For All the Bright Promise

by Elizabeth Lord

When her hero, Matt, joins the army in 1939, Maggie disentangles herself from her clinging mother in order to do her bit for the war effort by becoming a nurse. Her new-found skills give her fresh confidence. The next time Matt encounters her he will see a very different girl. Maggie has been in love with the handsome and successful Matthew Ward since she was sixteen, the trouble is he sees her as the girl-next-door, just one of his friends. When war breaks out in 1939 Matthew leaves home and joins the army. Maggie disentangles herself from her clinging mother and decides to train as a nurse. And so by chance she discovers her vocation and her confidence grows. She looks forward to Matthew returning and seeing the change. But when he does Matthew brings his own bombshell - a wife. But the times are unpredictable and Matt and Maggie's story is far from over...

Genres: Romance, Historical Fiction

348 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

First published with short stories, went on to writing novels, family sagas and historicals around 1980s. First novel published by Piatkus, London, in 1992. Since then there has been 22 novels published with one in the pipeline and one with my publishers Severn House.
You can check out my books avaialable on Audios and CDs

Reviews

[Shirley Revill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really enjoyable read. Recommended.

[Layla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, giving to a friend

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows a few London friends through the WW2 turmoil, with plans changed, lives altered and unimaginable experiences.

Jenny signs up as a nurse during the Blitz partly to escape a controlling family, and gains independence and respect through hard, demanding work.

Meanwhile the young man she used to fancy , Matthew, has been posted to Burma, but Japan entering the war puts him in danger and then a prison camp. He'd quickly married Susan, a lass he met in Birmingham on a posting, and this is the most unbelievable part, since she is barely literate and totally self centred, the opposite of his own upbringing.

Jenny should move on with her romantic life, but somehow never does, and after the war there is a shortage of men. The story sticks there for a good while before a resolution we all saw coming.

Okay for a read, but I got the impression the author ran out of plot, or needed a harder edit. As with many of these social history books, the main point is the war conditions. Nursing was quite a usual occupation for women, so I have better enjoyed more unusual tales such as munitions workers and timber workers.
This is an unbiased review.

[Kristy Maitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for that book. The story plot was interesting so I gave it a try. But as soon as I started it it was a no go for me. I did get it to the end but it's not satisfying reading material for me. If a guy is pinning for wrong women for 80% of the book and another women is pinning for him from the start. Then its get boring fast.

[Joanna Warrens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok. There wasn't much nursing in the novel. The title must be an attempt to attract Call the Midwife fans

[Tania · Rating 4 out of 5]

Randomly chosen from piles of well-loved books in my home. This is book 106 for the year. Off to read now ...
Aim 133 for the year.

[Ana · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read... Good flow to the story