Helen and Laura’s mum Daisy has moved from her home into a care home as her health is deteriorating. Daisy has led an extraordinary life during the war which she keeps very close to her chest so when her daughters are emptying her house and come across her journals they find out exactly how harrowing Daisys early years were. The book jumps from the present day to back when Daisy was growing up, this is a heartbreaking story of two young orphans growing up in the midst of the war, very moving altogether I was slightly dissatisfied with the way the book ended as it seemed slightly incomplete.

A captivating read from the very beginning.
What a saga.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to others.

This is a War World II Historical Fiction. I love the characters, and this book was a page-turner form the start. I just wanted this book to have more details and to hit me harder. This is a very good historical fiction book. I just want my historical fiction to hit me hard and to have a lot of details. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Bookouture) or author (Ann Bennett) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

I received this book "The Runaway Sisters" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. Maybe I have been reading too much of this type of book. This one didn't really hit me as others have. There was something missing for me. I thought it could have gone into more depth of when the mother came to live in the house she bought after the war or how she came to decide to buy the property. More of her side of the after story. It was an okay read.

Sisters Daisy and Peggy are evacuated from London during WWII, sent to the countryside for their safety. Forced into child labour on a desolate farm, they suffer abuse under inhuman conditions. When Peggy becomes ill, Daisy must find a way to safe both her sister and herself.

Laura and Helen are sorting through their mother's belongings after she has a stroke and moves to a care home. They discover a secret cupboard containing letters which raise a number of questions about their mum's life.
Daisy Banks and her little sister Peggy are evacuated from London but their mother dies shortly after they leave. Then their house in Plymouth is bombed and their hosts are killed. The girls are found wandering the streets and taken to a farm where they are forced to work but dream of freedom...
The plot is delivered through Helen's perspective in the present and the first person narrative of Daisy in the 1940s. Helen has always struggled to understand her mother's attirtude towards her and this has casued a rift. Through letters and a journal, the terrible truth about Daisy's life doing forced labour, basically slavery, on a farm in war torn Britain is revealed.
There is plenty of drama and action scenes in The Runaway Sisters as the girls attempt to escape the farm. The author creates a feeling of dread as we know that Daisy's daughters in the present have no knowledge of Peggy. I felt that the timelines were well developed and historically accurate but would have liked some references about whether the 'slavery' was based on any real life testimony.
The family relationships felt very realistic (especially between the sibings Laura and Helen, coincidentally the same names as me and my sister!) and the idea of favourites where each thinks their mother favoured the other. The protective relationship between Daisy and Peggy is also very natural and tugs at the heartstrings as the plot develops.
I would have liked a little more explanation at the end, to find out more about the events in between the 1940s and now but I think this is because I was so caught up with the characters that I wanted to know the whole story.
The Runaway Sisters is a captivating book about the horrors of war and the love and grief that bind families together.
I have previously reviewed The Orphan House by Ann Bennett.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author, and I absolutely loved it. I’ve read a lot of historical fiction set in this era, but this one is just a little bit different.

Straight away this book completely pulls you in. Everything about it, the plot, the characters, the descriptions, held me totally captivated. I stayed up rather late one night to finish it, I just had to know how it ended.

The story is tragic and heartbreaking, but with tender moments and a feeling of hope. I really liked the dual timeline, it worked so well, and created such a page-turning flow.

The characters are so authentic and really make the story. Daisy is really an admirable person, she goes through so much, but remains so strong.

Completely beautiful and compelling, this is an emotional read.

A gripping book which keeps you wanting to turn the page, 2 sister evacuated from London during 2 world war but the countryside was not as it seemed cruelty lost friends, so many changes..

This was a sad book to read. It tells of two sisters in the war. They have a terrible life and we learn or their horrors. I did enjoy it but still l think about what they had to endure.The book was well worth reading and well written.

The Runaway Sisters written by Ann Bennett is a story that will equally fascinate you and break your heart. The plight of WWII evacuees for many was such a frightening and emotive time as the children were wrenched away from their mother’s arms to a place of safety. But as the conflict grew safety wasn’t guaranteed for many.

This is the story of two sisters who escaped the blitz in London evacuating to south Devon but as the naval docks in Plymouth were close by danger was not far away. However, teenage Daisy and young Peggy were about to face a danger they had never feared.

The Runaway Sisters is such a harrowing story at times with the young girls having to face life in it’s ugliest form but when glimmers of light and warmth are shown it’s a quite beautiful tender moment. It’s one that needs remembering that in the darkest of times light can and will shine through.

