A wonderful read that hits a seldom explored aspect of the post WWII era. These women must heal and learn to live again in an environment which is not always as welcoming as one would hope. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. An excellent read for fans of emotional historical fiction.

I love historical fiction, particularly sagas with characters you have come to know and love, and upon discovering that this was a sequel to "A Last Goodbye" I set out to read that before diving into this one. Like the one before it, once I started HOME TO THE HILLS I found that I could not put it down. I was immediately immersed within the story that takes place some thirty years after "A Last Goodbye" finishes.

HOME TO THE HILLS is a tender touching post-war saga which sees Ellen returning to the hills of Scotland with her now adult daughter Netta. It will touch your heart and bring a tear or two to the eye with a story that remain with you long after it has ended.

April 1939: A distraught young girl is comforted by a kind lady who reminds the boy of his own mother as they board the train that will take them to their destination. The kind lady gently persuades the young girl to sit beside him as he looks to be "such a sensible boy". The girl continues to sob throughout the journey, settling into a sulky silence. They seemed to travel for days, by train and by boat and by train again, by the time they reach their final destination. Disembarking he looks around eagerly, awaiting to be shown the place where he will be staying and await for his parents to join him. The young girl who had travelled with him was quieter now, confiding how much she missed her parents. He squeezed her hand and said likewise, ensuring that they would see them again soon.

December, 1945: With the second world war now over, Ellen Kessler and Netta Fairclough step off the Glasgow train in the small Lanark village as they return to the southern uplands of Scotland. It has been nearly thirty years since they were last here and their return sparks a mountain of memories for Ellen, who grew up on the farm where Netta was also born.

Their return is bittersweet as they soon discover that Ellen's beloved father passed away three years before and his wife Margaret has taken up residence in a small railway cottage in the village. However, the farmer Kenneth Douglas and his wife Elizabeth are still there and welcome them both with open arms.

But Ellen is not the same woman she was who left at the end of the Great War to join the love of her life Josef Kessler in his native Germany with her daughters Netta and Eva. She has seen such cruelty she had never known before, not even at the hands of her first husband Tom, and a despair that has changed her life dramatically. Netta is very protective of her mother as they are all each other has left after suffering the atrocities of war and the losses that they have endured. They have returned to Scotland to heal but Ellen finds the farm hold many memories of her life before and of when she first met a young Josef as a prisoner of war there.

Ellen and Netta settle into a quiet life on the farm, living in a nearby cottage by the new reservoir. Ellen helps Elizabeth in the kitchen while Netta tries her hand at shepherding under the well-trained eye of newcomer Andrew Cameron. Not afraid of hardwork, Netta walks the rugged hills of the farm alongside Andrew, learning all aspects of lambing, clipping and preparing ewes for market. Even in the midst of the harshest winter, she helps to dig the buried ewes from the snow before they suffocate. While Netta is proving to be an asset to the farm not all locals welcome her. Farming is men's work and a woman's place is in the farmhouse kitchen. But when it's discovered she has grown up in Germany, tensions rise even higher. Some folk have long memories and bear no sympathy for those who are German.

And yet Ellen is determined to make this a fresh start for her daughter, despite all they have loved and lost. But there are some secrets that are just too painful to share which she has kept close to her heart for years...

As the story unfolds, we are given a glimpse into the past in Germany and another minor plot that is also unfolding at the beginning of the war in Manchester through to the end of the war in Yorkshire, adding a depth that enriches the story. Both stories are cleverly woven together by the end that will bring tears to your eyes at its heartwarming conclusion.

When I started HOME TO THE HILLS, I found Ellen to be a virtual stranger to the forthright young woman she was in the first book. As Netta was just a toddler at the time she didn't have time to develop a personality in the story, but at the beginning of this one I found both women to be a little standoffish and I wondered whether I was going to enjoy this book as much as I had the first. However, as the story unfolds, the reader soon learns why the two women are the way they are and we come to love them wholly by the story's end.

This immersive tale of second chances, after such sadness and loss in the face of war, HOME TO THE HILLS will tug at the heartstrings and sweep readers back in time to post-war rural Scotland. It is captivating and compelling and completely addictive from beginning to end, just as much as "A Last Goodbye" .

Although HOME TO THE HILLS is actually a sequel to "A Last Goodbye" , readers will be able to enjoy this book without having read the first one with ease, as there is enough information given to allow this book to be read as a standalone. However, the first really is too good to miss out on so I do recommend reading "A Last Goodbye" before this one to enjoy the story even more.

