Thanks to @Netgalley and @Bookouture for the gifted book. All opinions are my own.

It's 1940 and Bramble Heath is a small village shaken nightly by Nazi bombs because of the location of the local airbase, and Annie worries nightly about the people of their village and their safety. Annie is the village nurse and midwife, so it's logical that if someone needs a safe place to leave a baby, they leave it with her. But Annie knows that since whoever left the baby left their ration book with her, they are in a desperate situation.

So with the help of her friends and neighbors, Annie begins to try and piece together the clues in an effort to reunite this child and her mother. But when social services steps in and forces her to accelerate her timeline, Annie has to really press forward to find the best solution for everyone.
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I really enjoy a WWII Homefront book and this one did not disappoint. It is layered beyond the story of the ration book baby with romance and family drama and community pride.

A theme of this book is the goodness of people beyond status or clout or looks. It's about how you navigate through life based on your principles. I really enjoyed the angst of this novel feeling earned as they moved through loss of people, hope, and security to find what life had to offer them on the other side of grief.

If you enjoy a WWII Homefront novel that ends in a tidy bow, you'll want to check this one out.
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Content Note: War violence (bombings), medical content, burns, child abandonment, prejudice

In the quaint village of Bramble Heath, The Ration Book Baby unfolds a tale of unexpected arrivals, resilience, and enduring love against the backdrop of World War II. District nurse Annie Russell finds herself entangled in the mysteries of a newborn baby left on her doorstep, setting in motion a dual narrative that weaves together the search for a lost mother and an evolving romance.

The first plotline introduces Clara, the abandoned baby, as Annie navigates the challenge of unravelling her origins within the close-knit community. The urgency to find Clara's parents before adoption adds a gripping layer to the story, keeping this reader on the edge of my seat.

Simultaneously, a sweet love story blossoms between Annie and Wing Commander William Chambers. The two characters, familiar with each other but brought closer by the harsh realities of wartime, embark on a heartwarming romance. The author skillfully balances the intensity of the search for Clara's mother with the tender moments of love and connection between Annie and William.

Polly Edsell's narration in the audiobook version is commendable, breathing life into the characters and enhancing the overall experience. I've given the performance a solid 4-star rating and highly recommend the audiobook for The Ration Book Baby.

This book resonated with me as a historical fiction enthusiast, particularly drawn to WWII settings and strong, independent female characters. The blend of sweetness, heartbreak, and the overarching theme of hope and community during wartime creates a truly compelling narrative.

The Ration Book Baby is a beautiful story of hope, community, and the unbreakable bond between a mother and child during WWII. The historical setting is vividly portrayed, immersing readers in the challenges and triumphs of wartime life.

In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed The Ration Book, Baby, and eagerly anticipate delving into more stories from this series.

Thank you to #EllieCurzon, #Netgalley, and #Bookouture for providing an ARC of The Ration Book Baby in exchange for an honest review. 📚✨

Book 1 in the ‘A village at war’ series. Set at the beginning of WWII the story begins with a newborn baby being left at the door of the village’s District Nurse, Anne and her parents house. As no clues were left as to whose the baby is , Anne spends most of her free time along with the Wing Commander, William , trying to work out who the mother is until William is injured in the line of duty . The narrator was very easy to listen too and really brought the characters to life .

This is a superb historical fiction book, which I loved a lot. I really enjoyed the audiobook, as the narrator was perfect for this emotional story.

The story itself is set during World War 2, and it is about a nurse called Annie and her Mother who is a retired midwife, who find themselves looking after a little baby called Clara, after she is left at their door. This is a lovely story which is very heartwarming and heartbreaking, and it is written beautifully. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves reading historical fiction, or books about families, as it is so interesting and touching.


Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

Annie Russell lives in Bramble Heath. At night she sits and listens to the aircraft and bombings. The country is at war. She is disturbed by a knock at the door. On the doorstep is a hat book. Inside is a newborn baby and an all important ration book.
Annie and the villagers come together to protect the little one and discover her origins.
A great historical read.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to see an ARC

A really lovely community based historical fiction novel set during the second world war. Set in a small village, a nurse opens her door to find a baby on the doorstep. Annie the nurse tries to find out who the baby belongs to, with the support of the village. Annie also has a romance along the way. Perfect for lovers of Call The Midwife

Apologies that I couldn’t download this book and provide feedback. Would love to read it if it becomes available again. I will rate it as average 3 stars which I give for the books that I have been unable to start or complete.

