Christmas Quotes: A war time Christmas

Every year as I read I keep an eye out for quotes about books, about food, and about Christmas. Oh, and Paris, but I don't think that will come as a surprise. Between now and Christmas Day I am going to share these quotes, some of which I have been saving since last year!

So let's get started. The first quote comes from Maisie Thomas' Secrets of the Railway Girls. Ironically, the latest book in the series is called Christmas with the Railway Girls, but I haven't read that yet. This book was also set quite close to Christmas so there were several quotes I could have used, but I chose to go with this one.

There had been several raids at the start of December, including on on the evening of the first, which wasn't exactly how you wanted Stir-Up Sunday to end. There were more raids the following Wednesday and Thursday, including two daytime ones. After that, there had been no more raids from Thursday afternoon until breakfast-time the following Wednesday. Looking back, it seemed like a holiday - except, of course, that at the time they'd had no way of knowing how long the respite was going to last. It might have come to an abrupt end at any moment, for all they knew.


As it was, Dot had spent the weekend running around like a blue-arsed fly, getting Christmas sorted before Jerry could make a return visit. She had finished her Christmas shopping - well, almost. Cordelia had said she and her husband were giving war bonds as presents this year and Dot was sure that many of these patriotic gifts would be exchanged, but that wasn't what she wanted her Christmas to be like. She had already sent her boys their presents - shaving sticks, packs of cards, soup and face flannels, and a Ronson lighter each. Most important of all was a long letter to each of them in whichshe had blathered on about homeand the neighbours and her job and the children, mainly the children, filling her pages with any and all details, no matter how silly or insignificant, knowing how much those snippets would mean.


She had splurged on tickets for all the family to see Tommy Trinder in Cinderalla at the Opera House. For Jimmy she got a model ship to build, for Jenny a compendium of games, and a jigsaw each. She also bought Enid Blyton's Mr Gallliano's Circus and The Secret Island, deliberately choosing books they could share, and, unable to resist the title, The Naughtiest Girl in the School.


The air raids started up again on Wednesday morning, following by another that night, and as for that Thursday.....

"Honest to God!" Dot exclaimed when the siren released it's blood-curdling wail for the fifth time - the fifth!- since one o'clock that morning. Now it was half seven in the evening, with ten minutes still to go on Howdy Folks! on the Home Service. "Hasn't that ruddy Hitler got owt better to do? You can tell he's not in charge of making mince pies."


Not making mince pies, no, but he was dead set on making mincemeat of Britain's towns and cities, ports and factories. Why couldn't he bugger off and leave them in peace for a while? It was a week and a half to Christmas, for pity's sake. Aye, but that was the point, wasn't it? He had no pity, no common decency. Power mad, that was Hitler. Well, he'd picked on the wrong country this time.

And a bit later on

She locked the front door behind him. Would she still have a front door come the morning? She fetched the air-raid box. Actually, she had two air-raid boxes now, because she took her Christmas things into the shelter with her an' all: a cardboard box containing the presents, her tin of mince pies, the pudding in it's basin, a bottle of sherry and, stupid as it might sound, the fairy off the top of the tree.


Jerry could blow up her house if he wanted and there was nowt she could do to stop him, but he wasn't going to blow up Christmas.

Weekend Cooking: A WWII wedding cake

I saved this quote from Railway Girls in Love when I read it earlier this year.  This is the third book in the Railway Girls series which features a group of women who come together to work on the railways during WWII.  

I wasn't quite sure when I was going to use this, or another quote I have saved, but I think this is the week! There's several reasons why. First, because it was Rememberance Day this week. I know that Rememberance Day is in memory of the end of World War I, but I tend to think about all conflicts when I take that moment to stop and think at 11am on 11 September.

A second reason is that the fourth book in the Railway Girls series came out this week, and the third reason is because I think of November as my wedindg month. We got married on a beach in Vanuatu on 1 November and then we had a celebration at home on 30 November. This weekend, sits right in the middle of those two dates. We didn't have a wedding cake at our wedding. We had a plate of lovely desserts instead, but at the celebration, my sister made a beautiful wedding cake.

It should be said that Mrs Grayson is the person in the book who manages to stil be able to make delicious treats despite war time shortages. I also like that this passage demonstrates how people come together when needed

"Mrs Grayson, please will you make the cake? I know that isn't an easy thing to manage these days."

"Leave it to me." Mrs Grayson's cheek went pink with pleasure. "I'll make one of those no-egg cakes and I'll get hold of some saccharine if there isn't enough sugar."

"We'll give you whatever dried fruit we can," said Dot. "They do say you can used grated veg as a substitute."

"There might be more dried fruit to be had now that food parcels are coming from America," said Cordelia.

"I promise you one thing," said Mr Grayson. "It'll be the moistest cake you've ever tasted."

Mrs Cooper rolled her eyes. "When she says moist what she means is alcoholic."

"We've got a bit of sherry," said Mrs Grayson, "and I can't think of a better purpose for it."

"I can probably provide a little alchohol as well," said Cordelia

 

And then

When Mrs Cooper opened the front door, Dot lifted her chin and sniffed the air like one of the Bisto Kids, her mouth watering at the delicious mix of spicy-sweet and fruity.

"I bought my dried fruit round." Dot offered her bag. "Am I too late?"

"Not at all. Mrs Grayson is letting everything soak at the moment. Can you smell the orange zest?"

"She got hold of an orange?" Dot was impressed.

Mrs Cooper led her into the kitchen, where Mrs Grayson, a pinny covering her dress, was consulting a handwritten recipe.

"If this is how the raw ingredients smell," said Dot, "it's going to be a masterpiece of a cake. What are you using to soak the fruit?"

"Mrs Masters provided some alchohol," said Mrs Cooper.

"She said she would," said Dot,picturing dry sherry.

"There's brandy in there." Mrs Grayson waved a hand towards the mixing bowl. "And port."

"Crikey," said Dot. "Everyone will be legless after one slice.

"Well, it is a wedding," said Mrs Grayson.

Weekly Meals

Saturday - French style chicken

Sunday - Pressure Cooker Spaghetti Bolognaise

Monday - Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Tuesday - Pork Nachos

Wednesday  - Steak and Pepper Casserole with mash

Thursday - Pork belly wraps with coleslaw

Friday - Scrambled Eggs with bacon on toast

Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book reviews (novel, nonfiction), cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, quotations, photographs, restaurant reviews, travel information, or fun food facts. If your post is even vaguely foodie, feel free to grab the button and link up anytime over the weekend. You do not have to post on the weekend. Please link to your specific post, not your blog's home page

Blog Tour: Secrets of the Railway Girls and Railway Girls in Love by Maisie Thomas

Last year I read and reviewed the first book in the Railway Girls series by Maisie Thomas. Today, I am meant to be reviewing the third book, The Railway Girls in Love, as part of a blog tour. I can see the cogs turning, saying but what about the second book? Well, I am going to cheat and talk about both books.

This book commences just prior to Christmas 1940, a time when Manchester was suffering under ongoing air raids by German bombers.

Dot is busy being devoted wife to the Reg (who quite frankly doesn't deserve her), mother in law to Pammy and Sheila who are on their own whilst their husbands are away fighting, and grandmother to the ever mischievous Jimmy and pretty Jenny. Dot cooks, cleans, works full time on the railways and provides a listening ear and sage advice to the younger railway girls who she befriended when she started working.  But don't think that Dot is a saint. She knows that she has a tendency to jump to conclusions, to be a perfectionst when it comes to her housewife duties, can be a bit impatient with Reg, but she always has her family's best interests at heart.

Joan is still living at home with her Gran and her beautiful sister Letitia. The girls have both always know that Letitia has been their Gran's favourite, but they are the only family that they have given that their mother ran away with her 'fancy man' and their saintly father had died of a broken heart. Luckily, her boyfriend Bob's family, the Hubble's have taken her into their hearts. Joan is an all round good person, someone most people would like if they had a chance to meet her.

Mabel is finally coming out of her shell, helped by her own cheeky blighter boyfriend Harry Knatchbull. She's happy living in Manchester, and doing hard physical work on the railway line, even though that she has been bought up to be a lady. She would be safer at home with her parents, but Mabel has let guilt over past events to stay away.

As a reader, we know that in 1940 the war still has a long way to go, the characters aren't to know that there will still be several more years of war to come. They, in turn, display hope that the war will be over soon and their loved ones will be home safe and sound, to self doubt (for example when Dot wonders if she is selfish to still have her grandchildren at home rather than evacuating them to the country) and to despair as they lose people around them or their homes.

One of the key storylines in the book relates to Dot trying to uncover the truth about a possible theft from a secret food store. She enlists her friends to assist her, including lovely, friendly Mr Thirkle. At first, I wasn't sure about this storyline but it did make sense as the book went along.

Whilst the women prove their competence at their jobs time and time again, there are still plenty of people who don't like them doing men's work, and the women are often held to a higher standard of behaviour than their male co-workers might otherwise have been!

One of the main focuses of Secrets of the Railway Girls is the description of the Christmas Blitz which took place in Manchester in late 1940. The descriptions of the bombings and of people being affected in small and large ways, were extremely vivid and is one of the main strengths of this book!

Moving onto The Railway Girls in Love, we learn more about the girls as they deal with the events from the early years of the war. Dot, Joan and Mable are still the main focus of this book, but the various secondary characters come more and more to the fore. I especially loved that poor Lizzie's mum plays such a key role, along with claustrophobic Mrs Grayson who we met in the last book.

Dot still has a tendency to get involved in things that might not be her business, but when it affects the people she loves, she can't help herself. She also has grown her friendships within the group, particularly with posh Cordelia. Before the war, the closest that Dot would have come to meeting Cordelia would be if she worked for her as a cleaner or something similar, but in this new world where everyone is performing new roles they are fast friends, often combining to become a formidable pair as they support their friends.

For Joan, this book is the one where she finds out the truth of who she really is, and what happened in her family's tragic past. It also includes showdowns with her gran where they confront the secrets and lies from the past and have to try to build a new relationship, if that is even possible. Joan is the first to admit that she hasn't always made the right decisions, but she realises what it is that she wants from life.

Mabel is also coming to terms with the events of the past that have shaped her, and we finally find out the whole story about the death of the sister of her heart, Althea. This is the story that has been teased right from the beginning of the first book in the series, so it was good to finally know what it was that she felt so guilty about. Mabel is happy with her boyfriend Harry, so it is uncomfortable when an old boyfriend turns up, forcing her to confront those events. 

I love the detail that the author includes that makes the characters come alive and become people that we can relate to. For example, I couldn't help but think of us now with the following quote. When I watch something on TV now where people are hugging and kissing, I can't help but think social distancing??? in my mind!

...."She says she's sorry she can't offer you the Bentley, but her store of petrol has almost run out, so she'll be relying on applying for coupons from now on. Between ourselves, she's been on the receiving end of some criticism for using the Bentley."

"It's understandable," said Cordelia. "It's become such a large part of our thinking these days. My neighbour was called away unexpectedly and she asked me to look after her children for the evening. She said all I needed to do was read them a chapter from The Wind in the Willows. It turned out to be the part where Mr Toad drives around. Young Lucy asked where he'd got the petrol coupons and her brother said he must have got them off the black market."

"They played "Bye Bye Blackbird" on the wireless the other day," said Alison, "and I was singing along, but when it got to the bit about "light the light", I found myself thinking: what about the blackout."

As I read this book, I found myself completely invested in the friendship between all of the women, despite their differences in status, age and background. This was particularly true as we reached the end of Railway Girls in Love, where they all came together as one in support of one of their own.

I was also struck by the resilience the people of Manchester had to display as they try to go about their everyday lives. Incendiary bombs falling as you try to get home from work? Find a nearby cellar to wait it out. Your house bombed out, find a new place to live with the help of your friends, church hall flooded when there is a big event coming up, find another location. Of course, these events are stressful but with humour, resilience and the help of your friends anything can be achieved.

I have already seen that there is going to be another Railway Girls book in September. Whilst I still think that there is a lot of story still for Mabel, Dot and Joan, I am hoping that we will get to know some of the other women better too. I particularly think that there is much more to Colette's story than we have been privy to so far.

I have enjoyed all three books in this series, particularly these last two. I am already looking forward to reading it. This is one series that should be read in order, so start with The Railway Girls

Rating 4/5 for both books

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House UK for the review copy.

Be sure to check out other stops on the blog tour to see what other's thought of this book!

Blog Tour : The Railway Girls by Maisie Thomas

Welcome to today's stop on the blog tour for The Railway Girls. It just so happens that today is release day as well! So....happy release day to Maisie Thomas!

