The Land Girls at Christmas

Land Girls #1

by Jenny Holmes

**Don't miss Jenny Holmes's latest wartime series, The Air Raid Girls. Part 3 - The Air Raid Wartime Brides - is available now!**---------------------------------------------'Calling All Women!'It's 1941 and as the Second World War rages on, girls from all over the country are signing up to the Women's Land Army. Renowned for their camaraderie and spirit, it is these brave women who step in to take on the gruelling farm work from the men conscripted into the armed forces.When Yorkshire mill girl Una joins the cause, she wonders how she'll adapt to country life. Luckily she's quickly befriended by more experienced Land Girls Brenda and Grace. But as Christmas draws ever near, the girls' resolve is tested as scandals and secrets are revealed, lovers risk being torn apart, and even patriotic loyalties are called into question . . .With only a week to go until the festivities, can the strain of wartime still allow for the magic of Christmas? A wonderful, festive tale of friendship, romance and triumph over adversity that fans of Daisy Styles, Donna Douglas and Call the Midwife will adore.

Genres: Christmas, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance

419 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 16, 2017

About the author

Jenny Holmes lives in a beautiful part of Yorkshire and sets her sagas in the industrial heartland nearby. She enjoys horse riding, gardening and walking her dog in the dales. She also writes children's books as Jenny Oldfield.

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written book. There's a lot of information about the Land Girls and their duties. The relationship between Una and the POW was interesting. If all POW camps in England were as lax as this one, I'm not surprised the prisoners were happy to stay there safe and 'out of it'.
I do think though that the book was too long. There were a lot of descriptions of the same things that could have been left out. Also the romances in it dragged a bit.
The bit towards the end, don't want to give anything away, was dealt with a bit too easily, I thought. In that era, women weren't really listened to and would have to prove every single thing if a complaint was made. This part didn't ring quite true for me.
However, overall a good read. It's the first of this author's books I've read and I will be looking out for more.

[Joy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read other Jenny Holmes books, which were better than this one.

I really liked the story, Christmas an d WW2 and the important work the Land Girls did.

Could have been a bit tighter and not so wordy, which is why I 've only given it 3 stars.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read quite a lot of novels based on things that happened during the war, but this is the first time I have read one about the Land Girls. It was fascinating to get a glimpse into what life must of been like for them, away from their homes and the sheer hard physical work that it must of been. This is a story of that and the friendship between the girls and some romance. I enjoyed reading it, but did find it a bit long for what it was.

[Paula · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book all about working on the farms in ww2 and Christmas brilliant read from beginning to end couldn’t put it down will read more from this author

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

First time reading this author.Loved the story of the Landgirls. Brings the sadness of love and war closer to home. what they all went through is unbelievable. We can be proud of those landgirls.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

So many subplots and characters that there was no plot.
The main theme was rape and stalking. Another theme was loving prisoners of war and subsequent xenophobia.
The main characters were Brenda and Una- these two characters were characterised well. There was Joyce, Jean and Dorethy also Kathleen who was pretty. Neville was a cheeky messenger boy. The malice in this book was wearing.

[Sandy McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another top read by Jenny Holmes.

Having just read A Christmas Wish for the Land Girls, I just had to go back and read this. It brings all the main characters more into focus, and continues with the antics of the Land Girls in Yorkshire during World War 2. Well written and entertaining as I expected.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's WWII and it's Christmas. There's a hostel home to a number of women who are all keen to play their part in serving their country. Una has just arrived and we follow her journey as she settles in to her new role. She soon befriends the likes of Brenda, Kathleen and Grace, who also spends time working at the local pub and supporting her brother who is struggling with the horror of his experience in the war.

An insightful story into the era of the women’s land army, and some of the tasks they were responsible for. I found some of the romance a tad too “tacky” and the whole thing felt quite drawn out - I’m not sure it needed 400+ pages. But overall, this was a nice Christmas escape.

[Sandy Hallam]

Good

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Join Una, Grace, Brenda and Joyce as they work hard on farms during WW2 as Land Girls. We join them as they find romance, experience a crash landing of an enemy plane and try to fit in with the locals.
If you like books by Donna Douglas, Rosie Archer and Daisy Styles, you will enjoy this one.