My heart broke for the unfairness of life on Daisy and Peggy and it ached for all the grief they had to endure. However, this is a story of secrets and Daisy and Peggy’s life wasn’t to be revealed until many decades later when two sisters Laura and Helen were clearing out their mother Daisy’s belongings. Daisy was now in her 80’s and due to ill health was living in a care home. What her daughters discover is a history that was locked away but never forgotten. A history that shaped the way their mother became and a history that the world should remember.

A timeslip WWII historical novel that will leave your feeling wrung out with emotion. I didn’t want this story to end but sadly when it did I felt like it was a new beginning that I wanted to still be involved in. It was poignant, tragic but had moments of beauty.

This is one of the first ones in recent memory where the story actually lives up to the “heartbreaking” part. Even though anything having to do with war is tough to read, this one was especially so. I think Daisy is illustrative of many people who lived during WWII. Their experiences were so harsh that they don’t want to talk about it, and even hide it. I have studied the program that sent children evacuated from the cities to farms for safety. The author did a fantastic job of relating the issues in a realistic way that really hit home. I thought the way that Helen and Laura bonded over discovering their mother’s past was heartfelt, and I particularly liked how learning about Daisy’s history shined light on their perceptions (especially Helen’s) of their relationship with Daisy. Definitely recommend this one. For a full review, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for a digital ARC of the book.

The Runaway Sisters is the second book that I have read by Ann Bennett this year who up until recently was a new author for me. I have to say what a brilliant discovery this author has been as I have thoroughly enjoyed both of the books that I have read. They are great family sagas with brilliant storylines that are extremely well researched, plotted and developed from beginning to end. The characters are varied and in The Runaway Sisters there was action from start to finish with a whole range of topics being dealt with. Not once was there a wasted scene or word, everything was there to keep the story moving forward at a great pace so much so that I was constantly on the edge of my seat to discover what would next befall the characters.

The transitions between past and present were absolutely seamless with not a flaw to be found during these changeovers. The main connection between the past and the present was apparent from the opening chapter yet the real crux of the matter was slowly drip fed through to the reader with subtle hints being dropped every so often should you pick up on them but just enough so the reader could enjoy trying to piece things together for themselves. This book was a quick read, but in a good way because I was reading it so fast as I was so enthralled at the story unfolding, and it was evident that the short time it took me to read it that this story was just excellent.

I loved how right from chapter one we were straight into the action with no messing around and filling in of backstory or long winded introductions. Anything we needed to know we found out as and when it happened apart from a few things that were kept secret until the climax of the book which was necessary as revealing too much too soon would have ruined the book. Everything developed at a superb pace that left me rapidly turning the pages. It also helped that the chapters weren’t overly long or detailed and this just made me want to keep reading on even more.

The first character we meet is Helen as she travels to Black Moor Hall, on the outskirts of Dartmoor in Devon. Alongside her sister Laura, who has a high powered job in London, the house is being sorted and cleared out. Their mother Daisy, who I initially thought had died, is now in a care home having suffered a stroke. Things must be sold to pay for her continued care. The sisters haven’t had the best of relationships and Helen has always felt a distance from her mother. They were never allowed to venture to the outskirts of the property despite all the intrigue that lurked there and this has forever eaten away at Helen. Why did her mother go there every day yet Helen and her sister could not? Now that her mother is not able to communicate as well as she once did and a new stage is becoming apparent in their family life, Helen wonders will things change? She has found her place in life to be difficult and unknown. She has had many broken relationships and never followed her dream to study art. She works in her friends antique shop but wonders whether there is more out there awaiting her?

Whilst clearing out a room in the hall Helen and Laura discover some letters yellowed with age from Daisy to what soon becomes apparent is her mother. They were written when Daisy was evacuated from London. But why is a girl name Peggy mentioned? Daisy never mentioned she had a sister and why was there a name change surrounding Daisy? Just a few questions that arise alongside so many more and so Helen sets out to find out the answers and along the way discovers some secrets and truths she could never have thought possible in relation to her mother. I really enjoyed Helen’s aspect of the story as it was interspersed perfectly with that of Daisy’s. When things got very tense and traumatic in the past the author changed direction and brought us back to the present and it gave the reader that few minutes just to catch their breath and absorb what they had just read whilst at the same time things were advancing in the present as Helen edged closer to the truth. In doing so she was hoping to resolve the issues within her family.

