The Island Girls
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley November 5, 2024
Author Rachael Sweasey
Distributor: Amazon UK
ISBN: 978-1835331064
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Release Date: October 2024
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Four stories combine into one captivating, heart-warming romance set between England and Australia which captures the very essence of life changing decisions and their results, in The Island Girls from Rachael Sweasey.
A heartbreaking letter from Peggy to Darrell, written in March 1941, as War raged across Europe and England, declaring undying love sets the tone of the storyline which reaches its conclusion in Australia, many years later.
The German army is steadfastly moving through Europe, bombing Rotterdam unmercifully. Hans Meyers believes he should consider siding with them until his wife and infant child are killed in a bombing raid. He decides to flee, joining a flotilla of craft to cross the English Channel, to seek refuge in Britain.
Peggy Symonds is a boat captain plying her craft between the BOAC Flying Boats and the wharf in Poole. She loves her job and one days wants to be able to fly. She meets Darrell Taylor, a Flight Lieutenant based in Dorset and they fall in love; deeply and irrevocably.
Rebekah Martin has always had a love affair with Poole and Brownsea Island, having grown up next door to ‘Aunt’ Peggy, who told her stories of this marvellous place where she grew up. When an opportunity to take up a position as Caretaker on Brownsea Island for the National Trust offered Rebekah the opportunity to leave her beloved Australia and settle into a new life in Poole she took it.
When a stranger comes knocking on her Cottage door in the late evening, she takes pity on him, as he is coping with an allergic reaction to sleeping on the heather. Paul is an Historian researching the old Poole Pottery and somehow they seem to be very comfortable with each other; as if they have known one another for years, not just hours.
Four stands skilfully come together to create an unforgettable story of love, bravery, sacrifice and trust that warms the heart in this charming Historic Romantic Fiction, in The Island Girls.
In The Island Girls Rachael Sweasey has selected a little known slice of War time Britain with the Flying Boat harbour at Poole operated by British Overseas Airline Company, the clandestine work carried out throughout this Port, its use as the clearing depot for many refugees and the massive changes that had come to this small, quiet town in Dorset, with respect and innate skill for this genre of fiction.
The Authors Notes on Research and History at the end of the book are a must read.