Wednesday, 19 June 2019

The Teashop Girls by Elaine Everest


"From the opening chapter, the characters leapt into life. I felt as if I had wandered into a real-life Lyons Teashop."


AMAZON UK
AMAZON US 
AMAZON CA


Family Drama
1940s
England

"It is early 1940 and World War Two has already taken a hold on the country. Rose Neville works as a Lyon’s Teashop Nippy on the Kent coast alongside her childhood friends, the ambitious Lily and Katie, whose fiancĂ© is about to be posted overseas in the navy. As war creates havoc in Europe, Rose relies on the close friendship of her friends and her family. When Capt. Benjamin Hargreaves enters the teashop one day, Rose is immediately drawn to him. But as Lyon’s forbids courting between staff and customers, she tries to put the handsome officer out of her mind. In increasingly dark and dangerous times, Rose fears there may not be time to waste. But is the dashing captain what he seems?"

The WWII Lyons teashops - I am not quite old enough to remember them, but I know of them and so it was with great interest that I delved into this novel. And what a fabulous read it was!

From the opening chapter, the characters leapt into life: Lily, Mildred, Rose and Kate. I felt as if I had wandered into a real-life Lyons Teashop. The lives, loves, joys and woes of these delightful young ladies was utterly absorbing and a pleasure to read. The secondary characters were as brilliantly created as the main ones, and as realistically portrayed.

Opening in June 1940, prior to the evacuation of Dunkirk, the story takes us to the seaside towns of Ramsgate and Margate, the daily life of enduring the war is emotionally gripping – and in places vivid and frightening, the author’s descriptive writing of an air raid as an example. 

The scene setting, the detailed research, the use of authentic language (who uses ‘courting’ now for young couples?) the very feel of this charming story made for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

An absorbing tale, written by a gifted storyteller.

© Mary Chapple



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2 comments:

  1. Need to read this - I lived in Margate and Ramsgate and love reading about my old stamping grounds - even if it was 30 years before I lived there!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Elaine attempted to leave a comment - thwarted by Blogger :-) she says 'Oh my! Thank you so much for such a wonderful review. You've made my day/week/month!'
    Elaine Everest xx

    ReplyDelete

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