This is the start of a new series for the author and also for me. I was after a new saga to get stuck into and I have found it clearly with this series and the authors previous work.
Iris is also after a new start too, after presuming that she was about to be proposed to and live the life as lady of the manor, she makes a mistake and finds herself suddenly in Orkney as a WREN signaller. Joining her are Mary and Sally and whilst we learn about them, this story very much focuses on Iris. I took an immediate dislike to Iris, who ability to speak without thinking was clear and she really did have a problem with anyone who did not come from the same class and why would women want to do anything other than marry.
Of course as the book goes on, we see Iris prejudices challenged not just by her developing friendships with Mary and Sally but also the other people she meets along the way. Mechanic Rob is nothing like the man Iris should marry but something about him is enthralling. Stewart on the other hand would go down well with Iris’s parents. But is he really the caring doctor he makes out.
Then of course there is the Orkney Islands themselves, a vast landscape, nothing like the landscape of any of the girls homes. The weather is another battle to fight along with the Germans. The islanders welcome these girls into the homes and hearts and Irish can see that perhaps all she has held as ‘right’ is in fact wrong. When it looks like there could be a traitor in their midst, they find their purpose in their work will have huge ramifications.
This is a wonderfully written saga and I was hooked from the beginning. As someone who has a lot of knowledge of the Royal Navy and also coming from Portsmouth and working now where HMS Mercury moved to I can see plenty of names I recognised and nothing stood out for me as achingly wrong! I have seen that in previous novels and it really spoils the book for me.
I am already looking forward to catching up with the girls again soon.
Thank you to the publisher via netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.
A New Start for the Wrens is out now.
The Book Jotter 
I love earing your comments about books,partivularly that are in series. However, I too (as a retired librarian) insist on accuracy in novels ( and non-fiction) otherwise the book is spoiled for me. We met at the Readers Day in Winchester, before Guy Pringle retired from New Books magazine. I do miss him, and his sense of humour!
That Readers Day seems a life time ago!
Glad to know you are still reading the blog. Thank you 🙂