Springtime with the Railway Girls: A feel-good historic… (2024)

Persephone, Alison and Colette the railway girl's with true friendship on their side they can win any battle. 1944 and all these girl's have battles of their own with family, matters of the heart and loved ones. Their friendship will keep on glowing and growing after joining LMS four years down the line and a lot of hard slog, when will they see D-Day.
This amazingly is the ninth book in the series, with a added sprinkle of spring sunshine, what a journey this book is as we get closer to the end of WW2.
Absolutely enjoyed it from the very start to the end, a blooming lovely read, for readers to enjoy.

Time taken to read - 3 days

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Blurb from Goodreads

Manchester, 1944

Alison is thriving in her rewarding role at the railways. But when family tragedy strikes, her world is turned upside down.

Persephone is struggling with matters of the heart. Can she muster up the courage to tell Matt how she truly feels?

Colette is slowly learning to embrace life again after she left Tony. But will he ever let her move on?

Join the railway girls as they journey through life, love and war.

My Review

Guys this is book nine in the series, I didn't realise but you can absolutely read it as a standalone. Alison, Persephone and Colette is our main characters, friends who are very different and each facing different issues but through their love for each other they can get through it. D-day is looming and war is ongoing but not the central focus of the book.

Alison is married and quite happy with her lot until tragedy hits home and the fallout from that. Persephone is from a family of title and money, she has her ongoing romance with someone at the railway, completely unsuitable in her families eyes and resentment of the distaste her choices brings to their social circles. And Colette, Colette is recovering from an abusive relationship, separated from her husband but still married and remember it is 1944 so women are meant to behave a certain way. Colette soon finds herself looking at someone with a flicker of interest she long thought dead inside her. Colette may be ready to move on but her past may not be ready to let go.

Obviously being book nine the book has had a lot of past and back history that is referred to within this book so I do aim to get the previous books in the series. It takes us back to a very different time, where social expectations are very different from now. Struggles during the war, women doing their parts, centred around a small group of people/families and the issues they all face during wartime.

A page turner, I do enjoy stepping into different timelines, when society had very different ideals/struggles compared to present day. The things people deem important, even when people are dying in masses due to war. Relationships, friendships, dynamics, having to behave and portray in a certain way or be socially shunned, 4/5 for me this time!

"With true friendship on their side they can win any battle"

...

With the arrival of 1944, talk in Manchester is of nothing other than the reports which indicate that this will be the year of the big push by the allies, which will turn fortunes and bring an end to the war in Europe, that has been raging for so many long years. For 'The Railway Girls' and more specifically Persephone, Colette and Alison, this will be a year of mixed fortunes, tinged with both much deserved happiness and the shedding of many tears of both sorrow and regret.

For the Right Honourable Persephone, the decision over whether she should return to the status quo of her privileged life when war is over, or if she should follow her heart and declare her love for Matt, a fellow railway employee, who despite his above average education, is very much a member of the lower classes and certainly not son-in-law material Persephone's parents would ever contemplate accepting, is getting closer by the day. Mind you, lovely as she is, Matt's proud parents feel pretty much the same way about Persephone, convinced that she has begun a dalliance with their son, only to let him down badly when peace is declared and she is free to return to the ancestral home and bosom of her family. It transpires that both Matt and Persephone have also been having the same unspoken thoughts about their future and whilst both are fast coming to realise the strength of feeling they have for one another, it takes a terrifying and almost deadly incident to happen, together with the generosity of spirit from a very unexpected source, before they pluck up the courage to talk openly about 'life after war' and whether it is to be together, or apart.

Having suffered some emotional angst, Alison is only too pleased that she and Joel have managed to sort out their differences, hence now, she is in the first blissful days of marriage to the handsome Dr Maitland. Thanks to the generosity of Alison's fellow railway girlfriend Colette, the newly weds have been able to move into their own home immediately, where they are busy settling into a new routine. However Colette's estranged in-laws are set on causing as much trouble as possible for the young couple, until the power of the neighbourhood network is unleashed upon them, when it becomes clear that the Alison and Joel have become valued members of the community, even if that is only because of the kudos of being able to say that they live on the same street as a doctor. Alison does have a very big secret that she has had to hide from everyone, including Joel, so she is eagerly waiting for war to be over, so that she can reveal all, to both him and her fellow railway girls, whom she now regards as her sisters-in-arms forever. However, a tragedy is set to strike Alison and her family, which will be life-changing for one of them and will force the others to face the future with renewed stoicism and determination, until they can be reunited again.

