For Love of Lily

by Maggie Bennett

Lily Knowles is desperate to leave home and when she turns twenty-one, she escapes to London to train as a nurse. In the excitement of the city she meets dashing Alex Redfern, who comes from a world she longs to be part of.

Then comes the war, and determined to do their duty they both join up. But in the chaos of a Blitz-weary capital a misunderstanding drives the lovers apart. And then she discovers that Alex has been badly wounded — a changed and bitter man, he is recuperating in Shropshire. She decides to visit him, but what of their once-passionate love? And after the horrors of war can either of their lives ever be the same again...?

Genres: Historical Fiction

512 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 28, 2005

Reviews

[shae ambry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book because it was the only book written in English at my campground reception and jeez do I wish more than ever that I spoke Dutch. The background of WWII does an awful job of distracting you from what is without a doubt the most anti-feminist book I've ever read. A large part of me wishes that Lily perished with the rest of the nurses from St. Mildred's. The war does nothing to hide the fact that the protagonist is an awful person, and that the message of the book is just to reinforce women's roles as being someone's wife and being a mother.
It was 500 pages of Lily dating multiple men only to end up with the one that left her for another, more beautiful & distinguished woman. Do not read this book.

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful wartime tale telling the story of Lily Knowles. Desperate to leave home as she has a tense relationship with her stepmother who runs a house for "waifs and strays" and whom she has always resented for marrying her father after her mother died Lily ventures to London to pursue a career in nursing.
She sees a lot more of life and has many male friends and admirers but out of them all the man who has turned her head is Sandy Redfearn but in wartime things change and when Sandy leaves her for an affair with a married woman Lily is left heartbroken and with the love of her life lost she agrees to marry another of Mabel's "waifs" she took under her wing, Tim Baxter, a boy Mabel took on as her own and sees as a son and consequently someone whom Lily always viewed as a brother but when she hears that Sandy has been injured so badly his "affair" has left him she is full of hope for the future but can she recapture the earlier love they had or has the war destroyed life for both of them?
On the homefront can Lily reconcile with her ailing father before it is too late and can revelations involving her grandparents and the circumstances behind her father's relationship with Mabel while his wife was still alive shock the now more mature Lily or has her experiences of Wartime Britain taught her that in War some things can be forgiven?
A lovely story with an engaging and lively plot that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next and hope for a happy ending for all the characters involved.
A must for any fan of period / war stories.

[Kath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read although I did not warm to the heroine. The hard conditions in Britain in WW2 were strongly brought to life and the characters were almost believable. The writer comes across as someone who sees the best in everybody and who looks for positives in bad situations.