In Review: The Bomb Girls (2015)

The Bomb Girls by Daisy Styles tells a story based in friendship, love, war, and the power that strong women hold. As the tagline states: "When the war arrives, they finally start to live."

It is well known that The Second World War is a popular topic for writers. It is a time full of change, creating this shifting dynamic that is so easy to develop into a working piece. Styles has done just that, taking the stories of young women, which we were all told as children, and turning them into a beautiful novel full of heart.

I originally read The Bomb Girls as research for my undergraduate dissertation, using it to see how Styles portrayed women in wartime Britain. But I was utterly floored by the love and joy that came from reading this story.

The emotion shown by the characters, and the sisterhood that comes from working and living in such close proximity to one another is stunning and Styles does this nothing but justice. The dialogue, though sometimes a little flawed and clunky, can show the true love these women held for one another, whether they had known each other for a month or for their entire lives.

I'm not ashamed to tell you that this novel left me in tears at multiple moments, and that the camaraderie was something that reminded me of living with friends whilst at university, something that was coming to an end as I finished reading.

Personally, I think this is a stunning portrayal of wartime Britain, with a cast of witty, loving women who only make the story stronger. I would recommend this to all fans of easy to read historical fiction.

#InReview #historicalfiction