Wartime Friends

Margaret Dickinson

MUCH-LOVED author Margaret Dickinson – a writer who had her first novel published at the age of 25 and has since gone on to pen a raft of bestselling sagas – explores the unbreakable bonds of love and friendship in a moving tale set during the Second World War.

Dickinson (pictured below) is a born storyteller, immersing her readers in the lives of two young women whose crucial roles will entrust them with the nation’s security and safety as they work on intelligence and the interception of enemy messages.

In 1940s coastal Lincolnshire, Carolyn Holmes is keen to do what she can for the war effort. Raised on the family farm, she is prevented by her mother Lilian from going to secretarial college after leaving the local grammar school, although nothing is too good for her brother, Tom. Phyllis Carter, a widow from the Great War, lives close by with her son Peter who works on the farm. Peter and Carolyn are great friends but do not see a future together, although it is the dearest wish of both Phyllis and Lilian to see them marry.

After their home town is caught in an air raid, Peter decides to volunteer… to the distress of his mother, who makes life difficult for Carolyn as she blames her for not marrying Peter and keeping him safe at home.

Click HERE for Lancashire Post review

Carolyn leaves to join the ATS where she meets Beryl Morley who will become a lifelong friend. After their basic training, Carolyn and Beryl are posted to Beaumanor Hall in Leicestershire as ‘listeners,’ the most difficult of signals intelligence gathering, intercepting enemy messages which are then sent to Bletchley Park for deciphering.

As the war unfolds and their work becomes even more vital, Carolyn and Beryl’s friendship strengthens and, in the dangerous times that follow, they will both need the support of the others

as they face personal troubles of their own and the lives of those they love are put at risk. Love and kindness prove to be powerful forces for good in this page-turning story as the war brings change and new opportunities for women from all walks of society. There are revelations, romance and dramas along the way but through it all, the healing gift of friendship remains the bedrock of Carolyn and Beryl’s lives. Written with Dickinson’s warmth and insight, and brimming with the kind of rich period detail that brings the past to life so vividly, Wartime Friends is a delight for all saga fans.
(Pan, paperback, £7.99)