While WWII is a very popular setting for historical fiction at the moment there is a lot of variety within that setting and a lot of room for stories to be explored. One of the aspects that I enjoy is reading about women who had to take on unaccustomed roles just because of the war.  Some examples of books I have previously read which focus on this include The Ambulance Girls series by Deborah Burrows and Land Girls by Victoria Purman.  When I was offered this book for review, the title grabbed me straight away for exactly this reason.

The story begins with our characters coming together after successfully passing the aptitude tests to become railway girls. They come from all different walks of life, and all have their own reasons why they want to do their part for the war effort. Mabel wants to be out of her well to do home, to be independent and to hopefully be able to forget the traumatic events which are still taking their toll on her. Joan always feels like she can't do much right in the eyes of her domineering grandmother, especially not compared to her beautiful older sister and Dot is a salt of the earth type who wants to do her best to do her part, especially seeing as her beloved sons are fighting for the country. And if that gets her out of the house away from her miserable husband, well so much the better.

The book follows the characters as they each come together at Victoria Station in Manchester to begin their new roles. They, along with several other characters, promise to be there for each other no matter what, and they'll need that support base as they navigate the difficult new world that they have come into. Many of the men that they will now be working with don't believe that the women will be able to do the job, especially the hard, physical jobs like being a porter or making sure that the ballast beneath the rails stays in place by digging it and replacing it where necessary. It isn't easy to become friends just like that though. Each woman is very different, and there are plenty of secrets between them. Can you truly be friends if you are not willing to open yourself up?

One of the aspects that I enjoyed in this book was the exploration of social change. War is a catalyst for change in so many ways. Suddenly women whose sole role has been in the home for so long are now working in men's world, sometimes including having to deal with overt sexism, and yet, in many cases their home duties have not reduced at all. The way that women dress is changing rapidly. Joan's grandmother, for example, was adamant that Joan and her sister could under no circumstances raise their dress hems lest they be labeled as floozies and yet, we also start to see the advent of trousers. And socially we had the well to do young ladies mixing with the working class girls and becoming friends - something that would never have happened in normal life. And that's before we even think about war time romances, which seem to have an added urgency to them, or the impact of grief and loss within a community.

I did want to specifically mention one incident in the story because it is something I have never read before. One of most well known events in WWII is the evacuation of the soldiers from Dunkirk. I have read or watched plenty of accounts of those events, whether it be from the perspective of a soldier racing to get to the beach in time to be evacuated, or someone manning one of the small boats involved in the rescue. What I have never seen portrayed is the flow on effect that happened through the rest of the country. This book is set in Manchester which is a long way from the south coast of England, and yet the rescued soldiers were disbursed across the country using the railway and in these pages we got to see some of the ways that would have happened even that far away from the action.

I found it interesting that the author chose to use some Northern England style dialogue for one of the characters. I think it was used to try to show the class divide between some of the characters. It did also remind me of when I lived in Northern England for a few years.

As you can see, I have quite a lot to say about this book, so it is probably lucky that it is the first in a series, with the next book due out in September. There are plenty of other railway girls that we met in this book that we will have the opportunity to get to know more about as the series continues. I am looking forward to reading more!

Rating 4/5

Thanks to the publisher for sending me the review copy of this book.

Goodreads synopsis:

The first novel in the utterly brilliant Railway Girls series. Perfect for fans of Nancy Revell and Ellie Dean.
In February, 1922, at the western-most entrance to Victoria Station in Manchester, a massive plaque was unveiled. Beneath a vast tiled map showing the lines of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway network, a series of seven bronze panels recorded the names of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War – a total of 1,460 names.
In March, 1940, a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds, stand in front of the memorial, ready to do their bit in this new World War...
_________________________________________
Mabel is determined to make a fresh start as a railway girl where no one will know the terrible thing she did and she can put her guilt behind her... Or is she just running away?
Meanwhile Joan will never be as good as her sister, or so her Gran keeps telling her. A new job as a station clerk could be just the thing she needs to forget her troubles at home.
And Dot is further into her forties than she cares to admit. Her beloved sons are away fighting and her husband – well, the less said about him the better. Ratty old sod. She is anxious to become a railway girl just like her dear mam – anything to feel she is supporting the sons she prays for every night.
The three women start off as strangers, but soon form an unbreakable bond that will get them through the toughest of times...