Who knew? In the early days of WWI, British women lined up to apply for jobs as gardeners at Kew Gardens in London. Because so many men were heading off to war, the management of the gardens reluctantly gave some of these women much needed employment. The author explores the culture of the day including the issues of women's suffrage and equal work for equal pay. Beautifully written with believable characters and loads of historical insight.

I thought this was a great story. I loved the characters. I do with there were more of an ending to the one couple. The Kew gardens are so beautiful. I love to read historical fiction so I can look it up and see for myself.

This was a wonderfully-written first novel from Posy Lovell, centering around the lives and loves of three women gardeners hired at Kew Gardens in London. They are hired by manager “Mac” despite his reservations about whether female gardeners could pull their weight, but it is 1915 and men are being conscripted, or soon to be, and he needs workers. The ladies soon prove themselves to be hard workers. The three women, Ivy, Louisa and “Win,” in actuality a titled lady, could not be more different in social level, yet become fast friends. The era is patriotic, the Suffragette movement is active and pro-conscription. They work alongside Bernie Yorke, a former teacher and Quaker, who when found out as a conscientious objector, loses his job at Kew and his lodgings. The women help him survive.

The narrative has many interesting twists and turns, sadnesses but mostly happy resolutions, as when Ivy’s intended, Jim, returns from the War, wounded but alive after being feared dead.

There were a couple of events that jarred me a bit, as when the Kew Gardens Girls pushed for equal pay to the men, as this was still a burning issue in the 1970’s and 1980’s when I was early in my career, but apparently there were indeed efforts to gain equal pay for the same job as early as WWI in Britain.

My thanks to #netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of #The Kew Gardens Girls. Lovely book, well-worth reading.

The Kew Garden Girls is a great book. It has a rocky start (too many characters are introduced too quickly and the scene is inadequately painted). However, Lovell picks up speed immediately and it becomes one of the most engaging books I've read this winter. I deeply enjoyed the incorporation of both World War I and the suffragette movement--many authors fail to recognize that these were simultaneous events. Overall, this is a wonderful book and I highly recommend it to historical fiction enthusiasts.

First off I want to thank the author and NetGalley for gifting me the ebook. I have to saw this book was amazing. I could not put it down. It is set during WWII and it a wonderful story about how group of women come together to fight for justice and female companionship. I loved how the author did not force extreme feminism on the reader. As a female born again christian, I love reading about the Suffragettes and their history. I find that they really did have to right to fight due to how horrible they were treated in the work place etc. I don't agree with violence from any group so I loved that the author incorporated that into the story and how they felt that was wrong also. Reading about how the women instead of white feathering the men who did not go to war and realizing that it was wrong and unfair. I also loved how they put their energy to good use and helped women in the community and families where the women were the bread winners and taking care of their families while the men fought in the war. I just love reading about how women come together and help each other out it just amazing in my eyes. Thank you Posey Lovell for writing this wonderful book. I love that it based off of true events. Makes me want to go and study more on the subject.

#netgalley #PoseyLovell #TheKewGardenGirls #WWII #historicalfiction #history #suffragettes

A fun historical novel set in WWI London that I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Kew Gardens Girls were delightful characters that I happily spent time with as I learned about the Suffragette movement and how it interplayed with WWI in England.

Set in London during World War I, The Kew Garden Girls by Posy Lovell, weaves the story of three very different women who work in the gardens while the men were serving overseas. Louisa had fled from an abusive husband and has made a life of her own. Ivy is only 16 but is picked to work in the gardens because her Dad was known by Mac, the head gardener. Win is a lady who fits right in and becomes part of the garden family. All of them are suffragettes. Jim is Mac's apprentice and Ivy's boyfriend. Bernie is a Quaker who is trying to find a way to avoid serving in the war. Their lives become woven together and they help each other as they fight their individual struggles.

It was a sweet story of love, of family being more than blood, and of the language of flowers. I was allowed to read this on #NetGalley. It is scheduled to be released April 20, 2021.

The Kew Garden Girls was a delightful novel. Thanks Net Galley for allowing me the chance to read this beautifully written historical fiction novel. The characters were totally alive and people I would love to be friends with. They supported each other through various trials and hardships of their times. The novel takes place during WWI, when women were asked to fill in for men who were off to fight in the war. The novel exposes readers to the work Suffragettes did, how women found meaningful work and more important, how men began to regard and value the work women contributed. I was sorry when I finished the novel. I wished it were even longer. Maybe there can be a sequel that will follow their lives even further.

The Kew Gardens Girls by Posy Lovell.

It's 1915 and the men are off to war. The story begins introducing the main characters of Louisa who has left her abusive husband and Ivy who is very young and truly wants to have her own life even though she is only 16 years old. They are both reluctantly hired to work at the Kew Gardens and then later, a volunteer worker, Lady Winifred Ramsay (Win) along with Louisa and Ivy, become The Kew Gardens Girls. They love the gardens and each brings something very special.. they are also keen on the suffragette movement for women, and the fight for equal pay. These girls were… “Brought together by the Kew Garden and held together forever by friendship”. Although the garden is the main character and throughout has a story of it’s own to tell, this book provides also a story of friendship, duty, determination and loyalty.

These suffragettes are doing their part to help the war effort while still fighting for equal rights and we learn about the White Feather movement which encourages one to consider their stance on the war and those who did or didn't physically fight and the difficulties of being a conscientious objector.

Two of my favorite parts of the book are Ivy’s letter garden and when her Suffragette friends come to her rescue. This beautifully told story is full of just the things that makes historical fiction novels so amazing.

I highly recommend this book. Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this book and read it in one day. The story is well-written and the descriptive writing is wonderful. There is so much the author explores---meaning of flowers, home-front hardships, women friendships and the heartbreak of war. I've never read anything by this author, but I hope she writes more.

