What do you think?
Rate this book
Corner House #2
Kiss the Girls Goodbye
December 31, 1939 was the first New Year’s Eve that anyone could remember that there hadn’t been crowds celebrating at midnight in Trafalgar Square. So begins 1940 for the waitresses at the Lyons Corner House at Marble Arch. Kiss the Girls Goodbye follows the lives of the five waitresses we met in Corner House Girls, observing their families, boyfriends, husbands, customers, and friends through the harrowing period of the Second World War. There are bombs and blackouts, curfews and rationing, romances and terrible losses, but through it all, come what may, the Corner House will be open for business.
432 pages, Paperback
First published February 15, 2001
14 people are currently reading
77 people want to read
About the author
Lilian Harry
65 books71 followersaka Donna Baker, Nicola West
Donna Thomson was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth Harbour, England, UK. Growing up during the terrifying years of the Blitz in a two-up, two-down terraced house, the youngest of four, she aspired to be a writer from an early age.
As a young woman she worked in the Civil Service and moved to Devon to be near her sailor husband. They had a son and a daughter. When the marriage ended, she and her two children moved to the Midlands, where she happily married again to her second husband. After living in the Lake District for twelve years, she finally moved back to Devon, and now lives in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. She lost her son Philip in 2008, and has two grandchildren. A keen walker and animal-lover, she now has a dog and three ginger cats to keep her busy, along with a wide range of hobbies she enjoys.
She started signing her romance novels as Donna Baker and Nicola West, now she also writes as Lilian Harry (inspired by the first names of her grandparents). Among her works are historical novels, romances and even two books giving advice on how to write short stories and novels.
Donna Thomson was born in Gosport, near Portsmouth Harbour, England, UK. Growing up during the terrifying years of the Blitz in a two-up, two-down terraced house, the youngest of four, she aspired to be a writer from an early age.
As a young woman she worked in the Civil Service and moved to Devon to be near her sailor husband. They had a son and a daughter. When the marriage ended, she and her two children moved to the Midlands, where she happily married again to her second husband. After living in the Lake District for twelve years, she finally moved back to Devon, and now lives in a village on the edge of Dartmoor. She lost her son Philip in 2008, and has two grandchildren. A keen walker and animal-lover, she now has a dog and three ginger cats to keep her busy, along with a wide range of hobbies she enjoys.
She started signing her romance novels as Donna Baker and Nicola West, now she also writes as Lilian Harry (inspired by the first names of her grandparents). Among her works are historical novels, romances and even two books giving advice on how to write short stories and novels.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 28, 2017
Another great book by Lilian Harry. Very well written and hard to put down.
May 1, 2011
perfect almost. the facts are wrong in parts but the emotions aren't. I have reread it about a million times.
December 5, 2017
Another fantastic book. A great read for a part 2 series. I feel like I am leading my life in this story.
Ready for part 3.
Ready for part 3.
May 20, 2021
Another excellent novel penned by Lilian Harry. I love her books, so descriptive you can almost imagine yourself in war torn London. Her characters are warm and so easy to get to know and like.
July 18, 2022
Whilst I enjoyed the first one, I found this one quite long, and got quite bored half way through. I won't be carrying on and reading the third one.
May 10, 2012
I picked this book up in a shop for 50cents after reading the blurb.
It is set in London in the second world war and tells the story of a group of girlfriends that work in the corner shop (restaurant) who are married, engaged or dating soldiers, sailors and airmen.
It talks about the bomb raids in London and the effect this had on them and their families.
What I loved about it was that the descriptions were very vivid. I had just been travelling in London so could imagine most of the places mentioned.
Places like Marble Arch, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.
I now want to find Lilian Harry's other book Corner House Girls.
It is set in London in the second world war and tells the story of a group of girlfriends that work in the corner shop (restaurant) who are married, engaged or dating soldiers, sailors and airmen.
It talks about the bomb raids in London and the effect this had on them and their families.
What I loved about it was that the descriptions were very vivid. I had just been travelling in London so could imagine most of the places mentioned.
Places like Marble Arch, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham Palace.
I now want to find Lilian Harry's other book Corner House Girls.
November 15, 2022
I thoroughly enjoyed the book even though I managed to work out the main plot quite early on
July 5, 2025
A Pleasant Surprise
I didn’t know how I’d feel about this series but it just keeps getting better and better. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and a lot set in WWII but what I’m most enjoying about this series and this book especially is how it describes regular Londoners everyday life.
I didn’t know how I’d feel about this series but it just keeps getting better and better. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction and a lot set in WWII but what I’m most enjoying about this series and this book especially is how it describes regular Londoners everyday life.
April 3, 2021
A great sequel following on from the 1st book in this series. I found it hard to put down as I’ve got more interested in the characters. Now starting the 3rd and final book in the series. It’s set in the Blitz in London so I hope it won’t end too sadly.
July 27, 2020
Didn’t feel that this book ever really got going for me. It was made all the more difficult as the print was so small so seemed to take forever to finish.
May 20, 2022
BOOK 2 KISS THE GIRLS.
AS THE WAR CONTINUES WW2 THE MEN ARE AT WAR AND THE GIRLS WOULD AT LYONNS TEA SHOP.
AS THE WAR CONTINUES WW2 THE MEN ARE AT WAR AND THE GIRLS WOULD AT LYONNS TEA SHOP.
March 1, 2024
Certainly not as fluffy as the first book in the series. I did enjoy this book and am looking forward to the third one.
February 28, 2025
Brilliant book. 4th time over reading it.
Looking forward to reading book 3
Looking forward to reading book 3
October 28, 2024
Covers the London Blitz from September 1940 to March 1941. One of the characters' insight into war still rings true today; 'Why do we have to go to war, eh? ... Because there's greedy, wicked men in the world, and too many who won't stand up to 'em. Too many as greedy as they are.'
April 25, 2011
Lilian Harry continues to the story begun in Corner House Girls. In this novel, she tells us what happens to Phyl and Jo, Maggie and Etty, Shirley and Irene, and their assorted families and friends while they navigate the Blitz.
Harry continues to tell a compelling tale. She's not afraid to put her characters into difficult situations, and she's brave enough to kill off people we've come to care about. Almost everyone has their rites of passage to go through, with Maggie and Shirley receiving special attention.
It is not imperative to read the entire series, but it helps. While the second volume alludes to previous events, it's better to read the whole story in order to get a feel for why the characters behave as they do; in the case of Lilian Harry, that's no hardship.
Harry continues to tell a compelling tale. She's not afraid to put her characters into difficult situations, and she's brave enough to kill off people we've come to care about. Almost everyone has their rites of passage to go through, with Maggie and Shirley receiving special attention.
It is not imperative to read the entire series, but it helps. While the second volume alludes to previous events, it's better to read the whole story in order to get a feel for why the characters behave as they do; in the case of Lilian Harry, that's no hardship.
March 15, 2016
[CONTAINS SPOILERS] This was pretty standard Lilian Harry - life in England in World War II, ordinary people's lives during the war, with plenty of romance thrown in, nice mellow stuff on the whole, but this time she threw another factor in, which got me quite angry: why on earth does the one and only gay character have to be evil? or, looking at it from the other side of the equation: why make the spy a lesbian? This is such horrible stereotyping, I just can't begin to...
February 14, 2011
loved it will read the sequel tomorrow a brilliant book from the Corner House girls
I couldn't put it down and read in a few hours
I couldn't put it down and read in a few hours
April 22, 2013
brilliant, I loved it, very emotional.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews