The Kew Gardens Girls at War

The Kew Gardens Girls at War by Posy Lovett celebrates family and friendships and shows fortitude of the main characters. The Kew Gardens legacy continues. This is a continuation of the first book but you don't necessarily need to read the first book to enjoy this one.
As we go back to the Kew Gardens, we get to meet up again with some of the original girls but we also get to meet their other family members and children. Set in England during WWII, we get to revisit Kew Gardens and the women who work there. I loved learning the different ways that women contributed to the war effort, including the ways they taught people to garden year round. I'd heard of the victory gardens and this book goes into a different sort of war gardening. These women form deep friendships that help them get through new loves and new losses and dealing with prejudice and heartbreak but always supporting one another.
This is a beautifully written historical fiction story that will make you fall in love with the characters and the gardens, even in the midst of the terrible war and all of the tragedy that comes with it. There is also a peacefulness and healing to the garden. I found Historical parts about Kew Gardens, Anderson Shelters, Dig for Victory, and the growing of medicinal plants fascinating. And enjoyed that it showed how gardening can be therapeutic.
This book walked us through what it was like to live during the Blitz in London, the issues pertaining to women of that time, and the topics that have been with all women through the years.
I really enjoyed this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

I loved The Kew Garden Girls and was excited when I found out that the author continued their story. As we go back to the Kew Gardens, we get to meet up again with some of the original girls but we also get to meet their other family members and children. The Kew Gardens legacy continues in the next generation. This is a continuation of the first book but you wouldn't need to read the first book to enjoy this one.

This is a beautifully written historical fiction story that will make you fall in love with the characters and the gardens, even in the midst of the terrible war and all of the tragedy that comes with it. There is a peacefulness and healing to the gardens that made me want to visit and spend time in them.

The Kew Gardens Girls at War is a definite must-read for all lovers of historical fiction. Amazing writing, beautiful setting, and memorable characters.

Plant Therapy

A story of love, courage and a love of plants and gardening. Strong women standing up for what they believe in and supporting each other when tragedy hits. Healing their hearts in working at Kew Gardens and helping others with the healing plants they gather and grow. Finding new beginnings and surviving loss during a horrible war that changes everyone and everything it touches.

Daisy, the young wife of an RAF serviceman worried about his fate overseas joins the crew of the Kew Gardens to keep her mind off her worries and makes a new friend. Beth, a nurse joins to work in Kew Gardens because she wants to learn more about medicinal plants as she has aspirations of someday becoming a doctor. Soon Daisy and Beth are good friends.

Louisa once worked for Kew Gardens in the first World War and she is not yet ready to give up her green thumb and her gardening knowledge.
With bombs bursting over London every night, the hospital full and Anderson shelters popping up all over the place the ladies find solace in working in the gardens. They work together and confide in each other their personal challenges and their concerns with the war and with other issues. When a tragedy befalls one of their own they are all there to comfort each other.

There are many underlying themes throughout the book. Prejudice against women in the workplace, discrimination, a father's misguided love, romance, loss and despair. There is also courage, strength, forgiveness and compassion.

I really enjoyed reading the first book and now this second book about the Kew Gardens. Each one is different and each one equally great. I loved both book. I would defiantly recommend this book.

Thanks to Posy Lovell for writing a great story, to Penguin Group Putnam for publishing it and to NetGalley for making it available to me.

It is WWII - men are enlisting, the women are left alone, and Kew Gardens is again looking for women to help.

Daisy’s mother, Ivy, had worked at Kew Gardens during the last war, and Daisy was excited to help. She knew it would help her to not miss her husband so much.

We learn about what the Londoners went through and learn about Anderson Bomb Shelters.

We get to visit with Ivy and Louisa again and see new friendships and old ones continuing and blossoming along with all the flowers and vegetables being grown.

We also get to meet new characters that will warm your heart.

You will love the strength of the women and how they all work together to help each other get through each of their darkest times.

And you can’t have a wartime book without love. Love that is lost because of war as well as love that is difficult to achieve because of prejudices.

A lovely, lovely read despite heartbreaking war situations.

This book is very enjoyable and uplifting just as the first KEW GARDENS book was.

You do not need to read the first book to enjoy this book, but my review of THE KEW GARDENS GIRLS is BELOW if you want to check it out and see how Ivy's mother and Louisa warmed the hearts of readers when they were young. 5/5

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This book was given to ​me by​ the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

The Kew Gardens Girls at War deals with much more than the issues we expect in wartime; food deprivation, everyday fear of the enemy and worry about loved ones fighting. Added to these monumental stresses in this book are racism and postpartum depression. As in The Kew Gardens Girls, strong and vivid characters lead the way and do not hesitate in the face of all-too-real threats to their survival. Daisy, daughter of Ivy and Jim in the first novel, finds ease and friendship working at the Kew Gardens as her mother did during the Great War. Beth Sanderson puts plans for medical school on hold to work at the gardens, and Louisa will find a new reason to rise each day through her contributions to the gardens.

The Kew Gardens Girls at War is a compelling read as a stand-alone or can be enjoyed as a sequel to The Kew Gardens Girls.