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Calling All Women!'
It's 1941 and as the Second World War rages on, girls from all over the country are signing up to the Women's Land Army. Renowned for their camaraderie and spirit, it is these brave women who step in to take on the gruelling farm work from the men conscripted into the armed forces.When Yorkshire mill girl Una joins the cause, she wonders how she'll adapt to country life. Luckily she's quickly befriended by more experienced Land Girls Brenda and Grace. But as Christmas draws ever near, the girls' resolve is tested as scandals and secrets are revealed, lovers risk being torn apart, and even patriotic loyalties are called into question . . .With only a week to go until the festivities, can the strain of wartime still allow for the magic of Christmas?The Women's Land Army (WLA) made a significant contribution to boosting Britain's food production during WWII.Prewar, Britain had imported much of its food. When war broke out, it was necessary to grow more food at home and increase the amount of land in cultivation. With many male agricultural workers joining the armed forces, women were needed to provide a new rural workforce.Women were initially asked to volunteer to serve in the Land Army and, from December 1941, could also be conscripted into land work.Land girls did a wide variety of jobs on the land. They worked in all weathers and conditions and could be directed to work anywhere in the country.By autumn 1941, more than 20,000 women had volunteered to serve in the WLA.1/3 of these volunteers had lived in London or another large city.The WLA offered a healthy outdoor lifestyle, which perhaps appealed to many urban women and girls.Many land girls lived in at the farms where they worked. However, in many rural areas, living conditions could be very basic and the lifestyle lonely. As larger numbers of women were recruited, hostels were set up to house land girls.Teams of land girls were trained to work in anti-vermin squads to kill rats and other pests.Land girls sometimes worked alongside POWs. By 1943, there were almost 40,000 Italian POWs working on British farms.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1941 women were eagerly signing up to be land girls, attracted by the glamour which didn't live up to the reality of the hard work.
But as the war is still in full swing we join some of these girls in their exploits, their daily dramas and romances as they fight the good fight and do their bit.
Joyce, Grace, Una, Brenda and Kathleen between their work load are trying to organise a Christmas show for the Italian prisoners of war.
Things don't go to plan though this Christmas, a local, village misfit has gone missing, Edgar is battling survivors guilt after a plane crash and the girls after a terrifying experience for one of them expose shocking scandals within their community.
A really good wartime story, yet I disliked the graphic description of killing a chicken, ok it's part of farm life but I don't have to like it and as a sensitive reader it soured the story a bit for me so marking it down a point or it would have been full marks.

[Anton Fourie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Having read a few of Jenny Holmes' other books I was dismayed about this one. Some things just didn't gel, and when I read about corpses being placed in a Land Rover just before Christmas 1941 I stopped reading the book and deleted it. The first land Rovers were only built 3 years after WWII ended. After all the talk about the Dornier having a crew of 4 two died and one survived. No mention of the fourth crew member?
Poor research!

[Sadie Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this nostalgic story. The Land Army worked hard to ensure food was placed on the tables during the wars. The story showed that love always conquers even during war when both are from opposite sides. The story also shows how life for women hasn't changed a great deal with some people even today, women are often classed as second class with men being more superior, some men continue to think that women should bow down to them and do what they want them to do snd say nothing.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this on the kindle

The story is a good one but is so long & drawn out
It starts October 1941 & ends Christmas the same year which I feel that if the book was half the length it would have still been a good story
It made me skim over pages rather than enjoy & read it

[Tara Garnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book but found it rather drawn out and slow going to start with.
Liked the character's and didn't get confusesd with who was who.
Love reading about this era and getting an insight to what it was like then.
Looking forward to the follow up book coming soon.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely Christmas war time saga about a group of land girls. There is every emotion going in this book as you follow the girls lives as they do their bit for the war effort. I really enjoyed this this book and I highly recommend it to book lovers who like this genre. A fab read.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really nice read with a festive feel. Its great to read a Christmassy book that wasn't totally sugar-coated. It had a decent story-line with interesting believable characters. I would happily recommend to other readers who are looking for a good festive themed book that isn't OTT.

[Judith Ring · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written book with some good characterisation, however I didn’t find it gripping. There were some very emotive elements in the story and yet they didn’t evoke any emotion in me for the particular characters, therefore I’d describe it is bland.

[Debs Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pleasantly light & fluffy book which was a suitable palate cleanser between more serious reads.

[laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intresting look at been in the land army and whst sort of hoba they sid

[mrs christine coey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Land girls.

Really enjoyed this book. Brought history back to life. Didn’t realise how hard these girls worked on the farms in wartime.

[Sue Hickling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this story

[Joella Hawkswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and informative on Land Girls. Nice bit of festive escapism if you’re into War history

[Liz (elizabethfleur) · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF.

I was looking forward to reading this, but unfortunately I found this to be poorly written and I didn't care enough for the characters to stick with it. It was quite slow paced and I found a lot of the plot to be unbelievable.

[Natalie Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

First read 3.5
Re-read 4

In this book we begin by following Una as she becomes a land girl, moves into the land girls’ quarters and becomes friends with her fellow land girls Grace, Joyce and Brenda.

I initially started reading this book via audio and I was feeling quite confused. There are lots of characters all introduced quickly in the first few chapters and for that reason I was feeling a little lost and overwhelmed. I then picked up the paperback and found there was a cast list at the start of the book which definitely helped but I did have to refer to it quite often. I’m not sure if it was just me and the time, I read it but I didn’t 100% gel with the writing and questioned how well defined these characters were as I had to much trouble remember who everyone was and their backstories.

The story itself I really enjoyed, it’s a real slice of life following these ladies on the home front. I had never read a historical book where the main characters were land girls so I found this really interesting. I was surprised at times at the dark turns it took but it did make it a more realistic story. I felt I was invested enough in these characters that I will pick up the next book in the series and hopefully the more books I read the more at ease I will be with the writing and distinguishing the characters.

[Demi Parker]

good

[Daisy Mawdsley-hall]

Good read