The Cornish Girls Before the Storm

The Cornish Girls #9

by Betty Walker

Meet the Cornish Girls before the war!

War looms on the horizon. Their lives are about to change forever…

Dagenham, 1939. Sheila Hopkins has always put her family first. But when tragedy strikes, she's faced with an impossible hold on to what's left of the past, or take a leap of faith for the future.

Her daughter Betsy is trying to stay strong for her children, even as her marriage is tested by sorrow and the rising tension towards her loving husband's German heritage. Then an act of violence shatters her fragile peace and everything begins to unravel.

And newcomer Edith Treloar arrives from Cornwall with a suitcase full of hopes and heartbreak… and a secret that could change everything.

As the first sirens sound, they will discover that the greatest battles are fought closest to home. Will they find the strength to carry on together?

An emotional and uplifting romance saga novel about love and courage just at the turn of World War Two, perfect for fans of Rosie Clarke, Vicki Beeby, Lizzie Lane and Elaine Everest.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

370 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 1, 2026

About the author

Born in Ilford, Essex, author Betty Walker lives in Cornwall with her family, where she enjoys gardening and coastal walks. She loves discovering curious historical facts, and devotes much time to investigating her family tree. Her Cornish Girls sagas, set in World War II Cornwall, are now a popular paperback series.

Betty also writes under other names! She writes atmospheric thrillers as Jane Holland, light-hearted romances as Beth Good, and Tudor historicals as Victoria Lamb.

Reviews

[Karren Sandercock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dagenham, East London. 1939. Sheila Hopkins is married to Henry and has two adult daughters Betty and Violet and works part-time at the Corner Caff.

Betsy her eldest has two children Lily and Alice, and she's married to Ernest Fisher and he’s half German and concerned with the unrest in Europe. Violet is single, her fiancé died of two years ago from Influenza, and she’s a cleaner at a factory.

Sheila’s childhood friend Rosalyn’s granddaughter, Edith Treloar moves in with her and Henry and after having her heart broken by a young lad, and she helps out at the caff as well and gangs of young men or fascist Blackshirts are causing trouble and it leads to a tragedy.

The children are sent to the country, Alice goes and meanwhile in Dagenham, Earnest and Lily are installing an Anderson shelter, and men have started joining up and Edith has a secret and doesn’t know what to do about it.

I received a copy of The Cornish Girls Before the Storm by Betty Walker from NetGalley and Avon Books UK and in exchange for an honest review. This is the ninth book in the series, I always wondered happened to Violet, Lily and Alice before they arrived in Porthcurno, Cornwall in 1941 and where the first novel Wartime with the Cornish Girls begins.

However I was thinking to myself was there any point going back in time after writing eight books in a series and beginning at the start and in my opinion it was a brilliant move by Ms. Walker.

It gives the reader a sense of what it what like for the characters and everyday citizens in pre-World War Two England, the problems they were facing, the unrest in the country and the tough decisions they had to make, and many having experience and lived through a war before.

I highly recommend, yes doing something different worked and five stars from me.

[Teresa]

I have enjoyed this series from the start as we join Sheila, Violet, Lily and Alice on moving to Cornwall as the war heats up and London becomes unsafe. This book goes back to before the series and shows us what happened to bring them to Cornwall and other parts of their story.
This for me is the best book in the series! I loved meeting them all and their extended family and going through their trials with them.
They start out as a loving family getting on with their lives but the rumbles of war are already gathering pace. The Black Shirts play a large part in this book and wow I would not like to have been living in England at the time. This was scary stuff and it's very well done here. I knew of them of course but didn't realise what it was really like. The author makes a great job of getting this menacing group across.
There's heartache and sadness but also some good times. If you're starting this series for the first time, begin here.
It's a fantastic read and I'd highly recommend it!

Many thanks to Avon Books UK and NetGalley for an early copy.

[Louise Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cornish Girls #9

Dagenham, 1939. Sheila Hopkins has always put her family first. But when tragedy strikes, she's faced with an impossible hold on what's left of the past, or take a leap of faith for the future. Her daughter Betsy is trying to stay strong for her children, even as her marriage is tasked by sorrow and the rising tension towards her loving husband's German heritage. Then an act of violence shatters her fragile peace and everything begins to unravel.

I feel like I personally know these characters now. There is a lot of interesting details to this story. We learn about the families before the outbreak of War. Like the rest of this series, this book is easy to read. This is a well-written series with characters you'll grow to love.

