A Sister’s War
by Molly Green

Against her strict mother’s wishes Molly at 17 joins The Grand Union Canal Company to take narrow boats with supplies between Birmingham and London during WW2. Follow Molly and the other young trainees on their journey as they learn the backbreaking work on the canals going their bit in the war effort. The secrets and mysteries unfold along the way a unique tale very enjoyable 4.5/5

Don’t you know that there’s a war on? Well, not really. I picked up this book because I was interested to read about another element to the Second World War. However, the story just dragged on far too long about Ronnie’s canal-boat training, with very little else to break the monotony.

I certainly didn’t get a true sense of the times that Ronnie was living in. True, she is faced with rationing and severe sexism with how men were so resistant to the ‘wenches’ working on the canals. However, there were very few references to the global conflict taking place and I really missed this. I wanted to get a sense of the times and the hardships, alongside what it was like to use the canals to transport essential goods. This was noticeably absent in the book.

It didn’t help that I hardly warmed to the protagonist, Ronnie. I appreciated the writer’s emphasis on Ronnie’s young age, especially as this was quite common at the time, with youngsters inflating their age in order to help out with the war effort. However, it was her naivety, stroppiness and general attitude that rubbed me up the wrong way. True, she faces several battles with her trainer, Dora, and fellow trainee, Angela, but it always felt like there was a drama surrounding Ronnie. I’m not sure whether this was because Green was presenting Ronnie to have had a rather sheltered upbringing, but it did get a bit tiresome that the character appears to move from one calamity to the next.

The scenes with Will were not very pleasant and I had not predicted some of his plot developments. This added a bit of intrigue to an otherwise slow story, but I did think the ending was too prolonged for my liking. Although I have not read the previous two books of the series (which focus on Ronnie’s older sisters), it was nice to see them all reunited in the final chapters. It gave me a sense of this support network that Ronnie used to have and you certainly don’t need to have read the other stories to get to grips with this plot. At the same time, I didn’t think I had missed out with not having read the other books!

This was clearly researched but it did not deliver enough on the historical element. I wanted to see this more vividly; instead the book read like a tired saga that was a bit cliched. On the whole, I did not warm to the characters and whilst there were some parts of the story that I started to enjoy, it was not enough to fuel me through the novel.

With thanks to Avon books and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. A great WWII women's fiction novel. Highly recommend.

This was a brilliant read and is being featured on my blog for my quick star reviews feature, which I have created on my blog so I can catch up with all the books I have read and therefore review.
See www.chellsandbooks.wordpress.com.

It was a great novel. Loved reading it and the writer is great. Would most likely read again and recommend to others.

I didn't know anything about the work these women did on the canals and the long hours. The strenuous jobs are a very different life for most of these women.

The friendships that were formed were heart felt and the best parts of the book. I felt the book dragged on in places and I struggled with keeping my interest for a bit in the middle.

I would recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in learning what life was like for the women in the war..

What a really good book telling you the story of the girls who worked the canal boats when the War was on. I certainly could not put this book down.

This is the third book in the series I never read the other two but you can read this as a stand-alone.

Ronnie is the youngest sister in the family and is only 16 and wants to help with the War effort she gets rejected for being a Land Girl as she is too young. She decides to become a canal boat girl.

We see Ronnie really enjoying this and matures as the story goes along.

We see romance also there is funny bits in the book and also some sad bits.

I would recommend this book.

Lovely story about a young woman learning how to work on the canal boats in world war two. Having never heard of this before, it was well researched and gave a true feeling for how hard the work was, and how the women had to cope with harsh conditions to provide this essential service. Each of the sisters had their own story, this one is a young naive girl without much of a clue about the real world. She grows into a young woman while learning to work the boats. A romance is also in the background

A Sister’s War by Molly Green is the 3rd book in The Victory Sisters. This book can be read as a standalone, but I did enjoy reading the series in order. I thought A Sister’s War was well-written with developed characters. In this book, we get Veronique “Ronnie” Linfoot’s story. She is the youngest of the three Linfoot sisters and she is anxious to do something to aid the war effort. She is not yet seventeen which makes it difficult for her to join a program. Ronnie was turned down for the Land Girls which was her preference. Her mother, Simone was delighted. Simone would prefer that her daughters wear pretty dresses, do embroidery and other ladylike tasks. Unfortunately, Simone has three independent, rebellious daughters. Raine is a pilot with the Air Transport Auxiliary and Suzy is a singer with ENSA. Ronnie sees a newsreel that mentions the canal girls and she sets out to learn more information. Ronnie applies to be boatwoman transporting goods along the Grand Union Canal with the Grand Union Canal Company. We follow Ronnie and five other ladies training with Dora Dummitt who is a harsh taskmaster. The author did her research for this book. I can envision life on the canal in the narrowboats from the author’s descriptions. It sounded like a rough job with long hours. I could not imagine having to open and close the locks along the canal by hand. The cold and wet were relentless. The boats were small with limited room. It was fascinating learning about the canal girls. They transported items needed for the war effort. I was curious after I finished the book and looked up more information about the canal and the boats (transport by boat ended in the late 1970s and the boats are now being used for people to live in). I like that we get to catch up with Ronnie’s sisters, Suzy and Raine. A Sister’s War is a satisfying conclusion to The Victory Sisters trilogy. I enjoyed reading A Sister’s War as well as the other two books in this engaging historical series.

