Let The Bells Ring

by Anne Baker

Hannah and her mother Esme are lucky to escape when their home is destroyed during a bombing raid. Forced to move in with Esme's difficult sister-in-law, they make the best of things, and soon Hannah falls for the boy next door, Eric Goodwin. But Esme's worried; she's always been afraid of Eric's father Arnold, and she suspects that Eric is a chip off the old block, full of charm but up to no good. Is innocent Hannah being drawn into an unpredictable and dangerous world of crime?

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

472 pages, Paperback

First published June 6, 2005

About the author

Anne Baker trained as a nurse in England, but after her marriage lived in Libya and Nigeria before returning to Birkenhead, where she worked as a health visitor. She now lives with her husband in Merseyside.

Reviews

[Redfox5 · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I'm a sucker for books set during the war, that focus on what's happening on the home front, this book set in Liverpool ticked all the boxes.

Hannah is bombed out of her home and goes to live with her aunt, but is warned to stay away from certain neighbours, The Goodwins, So of course Hannah makes best friends with Gina and falls in love with Rob much to her mums and aunts disapproval. But then it turns out they have not been so honest with her.............

The Goodwins are the kind of people you would describe as nice but a bit rough around the edges and those edges start to get rougher as they start to profit from illegal activities like the black market.

Hannah is like me in the way I would be horrified if I realised the person I was going to marry was doing all these things. It's not something I would be willing to put up with and like her, although I liked The Goodwins. I wouldn't have been able to deal with what they were doing.

The book managed to make this all tie up nicely in the end and even though what happened was sad. I'm glad events unfolded like they did. I would read more books by Anne Baker.

[poppie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather disappointed in this book. Not really much of a story as it seemed to focus more on criminal activities than the main characters. Usually enjoy Anne Baker novels, but this one is not for me.

[Jacoba and Hermann J. Knolle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing book

I really wanted to like this book, because I love that era. But I found the characters weak and the story about crooks. I don't know what danger the author was referring to, but certainly not the war. They were always one step ahead of the law. Not the kind of inspiring war sagas.

[Rebecca Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let the bells ring. A review by Rebecca Hughes Crowder

I loved this book it was full of the right measure of suspense, excitement and danger. The character's are believable. If you like wartime sarcasm this is a good read. I would definitely recommended it to Anne Baker fans.

[Brenda Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow starter but got better,good read.

[Catherine Matsubu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good read from Anne Baker

I have enjoyed each of Anne Baker's books. I know I'll enjoy the rest and look forward to reading them.

[Ann Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was set during the 2nd world war, in and around Merseyside. Hannah and her mother Esme had to leave their home after it had been bombed and go and live with her aunt. Esme was reluctant to live with this aunt as it brought them close to the Goodwin family, a family that although her mother did not want her to associate with Hannah did get close to them and became engaged to Eric Goodwin. The story was more interesting as there was quite alot of criminal activity in it.

[Wendy Hill · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was better than I had expected. It didn't focus on the war like I thought it would. It focused on this dysfunctional family who hated this parent and stuck together against him. it was a love story. A story of all the bad things that people did during the war to make money. It was a really different story and I enjoyed it.

[Linda Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

I could only rate this as two. The writing was poor a bit unlikely and the characters were boring. The father had a starring role then disappeared never really said anything about the missing money. All a bit mish mash.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Usual twists and turns of Anne Bakers writings and didnt disappoint. Even though you get the gist of a story quickly and either live or loath her characters , the surprises in each story are unexpected and make you want to read on and on.

[Rosaleen Dixon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Loved the twists and turns in this book. A good five stars for it. Love her books and being from the Wirral I love to read about all the places I know!

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another great story from Anne Baker. Can't put her books down.