Blog Tour – Heartache on West India Dock Road

“West India Dock Road is battered. It is ravaged. And yet still, it is standing. Still it keeps on keeping on.”

Despite being a lover of historical saga fiction, this third instalment of the series was my first visit to West India Dock Road. With well established, tight-knit characters who clearly have rich individual and collective histories, I felt as though I was arriving very late to a party which has been in full swing for a while. However, it’s a party that I’m definitely glad to be part of now.

My introduction to West India Dock Road came through the eyes of Ruth, a fellow newbie to the area, who received a heartfelt welcome which was as warm as Divya’s delicious cooking. Curling up in this Winter weather and entering Divya’s curry house, aka the epicentre of West India Dock Road, felt like being enveloped in a warm hug, and I could practically smell the delicious spices wafting out of the pages.

Although this book is an instalment of the West India Dock Road series, I was surprised that the first half of the plot takes place in Germany, paving the way for Ruth’s eventful journey to the East End. This was very much a pleasant surprise however, as this was a really gripping and, at times, genuinely emotional story that I couldn’t put down. It feels strange to say that such a tragic sequence of events was my favourite part of this book, but it was so thoughtfully written and filled with so many unexpected twists and turns that I couldn’t stop turning the pages and really felt as though I were a fly on the wall, experiencing these dramatic events in real time with the characters.

“Our narrow East End streets might be brutal but they are also full of community and camaraderie. “

After following Ruth’s incredible journey, I was relieved to arrive at West India Dock Road, although I was naïve to think that this meant the plot would become smooth sailing. This particular area of the East End may be a tight-knit community, the inhabitants of which care deeply about one another, but as with anywhere, prejudice and divide find ways to sneak into the cracks and put down their ugly roots.

“The world may be at war, but that doesn’t stop the hatred, the prejudice.”

I was shocked when some undertones of prejudice began bubbling up between members of this well-established community, even more so when they snowballed into outright division and hatred towards one another. However, without spoiling the plot for anyone who is yet to read this book, as Charity and Divya in particular both navigated these challenges, found their confidence and fiercely stood up for themselves (and those closest to them), I was practically punching the air in triumph by the time I turned the last page. I may be a newcomer to this series, but if there is one thing that was made abundantly clear to me, it’s that West India Dock Road has produced an array of headstrong, fiercely independent women who are never afraid to stand up for what is right; and I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for them next. Particularly, as this story ends with the return of someone who has clearly played an integral role in previous plots and, if suspicion serves me right, definitely has a bigger part to play as this story continues to unfold.

“They are quick to judge, and even quicker to gossip. They are brash. But they are also fiercely loyal. They care deeply and love wholeheartedly.”

Heartache on West India Dock Road

1941 – Amid the bombs falling over London’s East End, the residents of West India Dock Road endure wartime with courage, defiance and a good dose of humour.

From nights spent sheltering together in the Underground station to sharing gossip, pastimes and meals, they lean on each other as their world is turned upside down.

Since the bombing of her family’s boarding house, Charity has held her loved ones together, and now, with her heart set on becoming a ‘sugar girl’ working for Tate & Lyle, she’s determined to forge a new path, despite prejudice about her relationship with the Indian soldier she loves.

Her best friend Divya serves up warmth and spice in her beloved curry house, but is hiding a secret that grows more urgent with each passing day. What will happen when it is revealed?

Ruth is a newcomer, recently arrived from wartorn Europe and haunted by the atrocities she’s experienced. On West India Dock Road she finds not just refuge but an unlikely family.

As heartache affects them all and bonds are tested, can these three women find hope and happiness, even in the darkest of times?

Purchase Link –
https://mybook.to/HeartacheWestIndiaDock

Author Bio –

Renita d’Silva is an award-winning author of historical fiction, often set partly in India, where she is from.

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Blog Tour – The Seaside Girls Under Fire

“‘You’d be surprised what wins a war, girls. Courage, bravery, fearlessness. Morale.'”

Cleethorpes, September 1940. Not a place I have previously visited, physically or figuratively, having not been familiar with the ‘Seaside Girls’ saga until this instalment. However, despite Jessie, Ginny and Frances being well established friends, each with their own intricate back-stories, by the time I had finished the first chapters, I felt they had very much welcomed me into their gang.