This was a beautiful story of the Kew Garden Girls that took over working when all the men left to fight in WW1. It had sprinklings of real events mixed in with the fictional story of Louise, Ivy and Win: an unlikely trio that becomes the best of friends. There were times I wanted to laugh, others I was in tears, and still other times I was so angry with the characters. It is a book that will stick with me for a while.

It wasn't a super exciting snd adventurous book, but a lovely story of friends who become family and work together to overcome some hard times.

The beginning of this reads like an English family saga novel taking place during World War 1, a genre I love. Some of them, admittedly, are not well-written, but this one is and it goes at least one step beyond. Some very real tension sits in the middle. This book became a real page- turner in the middle with conflict as serious as that recently taking place in our American elections!
I also thoroughly enjoyed all the material about London’s Kew Garden’s and the language of flowers. The latter is used very touchingly to talk about the war. I do wish the practice of wearing poppies for remembrance on Veterans Day (November 11) had not faded away here in the States. I do my best to renew it.
I received a free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion. That has not affected my review!

I enjoyed The Kew Gardens Girls by Posy Lovell. Taking place during World War I, the story is about Ivy and Louisa who are both escaping something in their lives into the gardens of Kew to take over tending to it while the boys and men are at war. Joined by Bernie and head gardener Mac the girls learn all about the gardens. I really enjoyed the descriptions of plants and you feel the power of the love for the garden. The characters are interesting, fleshed out, and complex. The story captures both the pride of Britain during the war and the horrors that people faced during this time.

I really love beautiful English gardens and history, so this title sounded like a great combination. Here we have women working and proving that they are worth being hired as gardeners, but they are not just any women, they are suffragettes. The story itself is not developing much, the garden is just a background to going over issues of domestic violence these women experienced, and sexist expectations of a young man, who is hired to be a gardener because he is a man, but he can't do manual labor. And so my reading became unexciting, the only interesting thing left to do was to count how many "suffragette" words the author used in this book. I was not able to finish counting...

I love books about strong women! Women that you can identify with and women that face adversity. This book had that in spades!

I noticed that the main character’s name is Ivy. Pretty ironic considering this is a book about botanical gardens!

I would classify this as historical fiction - specifically war fiction.

Recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the ARC of this outstanding book. All opinions expressed are my own.

I am rating this book 5 stars! K absolutely loved The Kew Gardens Girls. It was such an endearing story of friendship, uplifting those around you, and determination. During the 1910s women were fighting for their right to vote, and suffragettes Ivy, Win, and Louisa made it their mission to work for equal pay for women in addition to fighting for the vote as well. These women all met while working at Kew Gardens taking up the gardening jobs that the men couldn’t work since they’d all been called up to war. I found Ivy, Win, and Louisa’s bond so special throughout the novel. I especially loved Ivy’s letter garden. I just thought it was the most precious detail in this book.

Absolutely loved it!

An unlikely trio of women who become family for each other. I can't express how much I enjoyed their story.

I read this EARC courtesy of Net Galley and Putnam Books. pub date 04/20/21

Set during WWI, this book follows Ivy, Louisa and, Bernie gardeners at the Kew Royal Botanical Gardens. Louisa and Ivy, suffragettes have opposite views on wartime service and how the suffragettes should focus their time. Bernie, a religious man, is a conscience objector, and finds himself targeted and forced into hiding.

This was an interesting story with well developed characters. I really enjoyed reading about the suffragette activities, and the differing opinions within their ranks. My only criticism is that everything ended up a bit too perfect for a wartime story. Overall, 4 out of 5 stars.

In 1915, during World War I, Kew Gardens in London found itself in dire need of gardeners. Mac, the head gardener, had few candidates answer his Help Wanted ad, either men, who would be eligible for the draft, or women, which Kew never had hired thinking they were too delicate for the work. With reservation MAC hired Louisa Taylor who grew up on a hop farm, and Ivy Adams, from hackney, and Bernie who had absolutely no experience. Unknown to Mac, both girls hid their Suffragette pins as Kew had reasons to dislike suffragettes. Later, after the women proved they could do the work, Lady Winifred Ramsay (Win) and other women were hired. This wonderful story was based on actual facts about Kew Gardens and I know this book was published in England, but I would have enjoyed a bit more background on Kew, size, history, etc.

I saw this book right after I had finished another book about English gardens, so the timing couldn’t have been any more perfect. This story takes place during WWI in the Kew Gardens in London. With most of the male population having enlisted, the garden (which does not employ women) has no choice but to interview women for the job. Louisa has left her abusive husband in Kent and moved to the city to start a new life. She currently lives in a small flat and works in a dress hop. She is an excellent gardener (as evidenced by the beautiful and large garden on her porch) and applies to work in the garden. Ivy is sixteen and the oldest of a large family with a much absent father. She grew up around the garden, but now wants to work there in an official capacity with her boyfriend, Jim. The head Gardner, Mac, reluctantly hires both women, who discover that not only do they have gardening in common, but they are both suffragettes. At the same time he also hires Bernie, who is A former school teacher and silently a conscientious objector. A short while later, Win joins the garden staff as a volunteer while her retired husband rejoins the Royal Navy. These women form a very strong bond that gets them through the very worst of times. We see the suffragettes doing their part to help the war effort while still fighting for equal rights, the White Feather movement which shines a light on the difficulties of conscientious objectors, a help for a surprisingly illiterate character and the tragedy of loss. The garden is the main character throughout and has a story of it’s own to tell while at the same time providing a home to an unlikely crew. A wonderfully written story, but a little predictable at times. Well worth the read. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC of this book.