Wartime for the Shop Girls (The Shop Girls, Book 2)

War brings changes three friends could never foresee…

‘Highly recommended’ Anna Jacobs
‘A warm domestic drama’ People’s Friend

It’s 1942 and as shortages of staff – and goods – begin to bite, young Lily Collins is nervously stepping up to sales junior at Marlow’s department store.

Bombs are still falling and Lily and fellow shop girls Gladys and Beryl need a stiff upper lip to wave boyfriends, husbands and brothers goodbye, especially with a baby on the way and grim news on the wireless. Jim, who works with Lily at the store, seems restless, and nothing can prepare Lily for the secrets that come tumbling out when her favourite brother comes home on leave…

Somehow, she must keep smiling through. Community, family and friends rally round as her home town – and the whole country – is tested once again.

• Joanna Toye is HarperCollins’ major new saga talent, with a series set around a fictional department store during World War II

• Three books coming in 2020

• Like Call the Midwife it depicts a community, with a nostalgic and evocative sense of town and family life

• Department store setting ideal for fans of Mr Selfridge

• Joanna Toye is already in demand at WI, festival and library events around the Midlands

• Author was a lead scriptwriter for The Archers where she wrote and produced over 30 years

Competition: A;The;Cockleberry bay;Little Cornish Kitchen;Sea of Memories;Constable;Liverpool Daisy;Dressmaker’s Gift;Midwives of Lark Lane;Secret Orphan;Secret Messenger. by;Rosie Goodwin;Katie Flynn;Dilly Court;Nancy Reavell;Kitty Neale;Nadine Dorries;Val Wood;Jennie Felton;Sheila Newberry;Ellie Dean