, Martin, who his father really is . . .

From Annie Murray, the bestselling author of Chocolate Girls, The Bells of Bournville Green and Secrets of the Chocolate Girls, Wartime for the Chocolate Girls is a gritty family saga about love, war and chocolate . . .

My review

For fans of The Chocolate Girls this next instalment in the lives of Ann and Len will not disappoint. Even though Ann has a secret from the past the novel is based around the members of her family and how they respond to knowing her secret, plus finding out about Len's mistress and the fact that he has fathered a child with her. The warmth and affection you have for the family is created through Anne's empathetic way of writing which draws you into the lives, and reactions, of the family as events unfurl around them. Each of the women is different and you feel as though you come to know them personally, understanding their feelings and how they behave as they come to terms with the changes they experience in their lives.

As with the earlier stories this is a story told with love and compassion, whilst also giving a realisation into how a war-torn Britain did affect people and the relationships they had...

This is a story about strong women and the strength and importance of friendship. However, there are also times when you want to shake some of them and say " Stop, look at what you are doing and be a strong woman in your own right "

The twists and turns within the lives of the women weave themselves in complicated patterns throughout the novel in many different ways, along with the hidden secrets some of the women keep.

Annie Murray has a way of drawing you into her stories; so much so that there are times when you feel as as though Ann could be one of your next door neighbours during the war and you understand everything she has to go through with her family  plus Tom !!!.

This is a story of love and emotion, confusion and exhilaration. The story of a family coming to terms with changes in relationships, the stark reality of the effects of war. But above all , the strength of love and friendship.

A definite 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 read

About the Author

Annie Murray was born in Berkshire and read English at St John's College, Oxford.

Her first Birmingham novel, Birmingham Rose, hit The Sunday Times bestseller list when it was published in 1995.

She has subsequently written many other successful novels, including War Babies and Girls in Tin Hats and the bestselling novels Chocolate Girls, Sisters of Gold and Black Country Orphan.

Annie has four children, all Birmingham born and she lives near Oxford.