Blog Tour: Christmas for the Shop Girls by Joanna Toye

SYNOPSIS

'For Lily Collins and her fellow shop girls at Marlows Department Store, another Christmas with ration books, shortages of goods and staff not to mention a store coping with war damage will be a real challenge.

But the girls rally round and put their worries aside to make this, the hardest wartime Christmas yet, one that their families, and their own town, will never forget.'

REVIEW

Christmas for the Shop Girls feels like a warm hug in a time when everything in our own lives are not quite sure, but reading this, shows that there is more hope than one can imagine. There are many layers to this book, which unravels slowly like a present being unwrapped on Christmas Day and many twists and turns that are a nice surprise in some cases and sad in others.

There are also a lot that can be learnt from this book, whether that is about the history of the time period, what it means for friendships, relationships of all shapes and sizes and what it truly means to be in the spirit of Christmas in a time when they had to make the most of what they have got.

The main thing that I loved from this book is the sense of family and how important loved ones are in a troubling time. We can have Christmas, presents, turkey, but the one thing that is truly significant is the people around us. That is what makes Christmas, love of all around. Even if it is a colleague at work giving you a cup of tea or a person to talk to. We are all different, but one thing that makes us the same is our compassion for others in times of hardship. What I found particularly poignant is Sam's compassion towards Lily and her family, the Canadian who had been stationed who somehow took it upon himself to help those who needed help in one of their most terrifying times. He risked everything he had to provide his friends with the best possible chance of being saved from something wrong.

Because of how this book is mainly based around a department store, it is also nice to see stories of other characters who work there and what it means to them to be around people at this time. For instance, Gladys has an interesting piece about her and her upcoming nuptials which is probably very likely that this story was the same as many others at the time. It opens up a side where we realise how different this world is now in terms of acceptance and how far we go to do the right thing. But also how the worldview about certain topics that would have been seen as being taboo, has changed on how people can live their lives.

Now that I finished reading this story, I have an overwhelming feeling like I need to read the previous instalments pronto. Like right now, just drop everything I'm doing at this very moment. If that doesn't show how much you need to read this, then I don't know what will.

RATING: **** (4 STARS)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joanna Toye joined the production team of The Archers after reading English at Cambridge University, and became a scriptwriter for the programme for over twenty years. She has also written a number of spin-off books about the long-running radio drama. On television, she has written for Crossroads, Doctors and EastEnders.

WHERE TO BUY

Amazon: Christmas for the Shop Girls: Festive and heart warming – the new WW2 wartime saga in the uplifting historical fiction series (The Shop Girls, Book 4): Amazon.co.uk: Toye, Joanna: 9780008298753: Books

Waterstones: Christmas for the Shop Girls by Joanna Toye | Waterstones

Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/a/3917/9780008298753

Disclosure: If you buy books linked to this site, we may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookshops.

FOLLOW THE BLOG TOUR

Literally a Fangirl

I'm so excited to talk you about this piece of fiction. Literally it is just a masterpiece! Genre: Contemporary, Romance Year Of Publish: 2013 (US), 2014 (UK) Publisher: St Martin's Press (US), Pan Macmillian (UK) I have found that throughout the whole of this book, the main character Cath has a lot of characteristics that i can relate to. She's antisocial, a fangirl(a bit obvious), scared of the real world and prefers the imaginary world of literature compared to reality. The whole time i couldn't stop reading wanting to find out more(which is kind of bad when i have tons of essays to finish). What is a ll about? Well, the basis of the story is that Cath is going to university, but she prefers to write fanfics of Simon Snow and Baz. They are kind of an imaginary fandom, which i heard from somewhere that Rainbow Rowell is eventually going to write books about them. So that will be quite interesting. But many have said that Simon Snow is v...

The Do-Over by Lynn Painter

If you are in the mood for a sweet romance that gives Groundhog Day and Ferris Bueller vibes then this book is for you. What happens if you wake up to the same Valentine’s Day and everything always goes not to plan? What if you are someone who likes to plan and not share how you are really feeling? Emilie, our female protagonist is very much a stickler for planning and keeping to societal norms. She never really speaks her mind. But this Valentine’s Day is different. She is different. I found that the book itself is quirky and fun. It does have moments of sadness but there is a lot of heart in terms of how it is done. There could have been more time with other characters that are mentioned throughout but at the end of the day it is very much a Young Adult piece. There is nothing wrong with that. Would I read it again? Possibly if I want a Valentines themed book. It was also very quick to read for those who are not into big tomes. Rating: 4 Stars

A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston

I’ve been following Ashley Poston’s work for a while. At first it was the comic con series back in 2020 when she first became known to me during COVID. After I read the series I forgot about her for a while. It was only when I went into my local Waterstones to pick up The Dead Romantics she came back under my radar. She is now one of my must buys if a new book comes out. Her take of the romantic genre has always been fresh and interesting with some form of magical realism. A Novel Love Story follows our heroine Elsy, otherwise referred to as Eileen. Unlucky in love she struggles to try new things. Instead, she is comforted by her favourite book series by her favourite author, Rachel Flowers. On her way to a cabin retreat by herself, she finds her car broken down in a town that is somewhat familiar to her favourite book series. I’m not going to lie, compared to Poston’s earlier novels this book took some time for me to get into. There have been numerous occasions where I’ve had to...