I have really got the reading bug again recently so what better post to write today than a review of Girls in tin hats by Annie Murray. I have been an Annie Murray fan for so long. One of the things I love the most about her writing is how easy her stories are to get into. Will it be the case for Girls in tin hats? Let’s find out, but first…

The Blurb

It is 1940 and Birmingham is about to see some of the most devastating air raids of the Blitz. Two very different young women, Violet Simms and Grace Templeton, need every ounce of strength they possess to cope with the loss and tragedy surrounding them. But through the storm clouds of war hey discover something that helps them through. A friendship that is to last a lifetime.

Violet is a shy, lonely girl who is controlled by her widowed mother. She longs to escape and dreams of love. Desperate to do something for the war effort she volunteers as an ARP warden, and in the course of her rescue work, meets and falls in love with a young policeman, George Cherry. Seeing longed-for kindness and fun, Violet feels her life is changed forever until, on one of the worst nights of the Blitz, George disappears

Grace, a striking beauty from a family of ten children, is lively, adventurous and desperate not to be tied down by marriage and children. Her childhood friend Jimmy Oval, adores her but she wants much more. She’s looking for excitement and in the blacked-out city where not everyone is full of community spirit, her looks attract attention and she discovers she has less control of her life than she thought.

When one of the most-loved families in the street is bombed out, Grace heartbroken and vulnerable, begins to realize that having love in her life might not be such a terrible idea.

My Thoughts

As I mentioned above, I love Annie Murray’s style of writing. One of the things she excels in is her descriptions of both the characters and the environment in which they live. It is so easy to feel that you are there alongside the characters. Over this years, this skill that Annie has gets me wanting to be friends with some of the characters. It creates a connection that makes me not want to put the book down.

Whilst the book largely focuses on the second world war in Birmingham, there is also quite a strong element of how circumstances can bring so many walks of life together. It is something that always fascinates me. How when there is one goal, in this case to end the war, we can all pull together. Its something I have witnessed in my lifetime, through the pandemic as well as different conflicts and disasters.

Secrets always come out eventually…

As with some of Annie’s other stories, a secret is unveiled to the reader long before the characters themselves find out. This had me wanted to shout at the character to open their eyes. It also had me wanting to keep reading. Hoping a new page would tell me that the character had opened their eyes to what was really going on.

Despite being set in the city, I love the close knit community that is portrayed throughout the book. It is weaved through the whole story and has you hoping everyone will make it through the war unscathed. Of course, that isn’t true to life. When tragedy strikes on a couple of occasions, I found myself sobbing my heart out. This was purely down to how vivid the character descriptions had bee, because I felt like they were my friends. One thing I did think about during this time was that you could see how those close knit communities were changed as a result of the war. It was something that I believe is lost forever and that is such a shame.

Towards the end of the book, it really hits home that you never know what you have until its gone. Whether its the people in your life, your way of life, or the community spirit. Somethings can never go back to how they once were.

One of things I wanted to touch on before I finish this review is the clever way in which Annie sets the characters up for a fall. By that I mean a chapter before something bad is going to happen, Annie writes something, sometimes as simple as one sentence. From that one phrase, you suddenly get a sense of foreboding that has you gripped to the book.

Final Thoughts

I know that I tend to stick to similar books when choosing something to read. Having said that, I do feel that they add value to my life. Despite them being fiction, they also feature a lot of truths and facts in them. The clever thing with writers such as Annie, is that you never really notice that fact when your reading the books. It’s only later on when you suddenly realise that actually, you’ve learnt a lot. The question is though would I recommend the Girls in tin hats? Absolutely I would. Life during the blackout adds on extra dimension onto it because you never really know what is going to happen!

Other posts you might enjoy:

Water Gypsies by Annie Murray

The September Girls By Maureen Lee

The Jam Factory Girls By Mary Wood