Wild Strawberries

by Emma Blair

Maizie and her husband, Sam, run the Paris Hotel in Coverack, Cornwall, but when World War II starts Sam joins up and leaves Maizie to run the hotel. Struggling to keep the hotel going, Maizie is further troubled when she takes on Rosemary and Bobby, two evacuees from Plymouth but after a difficult start the children settle in and Maizie, who wants a family, enjoys their company. Her happiness is further enhanced with the arrival of the attractive Christain Le Gall, a French soldier wounded at Dunkirk, who comes to stay at the hotel whilst on leave.
But this happiness doesn't last - the explosion of a bomb causes physical and emotional devastation and Maizie discovers that Sam, a rough man who beats her, has also been abusing Rosemary. Maizie, torn between her duty as a wife and her love for Christian, realizes she is unable to leave Sam and tells Christian she is unable to run away with him. Christian, heartbroken, returns to France.
But Maizie, now pregnant, still loves him. Will she find happiness again?

Genres: Historical Fiction

474 pages, Paperback

First published November 9, 2000

About the author

Iain Blair was born on 12 August 1942 in Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He was an actor and writer, married with the also writer Jane Blanchard. Initially he wrote plays for theatre and television, but later began to write novels. He started out writing suspense novels as Iain Blair, but after being unsuccessful with this genre, switched to writing popular historical romance fiction sagas. But according to his Web site, Iain Blair's publishers decided he'd sell far more books simply by being published as a woman because is a women's fiction genre. "I was given absolutely no choice in the matter. They'd decided on a sex change and even the name. So that was that. Emma I became and Emma I've stayed." His true identity remained a secret until 1998 when his novel Flower of Scotland was nominated for the Romantic Novel of the Year Award by the Romantic Novelists' Association Awards, which required him to admit to being the author. He passed away on 3 July 2011 in Torquay, Devon, England.

Reviews

[Trish at Between My Lines · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF at 50%

Really not feeling this at all. The pace is sluggish and even though I love the setting I can't make myself care about the characters. Moving on.

[Deirdre Yates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Innocuous and predictable but an easy listen. No brain power required.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be honest. This is far from the time type of book I would normally go for, and possibly would even only relunctantly read if it were part of a book club. I borrowed the audiobook from the library for one reason: the narrator, Steven Pacey. I didn't even read the synoposis properly before I had downloaded it, all because I absolutely love Pacey and every narrated book he has done (so far, anyway).

This isn't my usual genre, but I did thoroughly enjoy it. Well written and the characters and world building are well rounded. Few little issues for me a rapist not getting the comeuppance he so deserved , but overall an enjoyable read.

I'm honestly not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it properly, but as such, Pacey's narration really brought this book to life for me.

[Sapna Bisht · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.8/5



A war based love story. It felt a bit stretched at times but I think it would make an interesting movie plot.

[Bigbear Woolliscroft · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of a book club on Historical Fiction. To be blunt, it was the weakest of the series. It is somewhere between Catherine Cookson and Wartime M&B. Somehow the story is too predictable, like cheap chocolates. All the elements are there, but in the end, you are left a bit disappointed, as it doesn't really come alive.
Having said that, For the sort of books you pick up from WHSmith this is an OK book, it is just that it has problems holding its own against better writers of the genre.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book will appeal to lovers of British war stories. It involved a credible romance . I listened to It as an audio book and it was well presented. I did have some issue with how the rape of a young girl was handled. I felt it was sort of swept under the rug with no consequences for the perpetrator. Whilst it was an easy story to listen to I found it a little slow. I think the author missed some opportunities to build a lot more tension and reader engagement into the story.

[Susan Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice book. Again the last hundred pages were more padding really. Nice happy ending

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good storyline, easy to identify with the characters.

[Angela Gresham]

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[Sandra Schug · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this book

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook.

[Abbie Denosta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't stop reading it until the last page. I love everything. I was not able to do the stuffs I need to do because of this book. There's a magnet.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is set in Britain during the Second World War, down in the south of the country. We get a lot of the way that ordinary people had to cope with the war and being parted from loved ones. Major port towns were also being bombed regularly.

At the time some people were convinced that the Germans would invade and a story thread looks at a group set up to be an organised secret resistance should that happen. However there is not really that much tension as we know, unlike the woman in the resistance, that the invasion did not occur.

This isn't my favourite by Emma Blair but it is readable.

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maizie is struggling to keep the Paris Hotel in Cornwall open while her husband is in the army during World War 2. A French soldier stays at the hotel after Dunkirk, they fall in love...and she becomes pregnant... She is also taking care of 2 children who were sent to Cornwall for safety. Their mother really doesn't want them and she becomes quite close to them. Some great characters and visuals of Cornwall.

[shells · Rating 4 out of 5]

enjoyable read, heartwarming characters touches several moral dilemmas. lovely love story