Having escaped from an abusive marriage, thanks to the help of her railway girl sisters and their network of friends, Colette finds that, for once, life is running smoothly in her job as a railway chaperone and she is free to be herself and feel comforted and genuinely welcomed as part of their group. She even catches the eye of her boss, widower Nathan Gordon, with whom there is an instant attraction, although still not free from her marriage, both he and Colette decide to take any notion of a new life together, one small step at a time. However, what sounds too good to be true, probably is and Colette is forced by circumstances, to face her nemesis in one final showdown, which will determine both their future fates.

...

I have found my reviews for the books in this series becoming more and more difficult to write, not because I can't think of what to tell you about the stories, but because I am conscious that I tend to ramble on a little in my enthusiasm and I therefore might share far too many details and spoilers, rather than leave others to enjoy their own journeys of discovery as they follow the saga. I'm sorry if that's the case and feel free to shoot me down in flames, but I just can't help it!

I can't believe that I am already up to book #9 in this wonderful series and to know that with WWII drawing to its conclusion, my journey with 'The Railway Girls' will probably soon be nearing its end, when we will pull into Manchester's Victoria Station and visit Mrs Jessop at the Railway Buffet for that one final time. With the first couple of books in the series having set the scene of the action, introduced me to the wider group of characters and allowed me to follow the special friendships and relationships they build with each other within the camaraderie of that unbreakable larger unit, the last few episodes have been taken off at a tangent by author Maisie Thomas, as she features in turn, two or three of the ladies for each storyline.

As ever, the facts surrounding this, multi-layered and totally immersive fictional story, are meticulously researched and detailed by an author who clearly knows and loves her subject with a passion and complete confidence in the imagery and emotions her words can evoke. This series is a social record of the war effort conducted from home soil, specifically focusing on the important part the railway network played in holding the country together and keeping everyone connected during those difficult years. The storyline is well-paced and broken down into well-signposted, bite-sized chapters, which are good and easy to follow.

Whilst the physical footprint of the story is quite keenly focused, so many of the local sights and sounds are wonderfully described, which helps to lift the action from the page for a truly transportive and immersive experience, creating an atmosphere full of hope, devotion and a genuine sense of duty to family, friends and country, which lingered long after I had closed the final page.

If the events and locations are the threads which hold this story together, the characters are the very fabric around which the saga is woven. They are authentic, well-defined and whilst I know that I shouldn't really have favourite characters in a series, I felt that this episode very much belonged to Persephone and Colette, as they are both battling uphill struggles against the social norms of the day. Whilst one has to face the public reckoning and stigma of being a separated woman, a survivor of domestic abuse and the co-respondent in what will be a very public and humiliating divorce; the other has to consider on which side of the tracks her future happiness lies and whether her decision can withstand the undoubted level of social ramifications she can expect, even if that means estranging herself from her family.

I have to admit that I am quietly hoping that Maisie will devote at least one more book to the group as a whole, bringing them back together as they prepare for a post-war future back in 'civvie street' - a life which, for the majority of them, will probably never be the same again.

OOh I love these Railway Girls!! Book 9 in the series and it just feels so good to be back in their company and seeing how their lives are progressing in Manchester.

We're set in 1944 in this book and seeing how life is faring for Colette, Persephone and Alison. They are all facing different issues so it's fascinating to see the different problems that can occur, amidst the backdrop of the war effort. What I have noticed while reading these books is that you're very aware of no matter what they're facing, they are reminded of being thankful for what they do have as so many other people are suffering far worse during these times.

These women are all looking for strength in their lives to face the next chapters - whether it's the end of a relationship, grief, needing to find a purpose or how things are going at work. And there's always that support network amongst the ladies with people there to share problems with to help them work out their next step. There are family issues for some and you do get to see the snobbery side of some families.

There's always a reminder of what is going on with the War, both home and abroad, and I found the way that the radio was a beacon of hope bringing them news of the latest happenings was a real tonic and can't begin to imagine what it was like for that to be their only way of hearing what was going on, compared to our times when news is found out so many different ways 24/7.

Another wonderful installment and I'm eagerly anticipating the next catch up!!