A Christmas Wish for Land Girls

Written by Jenny Holmes
Review by Julie Parker

In a well-written and gripping story, Jenny Holmes sets her tale of land girls in the winter of 1943 in a stunning Yorkshire landscape. The effect of the wintry weather on the landscape and the lives of the inhabitants is very convincing, as are the details of the routines of the land girls and lumber jills who people the story. They are set to work on farms and estates in the countryside to help the farmers who lack manpower while the men are away fighting. There is a helpful glossary at the start of the book but, though this is the third in the trilogy, the book can be read as a standalone story. The main female characters have relationships that undergo ups and downs—one boyfriend is in the RAF, another in the Navy—but through it all they continue with their daily tasks which are knowledgeably described. The author has firsthand experience as her mother was a land girl. There are a couple of rogues to add spice to the tale, who get their come-uppance, and a rather sad death; but all works out well in the end in time for Christmas, which is the wish of the title.