Daisy and Helen were evacuated to Plymouth in 1940. They have a family to stay with but miss their mother desperately and even more so when they discover she did not survive the injuries sustained in the bombing of the train station as they were leaving. Further disaster strikes when the house they are evacuated to is bombed. They emerge unscathed from the wreckage and meet a billeting officer who takes them to new accommodation. But it quickly becomes apparent that all is not as it seems and deciding to go with this man they meet was possibly the worse choice they could ever have made. I did think it a bit odd that two girls would go so readily with someone they literally had just met but I suppose Daisy thought that she was doing the right thing.

As they arrive at Farmer Reeves isolated home on Dartmoor they think they will have a wonderful stay on the farm until the war is over. But this image of perfection could not be further from the truth and what follows was so brilliantly written. There were so many twists and turns that I couldn’t leave the book out of my hands and it’s been awhile since I have read a book like that. That’s what makes me love Ann Bennett’s stories. You think they are just another run of the mill saga books amongst the hundreds published each year but instead between the pages awaiting you are surprising reads that really take you on a journey full of mystery and intrigue and in this case torture, cruelty, deprivation and loss.

You really can’t help but feel for Daisy and Peggy. They expected security but got the total opposite as alongside other orphans they were expected to work long hours toiling away in the fields. Basically they were slave labour and no one knew such a thing was happening. It’s not like anyone was going to quickly come to their rescue. The author described everything so well, the set up on the farm, the conditions they were forced to live in and how they coped on a day to day basis. Daisy was brave, strong and courageous and time and time again she shouldered the burden so Peggy could be spared. But would her actions be enough or prove too costly? Some readers may think the violence and mistreatment described are a bit too much but I think everything needed to be there laid out in black and white with no detail spared as it added to the overall atmosphere being created. The themes being dealt with and how they connected to the past wouldn’t have had the same powerful impact if the author had glossed over facts or spared details.

The characters are all moulded by circumstances by the dreadful ordeal they are forced to endure, and you keep wondering will Daisy and Peggy ever make it to freedom or will the evil, ignorant, brutal and unscrupulous Farmer Reeves have his way? I enjoyed how some romance was thrown in too as it allowed for the creation of several other storylines which only added even more bite to the story. The only slight fault I found was that one or two things became ever so slightly far fetched towards the end and that things were just that little bit too rushed as we raced towards the conclusion. Another chapter or two would have avoided this. But apart from that The Runaway Sisters was an excellent read. It’s a real emotional, page turner that has left me wanting more new stories from Ann Bennett as soon as possible.

The Runaway Sisters by Anne Bennett is a heartbreaking story of World War Two and two sister who are evacuated from London to Devon. Daisy and Peggy.
The story is told on a dual timeline, from Daisy and Peggy and then modern day also, with two other sisters, Daisys daughters finding a journal and diving into their mothers past together. When the evacuees arrived at, what they presumed was their home from home during the war they where held captive in horrific conditions and made to work.
A story that tells us that not every evacuee had the fairytale time during the war. That there are people who will take advantage of anyone if there is something in it for them.A totally heartbreaking tale of sorrow guilt being carried through the years, it is hard to imagine how they survived at all.We explore both set of siblings relationship, Daisy and Peggy' s truly built upon love and Daisys daighters upon sibling rivalry.These characters are all skilfully created by Anne Bennett and they definitely playes on my heartstrings constantly. The harshness experienced by the cruelty they suffered during the war and then the love they have for each other in the same cruel place they exist shone through the pages. Daisy and Peggy will undoubtedly stay in my heart for a long time.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the book for my review today on the blog tour.

AUTHOR ALERT....
We've not talked about author Ann Bennett on here yet have we.. 😱😱....
Put her on your list this second if you like historical fiction....
Love her cover, love her characters....💕
She is simply wonderful...
We meet Daisy and her sister Peggy in this story. Both put on a train to the countryside for their safety in the midst of the bombings in World War Two...
Their mother is injured, their father at war. Things take a sinister turn for them however when they are forced to work for their keep and sleep in less than satisfactory surroundings.
My heart ached for both of them..
But it is Daisy's friendship with a fellow worker John that helps her through what has befallen them.
Daisy must protect her fragile sister Peggy at all costs and it was this relationship that brought the tears..
Having to act so grown up when she was barely a child herself.
I adored the way the story unfolded through the eyes of Daisy and then her two daughters Helen & Laura.
We got such an amazing glimpse into a life so painful..
Author Ann Bennett's story really does captivate her readers....
I was completely engrossed and Daisy is a character I will remember for a long time once I closed the final page...
I am such a huge fan of fiction set in the war years
So well worth your time this one is 💕

4.5 Stars !!! Loved this story about two young girls - Daisy and Peggy, who are sent to the English countryside during WW2 when it was unsafe for them to remain in the city. Soon after they arrive in the countryside, the home they were staying with is bombed and their hosts killed. A "billeting officer" spots them and tells them he's taking them to a safe place and delivers them to a shabby farm. The farmer is using child labor to work his farm and houses the girls and another set of orphans in a barn. With little hope or chance to escape, the girls begin a life of hardship.

Daisy, the oldest girl, has two daughters in the present. Daisy has had a stroke and is at a care facility. Her two daughters Helen and Laura are cleaning out her house and wondering about some of the things they are finding. As they find more things and investigate their mother's past, they come to understand their mother and become closer to each other as well.

The author tells a great tale and I couldn't put this book down. Really enjoyed it and can't wait to read Ann Bennett's other book - The Orphan House.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read and review this book!

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for Ann Bennett's heartbreaking historical novel THE RUNAWAY SISTERS.

I love dual timeline stories and having read and enjoyed "The Orphan House" by Ann Bennett earlier this year I was excited to devour THE RUNAWAY SISTERS. I was not disappointed.

A warning:
There is a lot of violence and abuse throughout Daisy's narrative and it does make for uncomfortable reading at times.

The story begins in the present day with Helen and Laura clearing out their former home at Black Moor Hall after their mother Daisy had a stroke and is now residing in a care home. The two sisters have been somewhat estranged throughout their lives, what with ten years between them and the pressures they felt they endured by their mother's hand. But now they have reunited to clear out the house and get it ready for sale, reigniting many memories of their years growing up there. When the day comes to begin clearing their mother's room, the sisters come across a hidden door behind the wardrobe and are intrigued by what they find there that will change their lives forever.

Two letters addressed to a Daisy Banks in Plymouth dated 1940 have the women pondering as to who the mystery addressee was. After all, their mother's maiden name was not Banks...plus the letters also spoke of a younger sister Peggy and to their knowledge their mother was an only child. So who was Daisy Banks and why did their mother have letters addressed to her? Along with the letters were a couple of photos - one of a young man in a Navy uniform and the other of what looked to be the same young man with a young woman who bore the striking resemblance to their mother. It couldn't be...could it? What did this all mean? Was their mother Daisy Banks? If so, then why did she change her name before marrying their father?

Plymouth 1940: Fifteen year old Daisy Banks and her ten year old sister Peggy have been evacuated from their home in London to Plymouth, where they were billeted to a Mr and Mrs Brown. They were thought to be safe there but one night the German bombers raided the town leaving much of it damaged. Daisy sat huddled with Peggy on the bed till the explosions ceased before opening the door to their room. When she did she was astonished to discover that while their room and the landing remained in tact, Mr and Mrs Brown's room other the other side was decimated. The girls hastily packed a few things and ran into the street searching for a way back home to London.

They were soon stopped by a man bearing the insignia of a billeting officer who told them that as they were evacuees they were under the responsibility of the government to take care of them. He told them of a lovely place out on the moors on the edge of Dartmoor with animals and other children who were also being taken care of. Peggy's eyes lit up at the mention of animals but Daisy remained wary. However, she knew that London was far away and they had no money to get there so resigned herself to this stranger taking them under his wing.

Believing he was taking them somewhere safe, the sisters climb into his car and the man drives them out onto the moors to a derelict farm where the conditions were nothing like he had described. As soon as they arrived, they were introduced to Farmer Reeves then shoved into a barn and informed that this is where they would sleep before being forced to work with the other four other children - two boys and two girls - who also lived there. Daisy dreamt of escaping but anyone that tries to is dealt with severely. If they spoke out to either Farmer Reeves or Red, the man who brought them there, they were beaten or whipped. As the government had sanctioned the use of children for farm work, it was therefore legal despite the harsh conditions. There was nowhere else to go.

But Daisy had a plan. With John, one of the orphan boys, they endeavoured to make their escape and report Farmer Reeves and Red for the conditions to which they subjected them to. But they had to make their move soon. Peggy was growing weaker in the almost arctic conditions of the barn, her cough getting worse by the day. If they didn't make their escape soon, who knew what future held for them at their cruel hands.

Back in the present day, Helen and Laura search the Land Registry for information on the derelict farm that backs onto Black Moor Hall, the sisters are shocked to discover that it belongs to their mother. They were always forbidden to venture onto the farm grounds and intrigued by the mystery before them, Helen decides to follow the path she remembers seeing her mother taking at times. Through old derelict buildings that had been left to rot for near on a century, Helen follows the path which leads her to something she never expected to find. What brought her mother here so often in secret? Guilt? Or something else?

