A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls

The Cornish Girls #4

by Betty Walker

Can the bonds of motherhood give them the strength they’ll need to get through the war?

St Ives, Spring 1943.

After having given up her baby at seventeen, Sonya is inspired by her work at an orphanage to discover what happened to her daughter twenty-five years ago. Reunited, they struggle to bond whilst braving the war together.

Nurse Lily has returned to St Ives to finish training as a midwife. But when old flame Tristan is brought in wounded, she must put the past firmly to bed in order to care for him.

And working at Tristan’s convalescent home, Mary longs for the romance she reads of in her novels. But her overprotective mother is making that more difficult at every turn…

In times of war, the Cornish Girls can rely on one another to make it through. But can they lean on the bonds of motherhood for support too?

A heart-warming tale of motherhood in wartime, for fans of Nancy Revell and Donna Douglas.

Genres: Historical Fiction

382 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 16, 2023

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]

I have read and enjoy the three previous books in The Cornish Girls Series by Betty Walker and her latest book, A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls is another well written and touching addition.

Sonya Thorpe works for Lady Barbara Symmonds as her companion in St Ives, and her parents disowned her when she had a baby out of wedlock twenty five years ago. Sonya begins helping at the orphanage and she likes caring for the children, with her employer’s encouragement she tries to find her daughter and she’s successful. Sonya discovers her daughter is married, has a young son and needs a place to stay while her fighter pilot husband is away.

Lily Fisher has returned to St Ives to finish her midwife training, Tristan Minear her first love arrives at the convalescent home badly burnt, he slowly recovers and when he’s fit enough to leave and his father doesn’t want him returning to the farm. Lily shocks herself by proposing to Tristan, they marry and he moves into her little cottage. Lily’s is busy delivering other women’s babies, she realises that she would like to be a mother herself and she needs to convince Tristan for their marriage to be no longer one of convenience.

Mary Stannard is a nurse, she works at the convalescent home, and she’s starting to suffer from burn out. Mary parents live in St Ives, she visits them on her day off and her mother can be rather bossy and controlling. Mary meets Dick Jeffries, a teacher at the local school, she’s attracted to him and she’s shocked to discover he feels the same way about her. Dick is a nice man, he encourages Mary to stick up for herself and she’s considering a career change.

I received a copy of A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls from NetGalley and Avon Books UK in exchange for an honest review. Like her previous books, Betty Walkers writing style makes you feel empathy and care for the characters in the narrative. While some of the personas are new and others are from the previous three books, and it’s nice to catch up with them and what’s happening in their lives. This story focuses on motherhood, being a mother is challenging enough, but being pregnant and raising children during a war takes mothering to another level. You read about the challenges the women faced, keeping their children safe and occupied during air raids, rationing and finding clothes. Five stars from me, I highly recommend this book and the three others in the series and I look forward to reading the fifth book being released in August.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVE this series!! We meet all the people we know well from the previous books. Lily once again takes center stage. Her career as a nurse steps up and she's loving her job. Then something happens to turn her life upside down and she has big decisions to make.
Sonya, companion to Lady Symmonds has her life completely turned around. Life suddenly takes a turn for the better even though it has it's complications.
Nurse Mary Stannard has a big chunk of this story. She has the 'new' storyline for this book.
I knocked off a star because this was wartime but all the stories were neatly tied up. Too neatly. One romance and it's outcome in particular was way to quick for me. I know there were hasty marriages at this time but there was no real reason for this one. I thought a bit of conflict and uncertainty would have made it all more realistic.
Saying that I'm looking forward to the next one and catching up with old friends.

[Alayne Emmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very enjoyable I didn’t find as good as the last one and sometimes the story dragged but, on the whole it was a good read. Knowing the characters from previous books helped as well. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

[Nicola Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ugh my heart! So happy. This book hit all the marks and felt like a huge comfort hug. It left me feeling so fulfilled and gah, I want to go back and read it again.

I’ve honestly loved reading this series and I so hope there will be more! I can read them forever. I adore the characters and Sonya was a wonderful addition. I loved getting to know her character and I was behind her all the way from the get go. Sonya, Yvonne and her Walter were great and so many life revelations and character development in this for all the other characters we know and love. It was all go go go.

With Lily and her new position as midwife, Mary undergoes a job change and Rose has a lot going on with her new life as Dr Lanyons wife! The wartime drama, vibes and friendship were strong and the whole book was so heartwarming. I loved the plot in this. I just loved it all. I couldn’t say more, it was 20/10 !

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

[Sue Plant · Rating 5 out of 5]

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this brilliant book in this amazing series

i love how this book has central characters but then adds more characters to it to carry on the story....

this is a happy and sad book, its sad only because of the life and times that women had back then... how they struggled on with what life threw at them

sonya found herself pregnant and alone at tender age of 16 and was made to give her baby up and sent away after to become a companion for a rich and elderly lady

and this is her story along with the nurses and families that we met before previously centred around the orphanage and home for the soldiers injured during the war

life and times during the 2nd world war

[Lucy-Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 4 in the series pretty much starts where book 3 ended & we have some familiar faces & some newer characters taking centre stage.

It’s now spring 1943 & St Ives is still experiencing bombing raids. When her employer Lady Symmonds decides to marry again, Sonya is not only surprised as she is an elderly lady, but worried about her own future. Sonya gave up a baby at 17, and has worked with Lady Symmonds ever since. Inspired by her work at the orphanage, she decides to try to find out what happened to her daughter twenty-five years ago. The decision will bring joy but also difficulties.

Nurse Lily has returned to St Ives to finish training as a midwife. When the man she didn't know she loved is brought in wounded, she must make some difficult decisions about her future. Nurse Mary works at the convalescent home and longs for the romance she reads of in books, but can she escape from her overbearing mother to find love in an unexpected place?

As we have come to expect from this series & similar books, the book is character rather than plot driven and it's almost a snapshot of a few months in the lives of these young women who we have got to know as the series has progressed. I did feel that all of the stories in this installment have very neat conclusions & I would have liked just a little more uncertainty in places!

Overall, it's a nice fourth instalment to the series & has everything that a reader would expect.

[Margaret Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

0nce again we are back in Cornwall and meet the girls, Lily, Mary and Rose for the next instalment of the adventures.

I love the way Bet ty says 'Goodbye' to previous characters and introduces new ones into the story. Although I have only once been to the area where this is set. I feer mothel I know it very well as the descriptions are very good. Lily who moved here from London and is now training to be a midwife. Rose now married to the local doctor. Mary another nurse. We follow her more than in previous stories. We are introduced to her parents. She struggles with her nursing career and has problems. She questions is a nursing career what she really wants. Her parents also take in an evacuee which causes problems.

A few twists and turns with each of the girls and many problems, but they stick together and help each other.

Another fantastic read like the previous books in this series. This ended towards the end of 1943, so I am sure this series is to be continued, at least I hope so. I can recommend this.

[Sams_Fireside · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are four books (so far) in the Cornish Girls series by Betty Walker and I’ve only read two! It absolutely doesn’t matter. You can read it as a standalone or as part of the series. I will definitely go back and read the other two, even if the characters will all be upside down and back to front!

A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls is set during WWII and the story is told primarily by Sonya, Lily and Mary, each living and working in St Ives. Sonya is helping at the orphanage, Lily is now training to be a midwife and Mary is working as a nurse in the convalescent home for wounded soldiers.

I devoured this book in two days, I just couldn’t put it down and I’ve just discovered there is a new book coming out in August so I can’t wait for that! It is beautifully written, with compassion and empathy. I read the last page and closed the book, feeling that I had just been enveloped in a great big hug!

Thank you to Avon Books for sending me a review copy of A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls by Betty Walker.

[Nancy Mazgajewski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advance copy of Betty Walker's latest In The Cornish Girl's Series.

I had a vested interest in this book as I spent a week in Cornwall two years ago and visited St. Ives, Truro, Penzance and other towns in this beautiful area of the world. Reading about these locales brought back many fond memories of cobbled streets, beautiful flowers, small towns, and an incredible view of the blue ocean nestled by the outcropping of cliffs.

The writing was interesting and I especially enjoyed reading about the dilemmas faced by women filling in for men in various occupations during WWII. One of the main characters, Sonya, said how she felt working during WWI only for the war to end and women making no further advancements in the workplace. Unfortunately even in 2022 this is still not rectified.

I recommend this book to those interested in the bravery of the English amidst the destruction of their way of life.

[Angela Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had read the previous 3 books and although it would be possible to read this as a standalone book it would certainly be much easier to understand the character dynamics is one had read the whole series.

I t was certainly great to catch up with old characters and meet new ones and learn the dynamics of family life in WW2 in Cornwall.
There is a thread that runs through all the books with the family that had been evacuated in book and new evacuees from London and their sadness in losing all that was dear and precious to themselves.

Betty Walker's writing style is like a warm hug on a cold Winters day - but not in an over sentimental way.
I was in a way sad when it became obvious that the book was coming to an end.

Along the way there are babies born and injuries to servicemen - as well as the odd wedding or two - and family differences.

All in all a fabulous read - I think there is a book 5 and I can't wait.

Thank you again

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls by Betty Walker is another chapter in the saga of a family who moved to Cornwall to escape the bombs. They found a home there and all are employed and happy. They are all caring young women who have developed greatly since the beginning of the series. There is not really a plot, it is more of a slice of life. In it the women find new careers, love, and new homes. It is really an entertaining look into lives so different than mine, in a whole different time period. Walker had done a terrific job of introducing us to these people and keeping up with their lives in a place that for others might not be so interesting. It is a terrific series.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of A Mother’s Hope for the Cornish Girls by Avon Books UK, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #AvonBooksUK #BettyWalker #AMothersHopeForTheCornishGirls

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each book in this engaging Cornish Girls series has been better than the last! I really enjoyed seeing this interesting group of women making courageous choices that brought their happily-ever-afters to within reach. The interweaving of their lives in WWII Cornwall was neat - Babs’ bold decision led to Sonya’s brave move, which changed the future for….well, read it and find out for yourself! The deprivations and challenge of wartime made each story so starkly realistic. Air raids and ration books were interspersed with weddings and babies, proving the more the world changes, the more it stays the same. I can’t wait to see a glimpse at the next chapter in these determined women’s lives! I received a complimentary copy of this book via NetGalley and was not required to post a review.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having read the previous book in this series, it was so comforting to dive back in and catch up with familiar characters and to be introduced to new ones.
There were a few storylines happening within the book, which all merged together towards the end and they all centred around motherhood. Whether it be pregnancy, adoption, long lost families or simply a relationship between a mother and daughter, the stories were so heart felt and written so well.
I love Betty's style of writing and the imagery that she creates, makes you feel as if you are alongside them as they battle the challenges of war.
I look forward to reading the next book in the series and to catch up with the cornish girls once again.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love this series set in Cornwall. It can easily be read as a standalone but if you love these kind of books it's better to start from book one. This is one of my (many) favourite sagas set around the war.

Although there are lots of stories woven into the book the main focus is on Sonya. Up until recently she had been an unmarried ladies companion. Through no fault of her own she was forced to give up her baby at a young age. The story focuses on why she gave her baby up and the reunion many years later.

This type of storyline always brings a lump to my throat. It lovely to see the characters moving onto their next chapters in life.

[Barbara Deeprose · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Lovely Series!

It is so nice to be back with the Cornish Girls again. The series is set in and around St. Ives, a lovely place in itself. We meet Sonia, who is working at the orphanage. As a teenager she is forced to give up her baby, but now said baby is an adult with a child herself, and wants to meet her birth mother. It is down to Sonia to pluck up the courage to reply. Lily, has now trained to become a midwife, but out of the blue an old boyfriend has arrived at the hospital having been badly burned. Lily will have a big decision to make. I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to book 5.

[Sarahlovesbooks76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having read and enjoyed previous books in the Cornish Girls series, I was very keen to read this one - and I wasn't disappointed. Revisiting old favourite characters and being introduced to some wonderful new ones, it really is a lovely series.

This book sees the author tell the story of Sonya, who was forced to give up her baby at the age of sixteen. Can she reconnect with her as an adult, and make up for the years gone by?

The reader is also shown more of Mary's story, alongside the characters of Lily and Rose, who feature heavily in every book.

A wonderfully warming wartime read.

[Lucy Dunphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another wonderful book in this saga. It was nice to catch up with Lily and Mary as well as being introduced to new characters. I absolutely loved Sonya and I'm hoping she'll appear in future books. These brave abd inspiring women are amazing during the scary days of the war. It was heartwarming to read about their friendship and love for one another. I can't wait for the next instalment.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the opportunity to read this Advance Reader's Copy.

[Emma Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book which from the start I could not put it down.

It follows the woman from the previous books with their life and the ups and downs they have. The characters are so strong and this book includes more people .

The book flowed wonderfully and of course the author does not disappoint with the story in the book so well written and interesting.

Would certainly recommend this book.

[Karen Tebbutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Betty’s books and the Courage for the Cornish Girls certainly did not disappoint. I loved it!

It was lovely to catch up with the characters again.

Beautifully written, easy reading and totally draws you in from the beginning.

I can’t wait to read the next in the series.

Highly recommend.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set during World War II, the story portrays the experiences of Sonya, Lily and Mary. They were each well fleshed out characters and it was a pleasure getting to know them. Each woman faces challenges in her life, not simply because it was wartime but because life brings with it their individual experiences and complications.

For my full review please visit my blog at:
https://leftontheshelfbookblog.blogsp...

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was lovely to catch up with the Cornish girls once again. I love following their stories of their lives during the war. I do love how the girls all help each other. True community spirit. They work so hard during what must have been such difficult times. It was heartwarming and sad at times.. An excellent read.

[Lisa Carlile · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 4th in the cornish girls series by Betty Walker and it did not disappoint This book is set in 1943 and follows
Sonya, Lily and Mary. 3 very different characters with 3 very different backgrounds.
Excellent as usual.

[Sue Rouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book from Betty Walker. Best to read them in order. Lily a midwife Mary a nurse and Mrs Thorpe all live in Cornwall so follow their WW2 lives in their respective roles.

[Tracey Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend to read

The book was a good addition to the others in the Cornish girls series. Once I started reading I couldn't put the book down. Can't wait for the next one.

[Pat Langhelt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another brilliant read about the cornish girls in St Ives during WW2 , look forward to the next one.

[Rosemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely

The saga continues. Truly a good story with likability characters. You’ll be drawn into the adventures of the British coast.

[Sharron Tennant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sorry for the vague reviews on the other books. I read them all, consecutively before writing a review. Love the series and cannot wait for the next installment

[Jo Boyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a easy read, and continued the series. I enjoyed the new characters and the growth of the original characters.

[Leanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A heartwarming story that will leave you with a full heart. A orphanage and a mother looking for her baby.
Love romance and friendship, I love the commaradie of the women.

[Adam Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it