I love saga novels, although in such a well-established genre it must be really difficult to find ways to keep the stories fresh. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Tracy Baines. We saga readers have seen brave women rising to all sorts of challenges in the midst of warfare, but I’ll be honest, I was intrigued to learn more about the experiences of performers during this time period. Singing, dancing and acting might not typically be seen as dangerous or particularly scary professions (unless you’re a massive introvert like me), but having to keep singing, quite literally keeping calm and carrying on, whilst bombs rain down outside the theatre walls, certainly isn’t for the faint hearted. Lucky for us (and London’s West End), Jessie is anything but.

“Sometimes it was hard to tell who were friends, and who were enemies. Sometimes they might be one and the same.”

Even though I was new to this saga, all of the characters had such rich histories and unique details that I instantly felt as though I’d known them for years. Although having said that, the complexity of all the characters certainly keeps the reader on their toes. I would reach a point of thinking I had the plot all worked out, but the author kept dropping little crumbs of mystery like Hansel and Gretel, which kept me guessing until the very end. Whilst all the characters are fantastic in their own way, I had a very love-hate relationship with Adele, who was, dare I say it, possibly my favourite? We’ve all met a version of Adele in some form, and of course we all hate them from the word ‘go’, but it’s a testament to Tracy Baines’ storytelling that I quickly became curious to know more about her journey to the stage, and was intrigued to peel back the layers of her personality whilst trying to anticipate what decision she might make next.

Similarly, Billy is such a well-established ‘baddie’ (albeit a charming one), that even as someone meeting these characters for the first time, I got the measure of him pretty quickly, or so I thought. Without spoiling anything for those who haven’t finished it yet, I must say I love a redemption arc, especially one which was so surprising to me as a newbie, that I can only imagine how much of a twist this will have come as for existing fans of this series. It must be so difficult for authors to keep plots fresh and the readers on their toes, when you have such a well-established story and characters your readers are so familiar with, but that is definitely not the case in this series. I might have been late to the ‘Seaside Girls’ party, but the rich characters and exciting plots which made this instalment un-put-down-able, have me absolutely hooked, and I can’t wait to find out what where life takes Jessie, Ginny and Frances next time.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/underfiresocial

Author Bio –

Tracy Baines is the bestselling saga writer of The Seaside Girls series. She was born and brought up in Cleethorpes and spent her early years in the theatre world which inspired her writing.

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Facebook: @TracyBaines

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Will the war put a stop to the Seaside Girls?

It’s all change for the Seaside Girls…Singer Jessie Delaney has finally got her big break in London’s West End and is determined to make the most of her golden opportunity, even with the start of the Blitz.

Lonely, and lacking the guidance of friends and family, Jessie hopes that seasoned performer Adele Bailey will help her find her feet. But, when fame beckons friendships are tested and loyalties are divided.

Ginny Thompson returns home to Sheffield to care for her sick but abusive father. Will she survive the wrath of her father and the blitz and return to her passion of entertaining the troops on the stage?

Meanwhile, back in Cleethorpes Frances Randolph is busy running the Palace Theatre whilst her husband serves his King and Country wondering if her life in the spotlight is over forever.

Will Jessie make the right choices as she navigates her way to the top – and can Ginny and Frances find their way back to the limelight?

Review – ‘Above Us, the Stars’

Having grandparents or other twice-removed relations who served in the War is, for ignorant Millennials such as myself, so mundane and commonplace that it is pretty much never discussed. Reading ‘Above Us, the Stars’, recently prompted me to ask my husband what his grandparents did during the War. I’ve known this man for eleven years now, and I think this is quite possibly the only thing I don’t know about him or his family, because I’d simply never thought to ask about such a run-of-the-mill topic. Having had my historical interests tickled from reading AUTS, I waited for his response with an intrigued sense of anticipation, thinking I was about to hear some heroic anecdote which had been passed down through the generations of a family which I am now part of. However, the response which followed was somewhat of a disappointment, specifically: “f*ck knows, I know my granddad went to war though”, as we continued walking the dog and the conversation quickly moved on to what we fancied for tea. ‘Went to war’. That is the legacy of a man who most likely risked life and limb, to say nothing of his emotional and mental well-being, and entered literal mortal danger to protect his family, his country and future generations; for his whole story to be entirely forgotten within just two generations of his own offspring. Not even a glimmer of recognition as to whether he was in the Army, Navy, RAF or God knows what other role? I know it’s exceptionally difficult to talk about heroes of the Second World War without someone popping up and going ‘okay, boomer’, and much as it pains my pacifist, hippy, Millennial self to admit it, my God, we are a generation characterised by completely unapologetic ignorance.