Published 1st January 2026

I would like to thank ##NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #BettyWalker for my ARC of #TheCornishGirlsBeforeTheStorm in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a treat this book was! I’d thought the series had finished and I was over the moon to see that there was prequel!

This time, we join our (by know, well known and much beloved) characters before the tumultuous events of the war. The country is about to go through hell but our plucky little family are facing it with all the strength and perseverance they can muster.

Ernest is facing trouble with his half German heritage, the young family has a lot to face and especially with the Blackshirts, they must be careful navigating this unprecedented time pre-war. Edith too is going through a difficult time but can she overcome her obstacles?

The pages flew, I was utterly absorbed into the story and I’ll always remember my fondness for this series!

Thank you to the author and publisher for this book on NetGalley in return for my honest thoughts and review.

[Deborah J Miles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Cornish Girls Before the Storm is book 9 in The Cornish Girls series, and this one takes us back to the late 1930s before the war had started. Having read some of the other books in this series, I already knew most of the main characters and how their stories were going to pan out. That said, I really enjoyed visiting their lives before the war had begun. I felt that despite the looming war and unrest in the country that Shelia in particular was willing to take a chance and invest in a future for herself and her family.

I thought the novel was well-written and found the historical details interesting and informative, adding to my overall enjoyment of this book. Alice's evacuation experience mirrored my mother's experience and I'm sure many others, bringing the story more alive in my mind.

I would wholeheartedly recommend The Cornish Girls series and most definitely this particular story.

[Christine Sturman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s right before the start of World War II. Emotions are running high in England. Most of the country remembers “The Great War”, or as we know it World War I, and its effects. In Betty Walker’s book, “The Cornish Girls Before The Storm”, Sheila Hopkins and her family live in Dagenham, England, a suburb east of London. Sheila and her husband, Henry, have a home they live in with their youngest daughter, Violet, who recently lost her finance to the complications of the flu. Betsy and Ernest Fischer, Sheila’s oldest daughter and her husband, with their two daughters, Lily and Alice, live just a few streets away. Rosalyn, a childhood friend of Sheila, sends her granddaughter, Edith, to stay with Sheila. Sheila finds Edith a place to live and a job. Hitler is running Germany and his forces are conquering parts of Europe. A fascist gang called the “Blackshirt Boys” believe that England should back Hitler. Most of the surrounding English are scared of them and their violent antics. What influence will they have on Sheila and her circle? What will the threat of war do to Sheila’s family?

This book was hard for me to get into. I’m not sure if it was the writing style or the fact that there are three storylines that are running simultaneously and were challenging to keep track of, at least at first. Once I was about a quarter of the way through the book I was able to understand the characters and their viewpoints. I felt the heartache of Betsy due to her several miscarriages. I felt the panic and uncertainty of Edith when she figures out she is pregnant and alone. I totally sympathized with Sheila when her husband is in a serious accident. This is the ninth book in the Cornish Girls series. It can be read as a standalone, but I wonder if I might have enjoyed it more if I had read the other books in the series. This book is set in pre-WWII and the others are set during WWII. Readers who enjoy historical romances will like this book.

I wish to thank Avon Books UK for the complementary eARC of this book and for selecting me to review it on NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

#TheCornishGirlsBeforeTheStorm
#AvonBooksUK
#NetGalley
#HistoricalRomance
#WWII

[Heather Copping · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ninth novel in the series by Betty Walker, this story starts in February 1939 in Dagenham, Essex.
Sheila is married to Henry, and mum to
Violet whose fiance Leonard died over two years ago, Violet is still unmarried and lives at number 27.

Sheila's older sister still lives in Cornwall and they haven't really got on over the
years.

Betsy lives a few streets away on the Becontree Estate. She works two afternoons at the cafe, her husband Ernest is half German and has changed his name recently from Ernst to Ernest just to be on the safe side with war unrest starting and he works at the Ford plant and has just been given a promotion. They have two daughters and recently Betsy has been thinking that she might possibly be expecting again but she doesn't want to get her hopes up yet as she had lost three pregnancies in early days. But with anti German tactics looming in the streets around where they live Betsy is understandably worried when some youngsters start taunting her and she finds out they are "blackshirts" local supporters of Mosley. Before long these lads are causing more and more trouble for local businesses and residents alike.
Before long and for her own sanity Betsy goes back down to Cornwall to stay with relatives on a farm and another young woman Edith returns to Cornwall too, although she has a secret that she wants to keep private, but for how long will she able to keep her secret?

