This HaBO is from Jacqui, who is looking for a WWII romance she read and lost long ago:
Many years ago, back when I was unencumbered by mortgages, debt and other responsibilities, I came across in my local library this book set in World War 2 (or perhaps just before, my memory is a little hazy) about a young woman who sets out from her country home to go to university in the big city (London?) and in the process not only finds love but discovers who she can be.
It is set in England amidst the upheaval of the second world war and the changing role of women during this time. Our heroine, whose name I can’t remember, is boarding at a boarding house and falls in with a group of bohemian students. Its a period of awakening for her as she comes from a rather sheltered background. I believe she is the first in her family to go to university so its very much a brave new world for her. Its also a bit of a friends to lovers story because she eventually falls in love with one of her friends from university who I think is studying to be a doctor (thus explaining his absence from the fighting).
At some point there are Landgirls woven into the story but I think its some Landgirls that her family have got working for them on their property. In the end, our heroine ends up studying to be a doctor herself. I think. This is just a nice gentle story – no major sex scenes here. If you are familiar with Teresa Crane’s A Fragile Peace, it’s a little like that – very much a story of a young woman finding her place in the world and finding empowerment through the process.
It’s not a great book or perhaps one that became a favourite because surely I would have at least remembered the title? But I still think of it and there are some days when I just really want to read a story about a young woman who sets out from her country home to go to university in the big city and in the process not only finds love but discovers who she can be.
If anyone has any idea at all and could HaBO, I would be very, very grateful.
OK, first, I had no idea about the Women’s Land Army, aka the Landgirls. That’s very neat. Now, to the business at hand: do you recognize this book?
I sadly don’t but I really, really hope someone else does. This sounds like a perfect comfort read.
There’s a book called ‘The Land Girls’ by Angela Huth, if you’re interested in them. They also made it into a movie with Catherine McCormick, Anna Friel and a young Rachel Weisz.
No clue about the HABO, though!
I don’t think either of these are your book, because they’re not more literary fiction than romance, but if you want to read a couple of fantastic books that take place in a similar setting in London just post WW II, you can’t do better than Muriel Spark, “A Far Cry From Kensington” and “The Girls of Slender Means”. In the first one, the heroine lives in a boarding house and works for a publisher that is on the verge of going bankrupt. I’m thinking the guy she ends up with might be a doctor, but it’s been a while since I read it so I could be mistaken. The second one takes place in a “ladies” rooming house. There are some funny touches, for instance the group of women share one “good dress” between them (a Schiaparelli) which gets lent out to whoever has a hot date. Far Cry does have an HEA, but the the second book does not, so be forewarned.
that should read “they’re more literary fiction than romance”, duh.
Not sure about the HABO, but the writers who sprang immediately to mind are : Elizabeth Elgin, Lillian Harry, Lucilla Andrews & someone’s already mentioned Angela Huth.
All of them have written some lovely WWII novels .Hope that helps
I don’t know the book, alas, but there was a nifty BBC drama about the land girls a few years back.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_Girls_(TV_series)
@Karin – I love Muriel Sparks!!
The book is totally not one I’ve read before, so I’ll just contribute another book about the Landgirls that is AWESOME.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1520484.A_Strange_Enchantment
I love it. It’s fantastic and everyone should read it. Also, while it is not the HABO, the author (Mabel Esther Allan) wrote a LOT of other books, so one of them might be it–ASE did have a very sweet romance that would fit with HABO’s spiciness level as well.
This has similar plot developments to Maeve Binchy’s Circle of Friends.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve been trying all of them out – so far none of them have hit the jackpot. But what great suggestions they are! Am looking forward to maybe reading a few of them anyway. Fingers crossed someone out there might still be able to shed light on the book.