Thank you to NetGalley for access to this audiobook

Awaiting Annie on the doorstep is a hatbox. Peeking under the lid, she gasps – inside is a whimpering newborn, round cheeks glistening with tears. The poor little thing may be all alone, but someone must truly love the baby… Tucked into a hand-knitted blanket, there’s a precious ration book, vital for food supplies in these darkest of days.

The story was well written with a good dose of English WWII facts, but the storyline at times was all too predictable. I enjoyed it overall and would recommend it to anyone looking for a lighter WWII based book.

This story focused in on a small village in England that has an air base during World War 2. It centers around Annie, a district health nurse, as she cares for the village’s members and unravels the mystery of the newborn baby that arrived on her doorstep during an air raid in a hat box. The narration was good and I enjoyed this story but felt it lacked somewhat in the complexity. One for any historical fiction fans to enjoy. Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for the AAC! The Ration Book Baby (A Village At War) by Ellie Curzon is a historical fiction novel set in a small village in England at the beginning of the war. Annie, a young nurse travels to the residents of the village to treat their ailments. She also helps the new Polish refugees in the nearby village. One night a baby is left on her doorstep with nothing but a blanket and a ration book. Annie tries hard to find the baby’s mother not only to reunite them but also to ensure that the new mother is being cared for. The story has many different side plots woven into the narrative which allow the listener to get a sense of what it was like to live in a small village in that moment in time. It also enabled the author to effectively highlight the differences in social classes of the time as well as compare people’s reactions to soldiers who were injured in the line of duty. The narration by Polly Edsel was very well done. She allowed longer pauses when the emotion of the story warranted it. I did, however, find it hard to get into at first given the narrator is British but once I got used to her accent, I was able to immerse myself in the story. Overall, i enjoyed it and would recommend it to others.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC and ALCs of this book.

This book gave me all the feels. From the very beginning I needed to know what was going to happen to baby Clara. Clara’s mother couldn’t have picked a better family to leave her daughter with than the Russells. Annie is determined to find her regardless of her circumstances.
Throw in a little romance. Nurse Annie makes house calls (the perfect way to ask people about Clara’s mother) and helps at the air base by treating the pilots. She easily develops feelings for Wing Commander Will Chambers, even though he’s engaged to be married. Her and Will team up to find as many answers as they can about Clara’s parents.

I enjoyed listening to the audio of this book. The narrator did a great job distinguishing between the dual POVs.

This was a delightful historical story. I loved the community that all of these people built, even through a world of difficulty. It was truly a world where no one could trust each other and, yet, these people found a way to make it. They also found a way to care for a baby even when everyone was struggling. I’m sure this fiction is much nicer than the reality was but I like to think there were some positive stories like this too.

🌀Synopsis
A baby on a doorstep.
It’s the middle of WWII. Everyone is struggling. Food is rationed. Bombs are flying. Communities are in shambles.
All Annie knows now is that she needs to take care of this baby. She’s determined to find out who’s baby it is and get it back to them too. Whomever it is left their ration book and will also be very hungry. She knows it’s important to help out the pieces together and get the baby back with mom.
Through a series of trial and error, Annie starts to pin down who the mother could be.
Then one night it happens. The mother is so sick and needs Annie’s help. Annie immediately recognizes that she is the one who has labored and works to get her the care she needs so she can reunite her with her baby.

The Ration Book Baby (A Village at War, #1) by Ellie Curzon was quite different from other World War II novels that I had previously read. It took place at the beginning of World War II, in 1940, in a small village in England known as Bramble Heath. Before Bramble Heath became the proud recipient of an airbase and military hospital, very few people, outside of its inhabitants, had ever heard of this quaint and friendly village or had the pleasure of visiting it. Bramble Heath had acquired a large number of Polish immigrants recently. They had escaped from their homeland mainly because of the way they had been treated and regarded by the Nazis. Based on what these Polish people had experienced, the tight knit community kept mostly to itself. Unfortunately, there were a few citizens in Bramble Heath who displayed uncharacteristically bad behavior towards the Polish people who had settled in their village. Most of the people of Bramble Heath were outraged by the way a select few chose to treat them.

This heartwarming yet emotional novel focused on two distinct plots. The first was the discovery of an abandoned baby girl. Imagine the shock and surprise Annie Russell, a young woman who was employed as a nurse, got when she responded to a knock on the door of the home she shared with parents. On the doorstep of her home was a large hatbox from Clara’s hat shop. When Annie lifted the cover, she discovered a baby girl nestled safely inside the hatbox. Once Annie lifted the baby girl from the hatbox, a ration book fell to the floor. Annie couldn’t stop thinking about the poor mother that had sacrificed her own ration book and baby at the same time. What circumstances could have led this poor mother to abandon her child? Imagine the suffering this mother endured in order to make sure that her baby would be well cared for. By providing the ration book, the mother eliminated all burdens of obtaining food and necessities for her child. Annie wondered why the mother had chosen to leave her baby daughter with her and her parents. As soon as the people of Bramble Heath learned about “Baby Clara” they all helped to provide for her. Then social services threatened to take Baby Clara away unless Annie was able to locate her mother. Annie was determined to find Baby Clara’s mother.

The secondary plot revolved around the fate of a certain Wing Commander, William Chambers. Annie had been out attending to patients when she spotted a burst of flames and a parachute falling to the ground. When Annie reached the victim, she discovered that it was Wing Commander, William Chambers. He had been very badly burned and Annie knew that William’s injuries were very severe. Annie had known William for years. She made him as comfortable as she could while she waited for an ambulance to take William to the military hospital. He would be in good hands with the doctor that treated burns there. How would William feel after he learned about his burns? Could Annie help him realize that despite his injuries he was so lucky to have lived. Annie needed to convince William that he was still the same wonderful and caring man he had always been despite his injuries. When faced with catastrophic injuries, no one ever knows how they will react. Will Wing Commander, William Chambers, be able to pick up the pieces of his life as they had been before his plane went down and he was severely burned? Can he get passed his physical appearance?

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of The Ration Book Baby by Ellie Curzon. It was well narrated by Polly Edsell. Before listening to the Ration Book Baby, I had not realized that it was the first book in a new series. How exciting! I can’t wait to read more about Annie and William and all the people in Bramble Heath. I loved how the authors chose to depict certain aspects of the war in this novel. I found it refreshing and quite interesting. It was with bated breath, that I listened to learn about Baby Clara’s fate. I enjoyed how hard Annie tried to untangle all the clues that would bring her closer to identifying Clara’s mother. I was rooting for Annie to succeed. I didn’t want social services to have to intervene. Would Annie be able to discover why Clara’s mother felt so compelled to give her daughter up to Annie and her family? This was the first book that I had read by this author but I can’t wait to read more especially the next book in this series. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Bookouture for allowing me to listen to the audiobook of The Ration Book Baby through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The audio version of this book was wonderful. A good narrator really makes an audio book and Polly Edsell was a wonderful narrator .

This is the first book in a brand new series by Ellie Curzon and what a wonderful start it was. Historical Fiction saga is one of my favourite genres and I took this one completely to my heart from the very beginning . An abandoned new born baby and also the horrors of war is what this book is about . It’s an easy but at the same time a read you won’t want to put down . This book brought a tear to my eyes at time . Considering this is the first book in a new series the author has written some wonderful characters and I have no doubt these characters will be developed even more as this series progresses . 4⭐️

A lovely and heartwarming tale that takes place during a dark time in history.

<b>England, 1940</b>

Nurse Annie Russell answered a knock at the door and found a newborn baby inside wrapped in a blanket. Annie looks around for signs of who left the baby but only sees a ration book that was left behind. A ration book that is desperately needed during wartime.

