Historical Fiction-The Secret Diary-Available Now

When it comes to historical fiction novels, I love reading about new perspectives. Fortunately, I have been on a run of luck in that regard.

The historical, in this case, centers around four friends who worked as gunner girls in England during WWII. I learned a lot about their tasks and about the perspective of smaller towns during the war.

Books set in this period often center around major cities (Berlin, London, Paris), or in the smaller towns of France and Germany. Since a majority of the fighting was in and around the countries of those cities, it makes sense.

But it’s easy to forget that the war was much more widespread and even though there wasn’t actual land combat on a grand scale in England, there was a very real fear of German invasion.

I thought the author did a good job of relating the gunner girls’ lives. A simple diary entry followed by a detailed scene is an effective storytelling method. The chapters are an introduction followed by a tale.

The diary is Nancy’s (which we know right away) and details her struggle with re-entering society after being de-mobbed. Once again, the author breaks fresh ground, because the difficulty women had after the war is often overlooked.

Come to think of it, that is a major theme of this book. England went to war as one country, but after the war, everything had changed. Societal expectations were the same, but different. And women who had responsibilities in the war were all of a sudden thrust back into traditional roles – but they knew they were capable of more.

I did feel like the “feminist” point of view verged on preachy a few times, but the author stayed just on the side of non-annoying. Nancy’s struggles felt real.

And in a strange way, they paralleled Lorna’s struggles as she tried to figure out her life without her husband. Both women were facing bold new worlds that they had to find their footing in. That was a nice connection between the two eras.

There’s a touch of mystery as well, as Lorna reads the diary and realizes that something must have happened to change the lives of the four gunner girls. I really enjoyed Lorna’s “sleuthing” as she tried to get more answers.

In fact, there is a great balance between the two eras. That’s not always the case. But this one had me eager to get back to each one as they alternated. They were separate stories but cleverly intertwined.

I would definitely recommend this book for a unique perspective on the roles of women in post-WWII England. There is a strong message that strength is in even the smallest things and moving forward is worth the struggle.

Additional Historical Fiction from this author: The Berlin Zookeeper

Author Bio:
Anna Stuart lives in Derbyshire with her campervan-mad husband, two hungry teenagers and a slightly loopy dog. Having studied English literature at Cambridge university, she took an enjoyable temporary trip into the ‘real world’ as a factory planner, before returning to her first love and becoming an author. History has also always fascinated her. Anna loves the way that writing lets her ‘try on’ so many different lives, but her favourite part of the job is undoubtedly hearing from readers.