The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway. I feel like I say that a lot… and I guess I have considering I’ve won 21 Goodreads giveaways in the last year. P.S. I feel pretty good about that outcome.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again… if you win a book giveaway, you should give it your best effort to read and review it. That’s kind of the point of publishers/authors/influencers hosting the giveaways in the first place. So here I am reviewing the 12th book of my 21 giveaway copies, The Beantown Girls.

One of my favorite things about reading historical fiction is learning pieces of history I otherwise wouldn’t have known existed. I always find it fascinating. And I particularly love historical fiction centered around WWII. The Beantown Girls, while not a true story, is based on the real lives of the girls who volunteered to work for the Red Cross Clubmobile during WWII. These women signed up to go overseas to an active war zone to support the troops on the front lines by entertaining them, serving them coffee and doughnuts, and attempting to lift their spirits in times of despair. In essence, they were a little taste of home for the homesick men fighting for our country.

I had absolutely no idea that the Red Cross Clubmobile existed. It was so wonderful learning about this program and what it meant to the troops at the time. My Gramma and Grandpa Tocco served in the military, performing for the troops in the Army Showmobile. This book totally reminded me of the stories my Gramma told me growing up of her previous life as an entertainer.

Jane Healey’s writing transported me to London, occupied France, and Germany. I felt like I was right in the middle of the war zone and I could picture all of the scenes in the book with crystal clear vision. The writing was incredibly well done. I also loved the characters she created. The three main women central to the story are Fiona, Dottie, and Viv who all had their own unique and distinct personalities. They were lovely characters to get to know. Not to mention all the other characters I met along the way who were equally well written.

I always love a book about strong women and this was no exception. I would highly recommend to lovers of historical fiction. The story was sweet, sad, endearing, heartfelt, and a joy to read. Five big stars!

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