A Wren’s Wartime Christmas
In December 1941, Mary and fellow Wrens Iris and Sally are posted to the British Royal Navy Base at Scapa Flow, Orkney, to join the visual signalling team. Two years earlier Mary’s fiancé died when his ship, the minesweeper Royal Oak, was torpedoed in Scapa Flow, and she doesn’t expect her posting to be to this place of painful memories, but there is no one to whom she can talk about it. As a result, her prickly attitude with Joe, a signaller who is being transferred to the minesweeper Kelpie, makes her appear hostile and unfriendly. Joe’s job is to show the girls the ropes, but his obvious interest in Mary is rather brash, and she bristles at his unwanted attention. Their gradually growing affection is the basis for this engaging saga which illuminates deep bonds of friendship and love in a time of war. Mary has suspicions that there is a spy in their midst, and the possibility of a German U-Boat finding its way across the anti-submarine indicator loop provides enough dramatic tension to move the plot forward.
Beeby does a wonderful job of bringing her characters to life, and it’s hard to ignore the wild beauty of the rugged Orkney countryside as winter sets in. In spite of war rations, shortages and low pay, the girls show great ingenuity in creating a special Christmas for a local couple whose son is presumed dead. This second book in a planned Wrens trilogy is not a sequel, but spotlights Mary by revisiting the beginning of the girls’ Orkney posting to illuminate the difficulties she faces personally. It is a comforting Christmas story set against the privations of war and paves the way for the next in series.