Should there be a follow up to this story? I think it is nicely wrapped up as it is. A definite recommend for lovers of historical fiction, particularly sagas.

I would like to thank #DeeYates, #NetGalley and #AriaFiction and #HeadOfZeus for an ARC of #HomeToTheHills in exchange for an honest review.

Home to the Hills by Dee Yates is a good story about putting your life back together after war. It is actually the second in a series but you don’t have to read the first to follow it. The book follows Netta and her mother Ellen as they travel back to their home in the Scottish hills after world war 2. They have lived in Germany with Ellen’s second husband since Netta was a child. But after the war and the loss of so many, they head home to look for healing and peace. There, Netta meets Andrew, and the two begin to forge a friendship while Andrew teachers her how to be a shepherd. The story also follows Freda and Sam, two young people sent from Germany at the start of the war. The stories intersect beautifully and will bring a smile to you, and possibly a happy tear or two! Good book! You should read it!
I voluntarily read an advanced copy of this book Through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A tender and touching post-war saga set in Scotland that will touch the heart and bring a tear to the eye, Home to the Hills is the gripping new historical novel by Dee Yates.

In 1945, the Second World War is finally over. People all over the world have experienced their fair share of loss and heartache and are now picking up the broken and shattered fragments of their lives. For many, the end of the war is a time of renewal and starting over and that is certainly the case for Ellen who, alongside her daughter Netta, finds herself making the journey back to Scotland from Germany to return to the farm where she grew up. Nestled in the hills of the Southern Uplands, Ellen had left the farm to be with the man she had loved whom she had been prepared to give up everything for. Yet, being back is a strange homecoming for Ellen because the farm is full of memories she has tried her hardest to suppress and secrets which she daren’t reveal to anyone which she has kept close to her chest for years…

Having grown up in Germany, farm life is a new and very exciting prospect for Netta. Determined to throw herself completely into her new life in the Scottish hills, Netta vows to be useful and to make the most out of this fresh start. Falling in love was not part of the plan especially as Netta’s scarred heart has already experienced it’s fair share of knocks and disappointments yet when she finds herself drawn to shepherd Andrew Cameron, she soon begins to wonder whether the time has come for her to stop hiding in the shadows and to take yet another chance on love.

Ellen and Netta have both experienced such sadness and loss because of the war, but could the hills of Scotland provide them with not just the sanctuary which they need, but with the happiness that they’ve longed for for so long?

Dee Yates’s Home to the Hills is a wonderful tale of second chances, healing and starting over that tugs at the heartstrings and sweeps readers back in time to post-war rural Scotland. Her heroines, Ellen and Netta, are wonderfully drawn and brilliantly nuanced. They are strong, dependable, compassionate and sensitive women readers will find themselves taking to their hearts and hoping that they get the happy ending they deserve.

Dee Yates has the storyteller’s gift and with Home to the Hills, she has penned a captivating and dramatic page-turner they will enjoy curling up with.

Thank you to Head of Zeus and Aria Fiction and NetGalley for a digital review copy of Home to the Hills - my thoughts are my own.

This book is actually a sequel to A Last Goodbye, but I was able to enjoy reading this book without having read the first book.

The book is set in post World World 2 Europe - primarily Scotland but we also visit England, plus flashbacks to Germany.

Ellen and her daughter Netta return to Scotland after the war ends after losing their loved ones. They carve a new life, making new friends and reunite with old friends. I loved how the story and the characters developed. Netta is a young independent woman determined to create a future for herself and to look out for her mother.

If you enjoy historical fiction, this is a great book to read - looking at how post war Britain changed and how women wanted to continue working in non traditional jobs.

At the end of 'A Last Goodbye', Ellen decides, after the death of her husband Tom, to follow her love, an ex-prisoner of war in WW1, to his native Germany. I looked back to my review and noted I thought Ellen's new life deserved a sequel, and this is it.

'Home to the Hills' is set predominately at the end of WW2. Ellen and her daughter return to the place of her birth to a make a new life, after suffering the atrocities of the war. Like with the first book, a different minor storyline, is also explored in this book, which adds depth and enriches the story.

The characters in this story are authentic and complex, damaged from what has gone before, but strong and resolute to carry on with their lives. The emotion and hardship faced by the characters, make them realistic, and they draw you into their story. The plot is nicely paced and has enough historical references to allow the reader to appreciate the post WW2 period.

This is addictive reading for anyone who enjoys a beautifully written, immersive and well researched, historical family saga.

I received a copy of this book from Head of Zeus via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A wonderfully warm saga and a real eye-opener to life following the second world war.