This book is set both in Dagenham, Essex and in Cornwall in the lead up to WW2, which is before the other books in the series are set, so whether you are completely new to this series or want to know how the characters met, this book is just lovely, I was immediately drawn into the storyline and couldn't put it down. If you are a fan of saga books you will instantly love this book. A well deserved five-star read.

#AvonBooks
#HarperCollinsPublishersLtd
#Netgalley
#BettyWalker
#TheCornishGirlsBeforeTheStorm

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cornish Girls Before the Storm by Betty Walker is a compelling story of a variety of people in, and related to, Cornwall. Shelia and Henry Hopkins, her husband, live in Dagenham, England, outside of London. Living with them was their daughter, Violet, who had lost her fiance two years earlier and was not yet recovered. Nearby was their daughter, Betsy, and her husband, Ernest, and their two daughters. Much of this story revolves around Ernie, who is half German, and not popular with some of the populace. Mosley’s blackshirt were just becoming common and they were made up of ne’er-do-wells from the area. They were really nothing more than bullies. The first instance the blackshirts affected them was when Ernie was jumped by them on his way to his and Betsy’s anniversary party. Things quickly escalated with both she and the girls were taunted and finally, a blue van ran into Henry and Ernest one night on their way home from the pub.

Things moved along with some things not getting better, and several turning to tragedy. A young woman, Edith, turned up looking for Sheila, having been sent from Cornwall by her grandmother, Sheila’s girlhood friend. This are terrific characters and this glimpse into their lives is very educational. Life in England during and after WWII is a world with which most of us are totally unfamiliar. We see things through our own lens, very different than theirs. We think we are the only culture that has prejudices, but this story shows that to be incorrect. Glimpses into lofe is Cornwall is even more interesting, sad as some of it is. Terrific book.

I was invited to read The Cornish Girls Before the Storm by Avon Books. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #AvonBooks #BettyWalker #The CornishGirlsBeforeTheStorm

[Angela Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read all the books in The Cornish Girls series and thoroughly enjoyed them.

I approached this one wondering how it would be possible to produce a ‘prequel’ and in some ways I felt that this book should’ve come first - though I understand that this wasn’t the authors plan. This one was slow to start and I kept thinking ‘but I know this from the series’. Perhaps it would fit better if one went onto read the series from book 1.

Having said all that I settled into reading it and in the end enjoyed it.
Betty Walker obviously does her research and writes well. It was interesting to read what life was like in Dagenham in the late 1930’s when it was obvious War may happen. It must have been terrible if one didn’t fit the ethos of the Fascists and Blackshirts - there are similarities today sadly.

There was human relationships in all their forms, sadness, loss, redemption and in the end happiness for some characters.
It was very clever the way the characters in Dagenham were entwined with the characters in Cornwall - with Betty and her sister Maggie originally from Cornwall and Edith - a Cornish girl who flees to Dagenham and back to Cornwall when it becomes obvious she needs her Gran and her erstwhile love.

A great read in the end

[AnnMarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have read any of the other books in The Cornish Girls series, you will appreciate this book more than you would have had you not. That's not to say that this book can't be read as a standalone. I love that I had the chance to read about the lives of some of the characters prior to their arrival in Cornwall in the first book of the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I quickly became engrossed in the lives of the main characters. Although fictional, knowing their situations could have happened because of the war made the book far more emotional.

I won't give spoilers, suffice to say that I ran the whole gamut of emotions as I immersed myself I this story. There was a perfect balance of light and dark moments, so don't worry about the book being depressing.

This was an emotional buildup to WWII and a wonderful introduction, albeit at the end, of the Cornish Girl series.

[Kristina Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Cornish Girls Before the Storm by Betty Walker transports readers to Dagenham in 1939. We get to see what it was like for Sheila Hopkins and her family as well as Edith Treloar before war was declared in England. The narrative was straightforward to follow and progressed at an effective and engaging pace. I enjoyed the characters and had no issues switching between them. The author captured the time period with its prejudices, fears, worries, clothing, and events. While The Cornish Girls Before the Storm is the ninth book in The Cornish Girls Series, it is the prequel to the series. I enjoyed seeing the characters' beginnings. This is a good book for those who enjoy historical fiction or family sagas. The Cornish Girls Before the Storm is a charming historical tale with a hectic café, war rumblings, an unforeseen visitor, bullies in black shirts, scrumptious cakes, unpleasant news, and listening to the message on the wireless.

[Trudy Dowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those historical fiction stories that really got me thinking. I forget to take into account how much happened before war was declared by PM Chamberlain. I forget about all of the political unrest, that not everyone was against Hitler.

In the small town of Dagenham I learned of bravery, fear and determination. I learned of sacrafice. All because the author created a story that pulled me in, made me believe, and made me remember. She created amazing characters in a real situation. I couldn't wait to see hwo the would deal with the beginnings of war, what decisions they would make.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is set just before the outbreak of WW2. Mostly set in Dagenham, although the ladies all have links to Cornwall.
Sheila is working in a cafe and has dreams of running it herself one day.
Her daughter Betsy is anxious about the impending war, especially as her husband is half-German.
Edith has just arrived from Cornwall, running away from the rumours being spread about her at home.
Together, the three ladies and their families face several personal challenges, whilst also navigating the reality of Britain's likelihood of going to war. I enjoyed the friendships between the women and loved reading about the ups and downs of their lives.

A lot of the book featured the awful 'blackshirts', supporters of Oswald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists. I thought this was a poignant similarity to today's Britain.

An emotional historical saga featuring the everyday bravery and strength of women.
Although this is part of the Cornish Girls series, it is set before the rest of the series and can easily be read as a standalone book.

[Emma Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew as soon as I started reading this book I was going to enjoy every minute of it.

It was interesting to read this book from before the family ended up in Cornwall. To see how things happened it had a bit of everything sadness and how people reacted to Ernest thinking he would support Germany. I found it heartbreaking for Sheila but she overcame it all.

It was interesting to read about this time just before the War started how they were starting to prepare for it. I enjoyed all the characters and they all worked well together..

I could not put the book down and just wanted to carry on and find out what happened.

Would recommend this book.

[Karen Tebbutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved The Cornish Girls Before the Storm! Having already read and enjoyed the Cornish Girls series, this prequel was the perfect addition, providing even more depth to the characters and their backstories. Betty Walker’s storytelling is as engaging as ever, and the storyline is both captivating and heartfelt.

Betty has such a wonderful way of bringing her characters to life, making them feel so real and relatable. It was a joy to revisit the world of the Cornish Girls and get a deeper understanding of what led to the events we see in the series. If you’re a fan of the books, you’ll definitely want to read this prequel — it’s a must!

[Sarahlovesbooks76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the prequel to the Cornish Girls series, and this time round we meet the characters before the war has started. It is wonderful to get the back stories of Sheila and Ernest and his daughters, seeing their experiences of evacuation and hearing their feelings about the unrest in the country. The reader knows where their stories go if they have read the previous books, but this helps to understand them in a deeper way. I love this group of characters, the author has created a wonderful family, and I hope she can find a way to write more about them in the future.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book was such a fabulous New Year's gift to myself. It follows the lives of Sheila, Betsy, Violet, and Edith on the eve of World War II in the outskirts of London, as Betsy's half-German husband, Ernst/Ernest, attracts the attention of local fascists. It seems particularly relevant today. The women confront and deal with the problems that life deals them with humor and affection. Well worth the time to read. #TheCornishGirlsBeforetheStorm #NetGalley

[Sue Rouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

It did take me a while to get into the book as I kept trying to remember the characters from the previous books although it was after this time period. This takes us pre ww2 up to the beginning of the war. Great to be introduced to the characters pre war and easy to read chapters. As usual fantastic storytelling. Thanks to Betty and her publisher.

[Barbara Deeprose · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Good Read

Having already read the whole series, it took me a while to get into this book, as it goes back to the beginning but after a while everything became clear and it was good to read some background that I might not have been aware of before. I still think it would be better to been able to read this before the other books but maybe one day I will re-read them all again.

[Patricia Moren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story about the Cornish Girls just before the second world war started.. Very different from the previous stories , this one was based around the families. Entertaining story line, very true to life, with some interesting and varied characters.

[Sharron Tennant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ending for the beginning of a wonderful series... thank you for the escapism 😊

[Carol Sadler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great beginning

I know this was written as a prequel to an existing series, it is a wonderful introduction for me. I'm looking forward to following the story.

[Pat Langhelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

brilliant book

[Shirley Chapel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was nice book with a very good story about two families in the years leading up to World War Two. The book centers on two families from different communities in England. With the exception of one cuss word the rest of the story was clean read. I thought the book was unpredictable and realistic to the late 1930s. The story had a smooth flow to it. I enjoyed the characters and the content of this book. Though it is the ninth book in the Cornish Girls Series this is the only one that I’ve read and was able to keep up with the story.
This book would be excellent for readers of Historical Fiction and Women’s Fiction. It’s scheduled for release on 1/1 /26.
I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are entirely my own.
#TheCornishGirlsBeforetheStorm #NetGalley