A Songbird in Wartime
Emily Rose Baker is just seven years old when her mother dies in childbirth in 1923, and she is brought up by her farm labourer father. Tragedy strikes again when Emily is a teenager. As an orphan, she has to find her own way in a world where jobs are hard to come by, in the rural Dorset of the 1930s. But Emily has inherited her mother’s beautiful singing voice. And when an entertainer fails to turn up for a performance at the hotel where Emily works as a chambermaid, the young girl is reluctantly pushed into the spotlight. Emily becomes the hotel’s resident entertainer, much to the delight of her fiancé, Tom, one of the hotel’s gardeners. Fate, however, has other plans. Theatre agent Roland Thurston sees her potential and vows to make her a star, far away from the town of Shaftesbury that she knows so well.
This historical romance takes us into the Second World War, with Emily now with ENSA and Tom a serving airman. Does she even think of him anymore? Will the two of them ever be reunited? The plot twists and turns, with supporting characters along the way helping to build up a layered portrait of an unstraightforward love story which the reader is never quite sure will be resolved. With references to locations such as Bridport, Lyme Regis, and Bristol, Dickson anchors her story in real places, which helps the reader picture it all.
Karen Dickson has built up quite a following for her turn-of-the-20th-century historical romances set in Dorset. She used to work at her local branch of WH Smith, where she was known as ‘The Book Lady’. A Songbird in Wartime is Dickson’s third novel and is sure to be enjoyed by her many fans.