Then when Helen finds a key that doesn't seem to fit any door in the house, the sisters are taken back to London to unlock the secrets their mother has kept hidden for over 70 years. And nothing will prepare them for the journey that it will take them on and the secrets that they will uncover...

The two stories merge together seamlessly as Daisy's narrative from the past is woven with Helen's in the present and is beautifully told. Daisy and Peggy's story is heartbreaking as is so often the tale of orphans during the war with the physical and emotional abuse they received at the hands of Farmer Reeves and his henchman Red. It was at times difficult to read. And then the romance between John and Daisy was simply heartwarming. I cannot say much more without giving anything away.

An incredibly emotional tale, THE RUNAWAY SISTERS captured my attention from the start and held it until the end, as I finished with tears in my eyes. It is truly a great read that I certainly won't forget in a hurry.

Filled with love, loss, heartbreak, secrets, lies and hope, THE RUNAWAY SISTERS is a heartwrenching historical novel that will stay with long after you have finished reading.

My only critique I have was the rather abrupt ending. All the hope and promise that had been building up, and then I turned the page and...the end. I felt a little cheated in that respect. I felt it needed to end with Daisy, since it was ultimately her story and her secrets that was being uncovered.

But aside from that, THE RUNAWAY SISTERS is a thoroughly enjoyable read that I have no hesitation in recommending to fans of historical fiction, dual timelines and stories about the plights of orphaned children.

I would like to thank #AnnBennett, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheRunawaySisters in exchange for an honest review.

A fabulous book. Absolutely heartbreaking how Daisy and Peggy could suffer such hardships after the loss of their mother and foster family due to bombing. I'm sure these things happened during the war. Poor Daisy suffered such heartbreak at a young age but obviously found security later when she married and had her daughters, Laura and Helen.

Ann Bennett is a wonderful writer and I will read more of her books. I was very disappointed when it ended and looked in-store to see if there was a sequel to this story. I would have loved to read more about what happened after India and how Daisy met her husband. I felt like I missed an important part of Daisy's life. Hope the last part of her life brought closure for her.

Thank you netgalley.

This was a very difficult book to read, not because it was badly written! On the contrary. Child abuse is always a difficult subject to read about. The story was so believable and plausible and the descriptions so graphic that it made it hard to go through some parts of it.

I haven’t read too many stories of wartime atrocities within the UK. But here is a story of two sisters, evacuees from the London bombings, who were fooled into believing that they were being taken into care. Instead they ended up tortured and abused as they were put to work in the fields.

The love and concern of Daisy for her weaker sister, Peggy is heartbreaking. Daisy comes off as being such a strong character who will do anything to keep Peggy from being abused. John too is a wonderful character that is ready to risk his life for the other children. Even the ‘bad’ characters are very well etched out.

The book is really about the war of good over evil but somehow everyone seems to lose in the end. The childhood trauma scarred Daisy so badly that she does all she can to shield her own children from it. It’s only in her old age, that her daughters accidentally discover all she has been through and all she hid from them.

The story ends on a positive and hopeful note. However, I would have liked this to be a little more drawn out. It seemed a little rushed. It’s for this reason alone that I’m rating the book at 3.5, or I would have given it a 4 star rating.

The Runaway Sisters by Ann Bennett is a beautiful contemporary novel that will break your heart whilst simultaneously filling your heart with love.
The novel is set during World War II and concerns the fortunes of two evacuee sisters from London relocated to Devon. Action alternates between another pair of modern day sisters and the war years.
Your heart will break for the two evacuees as sorrow and guilt are heavy burdens to carry through the months and years. Not all evacuees had an idyllic time in the countryside.
Relationships between the sisters are explored. One set are bonded by love. The other set experience sibling rivalry.
Our childhood experiences shape the adults we become. Some of our memories are hidden from view because they are too painful. This means our motivations for life are not understood by others as they fail to probe beneath the surface.
Ann Bennett has created a marvellous set of characters. My heart broke at times as cruelty knew no bounds whilst alternately swelling with the bonds of love.
The Runaway Sisters was my first book by Ann Bennett but I want more, more, more. She is now up there on my favourite author list, which is ever growing. I loved her style of writing. Her characters have lodged in my heart and soul.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

I love historical fiction, especially about a time period that I don't know much about. This book was an amazing read that took place in England towards the end of WW2. When the bombing gets bad Daisy and her sister are sent to the country for safety. What follows is a series of tragedies and heartbreaks for both girls as well as an amazing example of perseverance. The story is heartwarming and very well written. I highly recommend this story to anyone who loves historical fiction.

Thank you to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy