Beyond the Sea: A Wren at War by Christian Lamb was an interesting and informative memoir by Lamb, who was a WREN officer in WWII. She shares her and others’ first-hand experiences as these brave women made significant contributions to the UK’s war-time efforts. I enjoyed this book. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars. A very interesting read that jumped around to quite a number of people's war time memories. Enjoyable.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Christian Lamb, Beyond the Sea A Wren at War, Ad Lib Publishers Mardle Books, 2021

Christian Lamb has brought together three experiences in Beyond the Sea A Wren at War: her work as a Wren in a variety of capacities; her marriage with its beginning in wartime and its aftermath as a ‘sailor’s wife’; and experience as an interested, and later, expert gardener. I was pleased to read the material that went beyond Lamb being a Wren at war as some of this was familiar through my reading Peter Hore’s Secret Source Churchill’s Wrens and the Y Service in World War 11.

Turning first to the somewhat familiar material, I would have liked Lamb to have recognised more fully the consequences of her generosity in providing her recall of life as a Wren to another writer. Perhaps if she had developed this material further in her own record, I would have felt more sympathetic to the sometime repetition. This section could have been improved markedly with some more commentary on personal relationships she observed. For example, Lamb refers to the mix of classes, but little more. Class is an underlying theme in the book, Lamb’s background appearing to impact on the way in which she addressed many of her own experiences. Did she find some expanding of her views through her interaction with women from different classes? Did any mixed class friendships last? How did the women come to terms with the differences? Were working class women made officers, thus challenging the class hierarchy?

Despite what I saw as some shortcomings, this section certainly gave a wide range of Wrens’ jobs some verisimilitude, a useful source for understanding some women’s war time work. One interesting comment was how a writer might enjoy one of these jobs - censorship of the letters that passed through this office before being sent. Indeed, one writer did have such a job. Barbara Pym worked in censorship, living in Bristol. My reading of her work suggests that she found so much in her own personal life to write about she did not use such a source, although some other war experiences appeared!

Where the writing became livelier was where Lamb smoothly introduced some of her husband’s experiences about which he had also written. Also, Lamb’s war work combined with her domestic experiences was nicely recalled with some humour. After the war, her marriage which meant that Lamb moved often, eventually with children, with a variety of events in different locations also adding to the range of experiences that make this book more than that of a Wren at war, but also connected to this huge event in her life.

In the latter part of the book, Lamb’s interest in gardening becomes another professional endeavour. This section rounds the book off very nicely, with its recognition of ageing being no impediment to maintaining an engrossing life.

This is a pleasantly written book. Christian Lamb recounts a variety of events that reflect the life of a young middle-class woman whose life was impacted by her work as a Wren and continued to influence her throughout her long life.

Engaging, interesting and really well written, this book is a great read for anyone interested in the experiences of the young women who joined the WRNS during WW2. The author writes about her life but has also included the stories of others too. With fascinating details of daily life in the services, as well as stories of those she met along the journey. A really enjoyable and engaging book for anyone interested in this period. An important piece of our history.

This was the best kind of memoir, as the author's writing style made me feel like we were friends just sitting and having a conversation about her many experiences. I prefer this warm and fuzzy type of memoir over the ones that are written more like a history book.

I'm a big fan of WWII memoirs, especially those written by those on the homefront. Christian Lamb's "I Only Joined for the Hat" has been on my TBR list for a while, so I was excited to see her new book, "Beyond the Sea: A Wren at War."

I'm not sure how, or even if, Beyond the Sea differs from her previous memoir about her time in the Wrens during WWII. I expected Beyond the Sea to contain Lamb's thoughts and experiences, but there are vignettes from other Wrens sprinkled throughout the book. That's not a bad thing, but I thought the focus was to be on Lamb herself, and the book to be more autobiographical, given the "A Wren at War" subtitle.

Lamb takes us through her early life through her post-WWII experiences as a military wife, and even a peek into her life today. Born during the 1918 pandemic, she contrasts that with the current pandemic. She provides her perspective into the causes which led to WWII, and how she and women from all classes felt they had to "do their bit." There are some stories about culture shock when encountering those from other areas, and apparently, at one billet, the Wrens were bad enough that she asked to be transferred. That, plus some name-dropping of her Wren associate who became a duchess smacked a little of classism, but I could be misinterpreting it. She also talks about how some of the Wrens were not as clean as others, and had body odor.

A surprising amount of the book is about her ante- and post-bellum life, which was also interesting, but I think the book would have been improved by focusing on Lamb herself, and her experiences during the war, rather than bringing in letters from her friends.

3 out of 5 stars.

I received an advance copy from Mardle Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

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This was a lovely memoir. I enjoyed reading about Lamb's experiences and her life adventures, the way she told her story kept me entertained throughout. There was a clear tone that ran through this novel, it felt as if I was listening to a loved one recount a story in person. While it wasn't groundbreaking as a novel, it was a pleasant afternoon read. For fans of historical memoirs, this was an interesting insight into an extraordinary life.