This is the third of a series, but all are stand-alones! Three sisters fight for independence from an overbearing, but caring mother. Ronnie tries various avenues but Wartime offers little choices for a 17 year old girl. She takes matters into her hands after she sees a poster for females to work the canals since the men are all away at war.

The author not only gives us glimpses of the life of canal life, but also the life within the confines of those tiny boats for families. How does love sustain on these waters? What about if you meet a gent who has a position on the land ? How hard would it be to give up the life on the water?

All this and so much more is shown to young Ronnie including some characters of questionable ethics?

I would recommend this book and the whole series!

I received this free advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

I always find historical fiction to be entertaining, but also educational. In this book we learn how young women worked on the canal, shipping coal and etc. Warwork. I liked that it was about strong female friendships. It is a strong family bonds books. I would highly recommend this book. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

A good read. Lots of interesting characters,all with their own back story. We follow the lives of Ronnie and her friends as they learn how to work on the canals during wartime.

A lovely story that conjures up the opportunities given to young women during the war. Lots of twists and turns but a very enjoyable book. Definitely recommended to those readers who enjoy reading this type of wartime books.

This is a fascinating story about Ronnie Linfoot, a young girl who hides her age in order to work as a boat girl on the Grand Union canal in the war. This isn't the type of book I would normally read as I prefer modern fiction but the characters really stood out and the detail about life on the boats was really interesting. I never realised that girls manned the boats during the war before I read this but it has inspired me to learn more about it.
Well written and an enjoyable read.

I expected a fairly relaxing, enjoyable, if not particularly exciting read. Other than the enjoyable part, I was happy to discover that I was far off the mark with my predictions
A satisfying storyline, well written and engaging with a definite feel good factor. I found myself learning all manner of previously unknown and highly interesting facts along the way. This was very cleverly achieved, in a natural, fluid manner whilst providing necessary context and depth to the plot.
The characters were well considered, reflecting the range of personalities and ensuing relationships realistic to the setting. Which is not to say that either they, or their various circumstances were predictable.
I will be looking out for this author from now on. I loved this book.

An enjoyable read about the hard life of trainee barge girls on the Grand Union Canal during the 1940s. Our heroine is too young to be a Land Girl, and a barge girl really but she lies about her age and gets away with it. She joins other trainees to learn about and work on the barges, the canal, locks and life on the water taking the traditional place of men who are now on the Front somewhere. Deadly Dora is their teacher although she does have a heart and sometimes it's even soft. There's romance in the form of the Canal Company Policeman and, of course, a black marketeer who fancies his chances with Ronnie (Veronique, the heroine). Well-paced and well-researched. There's hope, friendship and loss amidst a grim, hard day's work. Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The third of a trilogy, and as excellent as the other two. I loved this story of the third sister, and liked the way that all three books follow the same theme of women finding their independence while remaining true to family values. Recommended.

This was an absorbing story of the young women, who worked on the barges up and down the Grand Union Canal, from London to Birmingham, during the latter part of the second World War. Really 9interesting storyline with some appealing and interesting characters and great descriptions. I really enjoyed reading this story and learning something new at the same time is always a bonus.

I love novels set during the war years and this one doesn't fail. Great read of the narrow boats that kept this country moving. Love the family life and everything about it. Great story and I will be reading this again later on. 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC.

This book tells the youngest of the Linfoot Sisters story. Veronique or Ronnie as she preferred to be called was the last one at home with Maman. Her two sisters were off delivering planes and entertaining the troops ENSA. Ronnie loved the outdoor life and would prefer to join the land army, but unfortunately wasn’t able to do this. At a film with her friend Lois, Ronnie sees on the Pathe News women working the boats on the canals and decides she’d like to try this. We follow Ronnie’s experiences as she learns the life of the boat people. An enjoyable read