SOME SUNNY DAY by HELEN CAREY

SOME SUNNY DAY

BY HELEN CAREY

THE BLURB:-

It is 1940 and as the bombs begin to fall on London the women of Lavender Road find themselves struggling to carry on with their lives in the midst of the Blitz. Shy Katy Parsons enrols as a nurse, but finds the rigours of hospital life, and the pressures of a secret love, almost impossible to bear.

Away on tour with ENSA, Jen Carter finds herself unexpectedly homesick- while her mother prefers to face the terror of the burning streets, rather than suffer her husbands brutality at home. And as Pam Nelson longs for a baby to breathe life into her flagging marriage, eighteen-year-old Louise Rutherford faces pregnancy with an illegitimate child.

Some Sunny Day depicts the courage, the emotion and the defiant laughter of war-torn London as the residents of Lavender Road face up to the hardships and dangers of the Blitz.

THE REALITY:-

I know I told myself that I wouldn't be reading another war novel just yet, as the previous ones I'd recently read were too harrowing (as they should be) and I was in need of a little light relief. But Some Sunny Day was in the last load of books I bought from the charity shop and, as a native Londoner, I thought it would be good to read a home-based war story. I wasn't wrong- this was a real tale of courage and community.

So many people who were alive during the war say that those days were “the best of our lives.” I always had to question why and really, any sane person would- what on earth is so great about rationing, making-do and mending by force rather than by choice, the worry regarding loved ones who'd been called up to fight and having to take constant shelter from the risk of having bombs dropped onto your head?  But the answer that comes back always states that the sense of “we're all in this together,” the pulling together of communities, the making of friends you otherwise would not make and the need to live each day to the full as it could be your last, made for real camaraderie and a sense of belonging. The scenes depicting London during the Blitz and the comparisons with country life for evacuees really came to life, with nicely researched historical realities thrown in for a good measure.

This was a lovely, feel good saga with great, likeable yet flawed characters, who were beautifully depicted and very human. Love and romance and defiance over adversity shone through and it was good to see so many happy endings muddled in with the tragedies. It was also super the the bad eggs got their come-uppance.  A very pleasant read.