Life was terrible for the men fighting in the trenches, but no picnic for the wives and families they left behind on the home front either.When Britain declares war in 1914, ambitious territorial soldier and coke filler, Ben Bennison signs up for overseas service, leaving behind his wife and four children in Consett, County Durham. Everyone expects the war to be over by Christmas. Thrashing the Germans won’t be a problem for Kitchener’s New Army. Ben discovers that conditions in the trenches are beyond his imagining, and bitterly regrets persuading his brothers, miners Joe and Billy, to volunteer and fight.
Polly Bennison hates Ben going off to war. There's no choice for her but manage on the meagre separation allowance paid by government. She and her sister-in-law, Georgina, have to cope as food and fuel prices rocket. Everyone is terrified of bombs and shells from Zeppelins and the German Navy, after the attacks on Hartlepool and Scarborough. It turns out the war is not just for soldiers, it's being fought by everyone.Margaret Bennison watches her three sons leave for the Front with despair, but the boys’ father is all for King and Country, and is proud they will serve.
As the established order in Britain and the world shatters, what will become of the Bennison family?

Consett is a town in the County Durham district, in the ceremonial county of Durham, England. It was a boom town, as below the ground were coking coal and blackband iron ore, and nearby was limestone. These three ingredients were needed for blast furnaces to produce iron and steel. The Consett Iron Company Ltd was a major employer,that owned coal mines and limestone quarries.

The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968.During WWI, the D.L.I. saw service on the Western Front (Ypres, Loos, Arras, Messines, Cambrai, the Somme and Passchendaele), in Italy, Egypt, Salonika, and India.The regiment earned many battle honours but not without huge losses.

This novel was based on the true story of the Bennison Family. Sadly, Sergeant Joseph Bennison (b.1886), of the 6th DLI was KIA in 1915.

A very touching novel about WWI. The author tells about life for the wives as well as the lives of the soldiers. Well written. I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley. This review is my feelings towards the book.

What a lovely book and tribute to the authors great grandparents. Telling the story of the men and boys on the front line and the family left behind to worry, wait and carry on as best they can. I was unaware quite how badly the wife’s and widows were left financially with their men away, yet another dreadful wrong from the government of the time, so much I hope we have learned from history that should never be repeated. At the beginning and a few times through the book it felt a little disjointed when moving between the characters, a storyline would suddenly stop and I felt I would have like a little more before suddenly finding myself ‘back home’ but it was enjoyable and very moving as we felt the emotions of wives, widows, mothers, sons and brothers. I would very much like to read a sequel and continue Polly and Ben’s story.

Set during the First World War, we follow a young couple as Ben volunteers to fight, alongside his two brothers, and Polly stays home with the children. The family dynamics and working class prejudices are well described. The book particularly appealed to me as it is set in Consett, near where I live, so it was great to read of places I can actually picture.

The story is told well; I suspect it is based on family stories. The horrors of war and the tribulations of those left to cope at home - and in particular those who's husbands are killed and they are left with very little means of support as the widow's pensions were very slow to appear.

Very interesting and enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Till the boys come home. A great wartime story, a little bit confusing at times but still a good read once you get into the style of writing. Well worth reading and learning about the war.

Very much enjoyed reading this and the epilogue that revealed the author's family connected added another dimension. The writing felt honest and the story was largely told from the "homefront's" POV - a refreshing take on a well-trod topic.

Writing style was a bit confusing, but made better by an amazing story. Would recommend this book to anyone willing to learn more about this difficult time in history!

It's a short but well written story. I liked that you got to read it from diffrent peoples pov and how it was made clear who we were reding it from. The additional info at the end was nice. But it wpuld have been graet with a little dictionary speakers. I googled words such as Bairn and QM