Annie and her family do their best to take care of the infant (Clara) while Annie does everything in her power to find the baby's mother. Annie receives gifts for the baby from those in her local community and from the young men who she provides medical care for. The village has a local airfield where the men take to the skies at night to protect the area.

But news of the baby being abandoned has reached social services who inform Annie that if the baby's parents aren't found soon, they will need to take her into their care.

I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was wonderful. I was swept into the lives of those in Bramble Heath village and enjoyed their sense of community and their desire to help. I thought Ellie Curzon did a great job of showing the distrust of the polish community there. They have had to flee their country due to persecution and keep to themselves. The effects of war, the injuries, the deaths, and the conditions were expertly detailed.

Books set during wartime can be heavy and this does have some heavy moments, but it was also heartwarming and lovely. The characters in this book are very likeable and I rooted for them - especially Annie and William, a pilot. This book had a nice mystery revolving around baby Clara and who left her. I enjoyed watching Annie care for her while trying to find her mother. I also admired Annie for how she cared for the injured men in her care.

This is the beginning of a new series and I look forward to reading the next book(s) in the series!

Nurse Annie Russell is a nurse living in a small village in wartime Britain. Life changes one day when a stranger leaves a baby girl on her doorstop in a hat box and a ration book hidden inside.
This is such a charming and easy read, telling the story of how a small village came together to look after an abandoned baby. If you like books based on world war then this is a lovely read.
Thoroughly enjoyed this.

They say it takes a village to raise a baby, and that's exactly what Annie finds when one is left in a hat box at her front door one night during WWII in England.

The small little village Annie is a nurse for has its local villagers, as well as a community of Polish immigrants and airmen assigned to the local airbase. As Annie tries to piece together Clara's origins in the hopes of reuniting her with her parents, just about everyone in the community shows their support for the poor little one left in Annie's care.

This was an eye-opening and heartwarming story that I truly enjoyed. The characters were diverse and rich in their depth. I highly recommend this book if you enjoy WWII novels that feature small-town life.

Thank you to Ellie Curzon, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

I thoroughly this audiobook.
The plot and narrator had my attention right from the start- the characters are written with warmth and emotion, and the narrator exudes these wonderfully.
The plot? As a World War Two story, there are many shocking and painful to listen to, which are expected. But this story held me in its grip during the entire time I was listening to it. It was interesting, powerful, and the story lingered in my mind long after finishing.
I hadn't read any books by Ellie Curzon prior to this and I can't wait for the next one in the series!

"The Ration Book Baby" by Ellie Curzon takes readers on a compelling journey through post-World War II England, focusing on the life of Nurse Annie and a baby named Claria. Set against the backdrop of rationing and societal changes, this historical fiction novel explores the resilience and determination of its characters.

Curzon's writing skillfully captures the atmosphere of the era, immersing readers in the challenges and triumphs faced by Nurse Annie and the baby in her care. The characters are well-developed and their experiences evoke a range of emotions, from heartwarming moments to heartbreaking struggles. The story not only delves into the personal journeys of the characters but also sheds light on the broader social and historical context of the time.

The narration for "The Ration Book Baby," elevates this captivating read. Curzon's storytelling prowess keeps readers engaged from beginning to end, and the historical details add depth and authenticity to the narrative.

In summary, "The Ration Book Baby" by Ellie Curzon is a compelling historical fiction novel that explores the lives of Nurse Annie and baby Claria in post-World War II England. With its well-crafted characters and vivid storytelling, this book offers a captivating glimpse into the challenges and resilience of individuals during that time period.

A beautifully written book, both heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure.
When a baby is abandoned on the doorstep of a young midwife in the midst of the war with just a ration book the whole community rally round to provide the baby with what she needs.
Alongside trying to solve the mystery of the baby's parentage the book also deals with grief, loss, tribal attitudes and throws in a beautiful true wartime romance.
The narrator of the audiobook does a fabulous job of bringing the story to life with an impressive array of accents.
I was delighted to learn this us tge first in a series of books so I look forward to reading more from the author in the future.
I am grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for an advance listener copy of this book and am leaving an honest review voluntarily.