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Ferry Girls #1

The Ferry Girls

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A young German girl finds friendship, camaraderie and even love while working on Gosport's ferries in the height of World War 2 - but will her new friends desert her if her nationality comes to light? For fans of Daisy Styles and Nadine Dorries.

'A gripping story packed with darkness and light, love and friendship, greed and betrayal' Lancashire Evening Post on The Factory Girls

Vee Smith is 22 when she starts work on Gosport's ferries, taking a job left vacant by the men gone off to war. She soon makes friends with the other women workers, and together they enjoy nights out dancing in Gosport - keeping their spirits up despite the hard work, rationing and heavy bombing. Vee even feels herself falling for Sam, the skipper of the ferry and her unhappily married boss.

But Vee has a secret: her real name is Violetta Schmidt, and she is half-German. If her true nationality is discovered, she and her mother could find themselves interned as enemy aliens - if their German-hating neighbours, or worse, Eddie, the man Vee ran away from after he got her false papers, don't hurt them first.

Will Vee be able to keep her secret safe, and find some peace with Sam and her friends even in the midst of war?

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 15, 2017

57 people are currently reading
178 people want to read

About the author

Rosie Archer

37 books78 followers

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5 stars
487 (55%)
4 stars
245 (27%)
3 stars
103 (11%)
2 stars
34 (3%)
1 star
8 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
Profile Image for Teresa.
754 reviews212 followers
January 7, 2018
A nice easy read. Very enjoyable. Learning about the work women did on the Ferry was very interesting. There are one or two things that annoyed me. Sammy, who was in all essence, a bad dude, is just welcomed into May's house and he's suddenly one of the family. I don't think I would have been that forgiving after the way he had treated her daughter. Things are neatly tied up at the end, as you'd expect, but a bit too neatly.
Still, these are only small niggles. It's well worth a read.
330 reviews14 followers
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March 6, 2018
A very sweet, easy to read and engaging story. It was a bit predictable but still enjoyable. I like that although it was set during world war two, if felt different as it focused on the difficulties of English people who had a German heritage. The main character was Vee, I found her extremely likeable and wanted an happy ending for her.
38 reviews
May 24, 2018
When I first started this book I wondered if I was going to be able to finish it because I wasn’t loving it from the first page...I’m glad I stuck with it though because after the first few chapters I was hooked and I loved this book. Can’t wait to read more by this author
Profile Image for Chelsea Pinkard.
165 reviews3 followers
January 12, 2023
A charming and heartwarming, if rather predictable and melodramatic, read with just a little bit of boatiness sprinkled throughout! ⚓️
Profile Image for Emma Young.
72 reviews
July 3, 2018
It's good to hear a book that explores German heritage during the 2nd world war and what they suffered because the fact they were the enemy and what people would do to protect their identity. This book spoke on many levels it spoke on love in many forms, courage during hard times and true friendship
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
493 reviews1 follower
October 1, 2017
Another easy read book from Rosie Archer. You can get into the book and enjoy the characters and their ups and downs through WW2 on the South East coast and how the ferries remained working throughout.
Profile Image for Sandra.
566 reviews22 followers
October 10, 2017
The Ferry Girls is a fabulous book detailng war work on the ferry's,to meet the women who worked so hard on the home front is so entertaining.I must admit i do love Rosie Archers books and this one is well worth 5*.
65 reviews
January 9, 2021
While this book was labelled as historical fiction, I think it should have been in the romance category: you know, girl meets unavailable boy, a villain, etc., etc. Anyway, not enough history from my point of view.
48 reviews1 follower
June 21, 2017
A lovely book

Great book by Rosie Archer. Easy for read and very enjoyable. Lovely storyline, and the characters appearing so real. I really enjoyed reading it.
Profile Image for Trudie.
743 reviews2 followers
September 18, 2017
Excellent story from Rosie again! easy to read and very likeable characters from the start. I really hope this is the start of a new series of "Ferry girls" books
517 reviews3 followers
December 6, 2017
A lovely read

Very descriptive, can't wait to read more. I love reading a book that you don't want the story to end. ,,😊
Profile Image for Janet Hargreaves.
8 reviews
March 28, 2018
It was very enjoyable it was hard to put down once started.


I enjoyed all the characters especially Vee and Jack. I am very glad the law was change....A very good story.
7 reviews
April 10, 2018
Great read

I lived in Gospor t for a while and the author really brought the place alive for me, I loved the ferry. A really heart warming story about the people.

Profile Image for diandmoedwardsgmail.com.
15 reviews
May 11, 2018
Ferry girls

Lovely story couldn't put it down once I started to read it. Would recommend it to anyone who likes wartime romances
1 review
November 10, 2018
Couldn't put it down,enjoyed every page.

Brilliant book ,felt like you were there.Really enjoyed it.would recommend it .It really made you realise what they went through in WW2.
200 reviews
December 20, 2019
A very interesting story. And so very true how people who were any way German were treated
Profile Image for Suzie Taylor.
14 reviews
August 14, 2023
I love an easy read, this one was fantastic. Read over the weekend, loved the historical side, that it was local and that they all had a positive ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Great Reads.
53 reviews
August 14, 2023
One of my all time easy reads! I love the way its written, entwining romance with adventure and history. The story is heart-warming, feel-good and fast paced. Perfect for a weekend of reading.
Profile Image for Anagha Jadhav.
19 reviews
September 5, 2024
A feel good kinda story which ends with a happy note and somewhat easy to guess. Happy to read how courageously the women joined workforce in the absence of male counterparts during world war!
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews

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