Dear Miss Lake by A J Pearce

I have really enjoyed these books about Emmy, and so I was very happy to receive a copy for review of this, the final episode which saw me let out a large, unexpected sob near the end!  In this story we see the end of the war approaching and yet still unknown...and whilst it looks like the horrors might soon end, nobody knows when, or how, and London is still facing a barrage of bombs, and the women at home are still living through rationing, shortages, working, keeping their children safe whilst not knowing, in some cases, where their husbands are or if they're even alive.  Emmy and the magazine's team continue their work to encourage and support these women, whilst living through wartime horrors of their own.

I whip through these stories so quickly.  I did wish for a little more Bunty, and a little more Stan too (because he really makes me laugh), but I loved the country gathering then return to London, and Emmy's fierce, passionate quest.  And Guy, dear lovely Guy.  It made me want to read some of the actual magazines from the time.  It made me think about my Nan, and the work she was doing during the war, and of how her sister, my great aunt, must have felt watching her husband go up in the planes (he was a navigator), and of their wedding photo where she and my Nan look so beautiful, but how much their clothes must have been cobbled together and remade.

Anyway, these are lovely stories and I feel sad they're at an end, though they ended just as I would have wished.  I'm looking forward to see what the author will write next!

With thanks to the publisher, and Net Galley, for my review copy.

By Your Side by Ruth Jones

I loved Linda's job - working for the council as a sort of special detective, helping to settle people's final affairs when they have died and seemingly have no family to help.  (Is this a real job, and can I do it?)  And I was fully committed to her discovering the truth about Levi, fairly screaming in my head 'but why was he living on his own?!' by the end.  The book is the story of Linda and of Levi, but of lots of other characters along the way too.  

Ruth Jones is very clever with characters - there's a large cast here, but I felt like I knew everyone as they came into the story, and I enjoyed the mixture of humour and tragedy...some of the book is really, really sad, but then in a moment she's lifting your spirits again.  I did find myself reading it, initially, with Nessa's voice narrating the whole thing in my head!  But soon the story, and the characters, took over.  You know from early on that Levi's story won't be a happy one, but that unravelling of why is really wonderfully, heart-breakingly done.  And the gentle reveal of Linda's own tragedy is handled with care.  I was fully immersed in these lives as I read, and I felt a bit bereft once it was all over.