The Dover Café Under Fire

Ginny Bell 

THE Castle family from Dover are facing some of the darkest days of the Second World War in the third book of Ginny Bell’s compelling, drama-packed saga series.

Bell (pictured below), whose home town is Dover, knows both the place and its people well, and once again she sweeps us away to wartime and into the heart of the strategically important Kent port which was virtually demolished by enemy shelling and lost more than half of its population, mostly due to evacuation.

Taking centre stage in this new chapter for the Castle family, which includes the matriarch Nellie and her six children, is garage mechanic Edie who has a long history of disputes with her mother since the death of her father Donald 14 years ago.

In 1940, firebombs are falling on Dover and Edie’s life is thrown into turmoil when the garage where she lives and works is damaged and her beloved boss Mr Pearson – who regards her as the daughter he never had – is arrested.

With no job and nowhere else to go, Edie has no option but to return to Castle’s Café in busy Market Square and her formidable mother, Nellie. Living with her straight-talking mother is never easy, but tensions reach boiling point when an old friend of Nellie’s arrives looking for a place to stay.

Meanwhile, desperate to clear her boss’s name, Edie turns to his nephew Bill for help. But when the café is engulfed in scandal, a shocking tragedy brings long-buried memories to the surface, and Edie realises she can’t trust anyone… not even her own mother.

Bell’s pride and affection for the town she knows so well shines through in this heartwarming saga series as the charismatic Castle family spring to vibrant life and we share in their dramas, secrets, laughter, tears, and fears during the war years when Dover endured so many bombing raids that it became known as Hellfire Corner.

At the heart of the action in The Dover Café Under Fire is Edie who must negotiate a turbulent period in her young life and face up to some devastating truths as the past and present slowly start to unravel. Well researched, written with Bell’s trademark warmth and insight, brimming with emotion, humour and some real-life wartime history, and starring a cast of superbly drawn characters who touch the hearts of readers everywhere, The Dover Café series is now a firm favourite with saga fans.
(Zaffre, paperback, £8.99)