Ellen is a Scotswoman; along with her daughter Netta she makes her way back to her home country after being interred in Germany. Making her way back to the place of her birth they receive some bad news but are made very welcome. Having travelled with next to nothing, Netta needs to work to provide for them and soon makes herself useful on the farm . . .

The author obviously writes about areas she is familiar with and she does justice both to the Scottish scenery and the county of Yorkshire, providing rich detailed images of both. The story has everything going for it; family bonds, past heartbreaks and the uncertainty of the future. It's a well-written tale and very easy to read; once I began it was difficult to lay it aside. An absorbing and satisfying saga which has brought the author to my attention. This is one I'm happy to recommend and give four stars.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley, and to Vicky Joss for my spot on this tour. This is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I would lie to thank Aria and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book to read and review.
I was absolutely thrilled to be asked to review Home to the Hills. I adored the first book featuring these characters and was excited to see where all the characters were especially as the last we had heard was Ellen had headed off to Germany with her children.
Dee Yates did not disappoint it was a brilliant story and I found it so hard to stop reading once I started. I loved the way the story unfolded hearing it from different characters points of view and the contrasts between during the war and after.
Many things have changed since the war and Ellen and her daughter Netta have been through so much, hoping that by returning home to the hills of Scotland from Germany will give them a fresh start and a place where they can forget the past. The secret that is haunting them is teased at the start and parts of it are slowly revealed through out the book and the final reveal at the end is a lovely scene. I kept trying to work out what it would be and how the story would end but I didn't guess it but was very happy with the end.
A lovely, heartwarming story that I felt was a perfect for the characters. These are some characters that stayed with from the first story A Last Goodbye and will continue to stay with me.

I got this digital copy from. netgalley in exchange for an honest review. So I could say short and sweet that this a romance story.. and It is but it so Much more than that. The book is about going back to your roots. The book is about strong and Independent female chatacters. The book is about The strong bond between Mother and daughter. The book is about daring to fall in love again. The book is about starting over. And I could go on and onbut buy yourself a copy of The book and you Will see what I mean

Ellen left the Scottish Highlands after the first war and her husband’s death – the war had changed him, and she had developed feelings for a German POW who was posted near the farm she lived at to build a reservoir. Taking her daughters, she fled to Germany to be with Josef, a German Jew that she never forgot. While her daughter Netta doesn’t really remember her biological father, she’s determined to help her mother through the next big change in their lives: returning to the Scottish Highlands where she was born and her mother grew up. Fiercely protective, independent and forthright, Netta is determined to make a home for her mother in the area she is most comfortable, and she isn’t afraid of work. While Ellen’s father (and Nettas’ grandfather) had died a few years back, her stepmother was still in the little village, and more than happy to see them both.

But not all of the townsfolk are as welcoming: Ellen’s past ‘consorting” with the Germans, and Netta’s unwillingness to ‘back down’ when faced with prejudices keep her very prickly and shut off – even as she has drawn the notice of the assistant shepherd on the farm, Andrew, and is quickly becoming a solid member of the small farm “family”. Quickly we are provided bits of information about Netta’s life in Germany, why Ellen left Scotland, and the connections and losses that bind the two. Alternating with their story is one of two children brought from Germany to England via the Kindertransport, and the Quaker couple that took them in, providing love, stability and opportunity for them both. With the hardships of life during the war contrasting with current struggles and triumphs, the inclusion of a quite active Quaker community that built a school with a small farm, to the ups and downs of Netta’s relationship with Andrew and her mother’s finding hope and happiness at the farm – the story keeps readers intrigued and understanding the challenges as well as the joys of life.

Starting a bit fragmented from what I’ve come to expect from a story from this author, we’re quickly brought up to speed with the main characters who will influence the story’s direction and focus: from Ellen and Netta to the weather and struggles with the sheep: to the story of Freda and her adoptive parents, her ‘brother’ and his own life being brought full circle – there is plenty to love about this story and it makes the perfect getaway to hide in the Highlands on a farm known for sheep…..

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Review first appeared at <a href=” https://wp.me/p3OmRo-aE5/” > <a> I am, Indeed </a>

A beautiful saga a book of returning home after twenty five years a home she left for the man she loved.Now coming home with her daughter can she really return to her previous life.Forbthosevwho love to sink into a book a story this one is perfect for you. #netgalley#headofzeus

26 years have passed since she left her home for the man she loved and now she is returning with her daughter what is life going to be like now and can she keep her memories and secrets you will have to read it to find out 5*