The Air Raid Girls (The Air Raid Girls, 1)
The fictional coast town of Kelsthorpe, England, 1941. Baker’s lass Connie Bailey, air-raid warden and usherette, has been widowed by an industrial accident. Suspicious, she determines to investigate by befriending the main witness, black-marketeer George Bachelor, with whom she tolerated her late husband’s dealings. Letting George lure her into premises containing contraband, she’s spotted and arrested. Publicly shamed, she loses both jobs. George escapes. Younger sister Lizzie, frustrated with fiancé Bob’s constant objections to her desire to “do her bit” for Civil Defence, discovers defiance and trains as an ambulance driver. Now aware it’s a sparkless relationship, she starts to look around. Connie’s cinema colleague Pamela and parents are rendered homeless by German bombs, but she cannot face relocating to Aunty and Uncle’s place to sleep on the sofa. Leaving her snobby mother et al., she takes a boarding-house room near Connie. Fellow resident Fred has an easy attraction and an awkward past…
Holmes provides a plethora of authentic detail about ARP uniforms, equipment, and training regulations as well as realistic danger not only as bombs fall but also during subsequent clear-up operations. I did wonder why this small town with only a fishing port and timber yard (to which all the main characters have some connection) warranted such relentless ferocity from the Luftwaffe, but that aside, the drama, intrigue and especially romance are well staged and maintained throughout in credible contemporary settings with an interesting eclectic supporting cast. A fine read.
