Vicki Beeby

Iris Tredwick is a young woman from a posh family. She is hoping to marry soon and avoid having to do war work that will soon be mandatory for all single women. When Iris’ plans are shattered, she picks the Wrens after seeing the uniform. At training, Iris meets Sally and Mary who have not the easiest of lives. After training, the three women are sent to the Orkney Islands. They soon discover mysterious happenings on the island and wonder if the enemy has infiltrated Orkney. The ladies work to uncover the truth with the help of the flirtatious Rob who has taken a liking to Iris. A New Start for the Wrens by Vicki Beeby is the beginning of The Wrens series. The market has been flooded with stories from this time period, and I almost did not read this book. I am glad that I did. It is an engaging historical novel about three women who join the Wrens in 1941. I thought the author captured the time period and the feeling of the people. Iris Tredwick was not the most likeable character in the beginning, but she grew on me. Iris is the main character in this story. I hope each lady will get a book of their own while incorporating the other two. The women who entered the various service organizations were very brave. I liked learning about the Wrens. Iris, Sally, and Mary undertook training to become visual signallers. It was interesting learning about the different signals and the work the women did on the Orkney Islands. The author found a way to provide the information on signaling and keep it interesting (I was not bored). The Orkney Islands sounded remote and barren yet beautiful at the same time. I like the author’s writing style. It is casual which made the story easy to read. It had a good flow too. I like how the women came together and became friends. I like seeing strong, positive female friendships. I loved the story had mystery and intrigue in it as well. It was easy to identify the bad guy, but I was curious as to how the ladies would discover the truth. I am looking forward to the next book in The Wrens. A New Start for the Wrens is a charming tale with sailing ships, studying signals, an imperious mother, a major misunderstanding, waging war, an infiltrating enemy, and faithful friends.… (más)

In this story, a group of evacuees from Coventry arrive in the village and are allocated billets. Some are lucky and have caring foster parents. Others are not so lucky. May becomes concerned about one in particular, Peggy, and promises to help her.

Jess persuades May that they should put on a pantomime for the children and involve the Czech airmen to help improve relations between RAF Amberton and the village. The friends also decide to offer parts to the evacuees so that they can befriend Peggy. Some of the locals are less than friendly, and in helping Peggy, May and Jess uncover some illegal activities in the village.

This is an era I enjoy reading about, and the plot line certainly held my attention throughout, although I felt it was a little thin towards the end, leaving me with lots of unanswered questions.

I enjoyed watching May's confidence grow as she took on a leading role in the pantomime, and then found inner strength to deal with issues that normally would have seen her bend to someone's will.

Whilst part of a series, Christmas with the Ops Room Girls could easily be read as a standalone.… (más)