But yes, back to the writing. As with her previous book ‘The Horsekeeper’s Daughter’ (which is also absolutely worth a read), ‘Above Us, the Stars’ takes the form of Jane Gulliford Lowes’ weird hybrid genre of non-fiction and fiction in that it reads like a fictional story but is littered with real-life accounts and factual information which helps to put the story in context and bring the characters to life. It feels a bit wrong to refer to the people in this story as ‘characters’, not least of which because (as an evening spent on Ancestry confirmed), Jack Clyde is my first cousin twice removed; thus nullifying my lifelong gripe that ‘no Clyde ever did anything remotely interesting’. As I was reading AUTS one night, my husband leaned across and uttered the question “why are you reading a book about the army? That’s not your usual tipple”, as I was squinting to focus intently on one of the more tech-y extracts which explained the types of aircraft Jack and his squadron were using and what everyone’s role was on board. I mean, I don’t even know where to start with how ridiculous that question was (disclaimer – I do love my husband, and the purpose of this post is not just to slag him off), but as I’ve said, Jane Gulliford Lowes has once again used her unique storytelling ability to breathe an exciting, fictional feel into one man’s real life story which could otherwise have easily been written off as quite ‘typical’ of his day and therefore uninteresting. Plus, even the photos on the cover make it pretty darn obvious that it’s about the RAF, not the Army, if we are going to start splitting hairs.

So, there I was, night after night, eagerly turning pages to learn more about where Jack and his family’s journey was going to go next. I will confess, I have no self control so after experiencing the anxiety of a couple of the more hairy chapters where I really wasn’t sure how his story was going to unfold, I did skip ahead to check who survives at the end. I would strongly advise against doing that, as it did take away a bit of the thrill of watching the ups and downs of this exciting journey emerge before me, however, it’s a testament to the wonderful writing of this story that I still cried at the end (and on multiple occasions throughout – I’ll never be able to hear ‘The Blaydon Races’ in the same way again). Having said that, I also wouldn’t tar AUTS with the same brush as other wartime sob-story books such as Atonement and the likes, where it’s all a bit over the top and there’s a grieving woman at home crying every night over her lost love, because the emotion of Jack’s story runs far deeper than the typical ‘he’s away from home, missing his family and sweetheart’ cliches, and the most poignant points were that Jack, and all of his mates and colleagues, were just normal young lads who were thrown into a huge responsibility which, ultimately, had them sh*t scared that they might leave in an aircraft one night and literally not come back. Sometimes, there isn’t a need to over-do a story with too many complex layers, and being able to take a fairly ‘typical’ experience shared by millions of others and render it into an emotive and epic story truly is the mark of an exceptional writer.

My own granddad (incidentally Jack Clyde’s first cousin), was born in the same year as Jack and served in the RAF at the same time, but never once spoke about it, that I can remember. I asked my parents about it once, as I think most children do when they study World War Two for the first time in primary school, and being told that he was taken off active duty to be given the grizzly job of going to the crash sites and stripping the uniforms off his dead friends so that they could be washed and re-worn by new recruits was quite grotesque enough for my seven year old self, to the point where it put me off ever asking again. But, I’m embarrassed to say that it wasn’t until I recently spent some time cramped inside a Halifax with Jack and his crew, that I really considered why that might have been the case. So, on a personal level I would just like to thank Jane Gulliford Lowes for breathing life into a story which could easily have been buried between generations like so many others have been, and I don’t think for one second that the only reason I was so moved by Jack’s story is because of the family connection I have; I really think that anyone who turns the pages of ‘Above Us, the Stars’ will have much the same emotional response, and will hopefully consider revisiting the same stories of their own families before they end up lost forever because, if this book is anything to go by, some stories are such that they just need to be told.