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Keep the Home Fires Burning
A moving and gripping drama as one family struggles to survive through the strains of the Second World War The year is 1940 and Bill and Marion Whittaker live happily with their three children in a terraced house on Albert Road in Birmingham. But when Bill enlists to fight in the Second World War, the family are plunged into poverty. Marion is forced to pawn all her worldly possessions and decides to take in two lodgers, Peggy Wagstaffe and Violet Clooney. These two lively girls bring some light relief to the family and bring with them Peggy's handsome brother Sam -- who catches the eye of Marion's sixteen-year-old daughter, Sarah. 1944 and the war grinds on. Disaster strikes with an explosion at the local munitions factory, leaving Sarah badly disfigured. Then news arrives that Sam has been blinded in action. Can these two injured souls help each other to repair not only their physical but emotional scars? And will Bill return to the safety of family and home?
- GenresHistorical Fiction
608 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 2010
8 people are currently reading
122 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 18, 2022
Brilliant historical novel about one my favourite history topics, Britain during the Second World War and the Blitz. The trials and tribulations of a London family, both heartbreaking tragedies and upliftment and humour.
February 4, 2017
This is a really good war story book,was hooked from the start to the end love to read Anne Bennett books she's a fantastic author and want to read more of her books.
November 14, 2013
Pleasant enough. Unfortunately, poor editing made the continual errors in the text irritating, as did the use of the Americanised term "Mom". But, definitely readable and a good recounting of life in Britain during the Second World War.
March 29, 2013
This was a good book but the spelling and grammatical mistakes put me off.
July 14, 2022
I rarely give a 5 star rating to a book but this definitely deserves above a 4 in my opinion.
I probably read Historical Fiction more than anything else and much of that is anything concerning the World War II period most of those concerning, occupation of the enemy and the treatment of Jews, the Holocaust and concentration camps.
This novel is from a different perspective being of a British family who is affected by the men signing up and serving in the fight against Hitler and leaving the family behind to try to survive, without the main providers, while being bombed and facing poverty.
I admire the gumption and spirit of the Whittaker family and friends and felt drawn into their story from beginning to end as they faced separation, hardship and tragedy. They showed vulnerability but also great strength and spirit by taking on new positions and roles that the men usually filled to keep the home fires burning while the husbands and sons went to battle. They experienced the bombing from the planes and other dangers, some were left homeless, jobless and some were killed but they didn't give up.
I will definitely pass this down to my daughter and granddaughters to read and learn what families in Birmingham, England dealt with during this period.
I recommend this book.
I probably read Historical Fiction more than anything else and much of that is anything concerning the World War II period most of those concerning, occupation of the enemy and the treatment of Jews, the Holocaust and concentration camps.
This novel is from a different perspective being of a British family who is affected by the men signing up and serving in the fight against Hitler and leaving the family behind to try to survive, without the main providers, while being bombed and facing poverty.
I admire the gumption and spirit of the Whittaker family and friends and felt drawn into their story from beginning to end as they faced separation, hardship and tragedy. They showed vulnerability but also great strength and spirit by taking on new positions and roles that the men usually filled to keep the home fires burning while the husbands and sons went to battle. They experienced the bombing from the planes and other dangers, some were left homeless, jobless and some were killed but they didn't give up.
I will definitely pass this down to my daughter and granddaughters to read and learn what families in Birmingham, England dealt with during this period.
I recommend this book.
January 20, 2022
Good book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2015
A wonderful and touching account of a family's experiences during the war.
The Whittaker family's life is going along well, everyone is happy and they are very close knit excepting the cantankerous matriarch of the family, Grandma Murray who is a bit of a tartar and Polly Reilly who Marion her sister thinks married beneath her.
But Marion Whittaker and her family's tranquil life is turned totally upside down by the onset of the war and their comfortable lifestyle with husband Bill as a good provider is gone when he goes to enlist for the war effort and for once in her life Marion is seeing the plight of Polly who has always had to scrimp and scrape due to circumstances.
But in actual fact this pulls the sisters together in a way they never were before and a strong bond is forged between them as they face the horrors of the war.
In desperation and to make ends meet and feed her and the children, Tony, Sarah, Magda, Missie and Richard, Marion takes in two lodgers, Violet and Peggy who are set on to work at the local foundry.
This in turn has a dramatic impact on Sarah one of Marion's daughters who secretly falls in love with Peggy's brother Sam, over time their friendship grows but is suddenly shattered when Sarah is involved with an accident at the munitions factory where she works and a short time later her beloved Sam is blinded in a blast. Can their love be shattered by the adversities life has thrown at them? Will Marion's beloved Bill make it home from the war and how is life going to go on when Tony is tragically killed in a gas leak down in the cellar where they sheltered from the bombing.
Evocative and highlights the way people come together and forge strong bonds in times of sadness and distress, written with a wealth of historical detail and a sense of touching reality as you get to see life at home for the families and the women that held those homes together, everything is told in stark reality and in such a way the reader can empathise with the characters through their pain and you can also feel joy in their little triumphs.
Well worth reading and is a must for fans of wartime sagas an historical novels.
The Whittaker family's life is going along well, everyone is happy and they are very close knit excepting the cantankerous matriarch of the family, Grandma Murray who is a bit of a tartar and Polly Reilly who Marion her sister thinks married beneath her.
But Marion Whittaker and her family's tranquil life is turned totally upside down by the onset of the war and their comfortable lifestyle with husband Bill as a good provider is gone when he goes to enlist for the war effort and for once in her life Marion is seeing the plight of Polly who has always had to scrimp and scrape due to circumstances.
But in actual fact this pulls the sisters together in a way they never were before and a strong bond is forged between them as they face the horrors of the war.
In desperation and to make ends meet and feed her and the children, Tony, Sarah, Magda, Missie and Richard, Marion takes in two lodgers, Violet and Peggy who are set on to work at the local foundry.
This in turn has a dramatic impact on Sarah one of Marion's daughters who secretly falls in love with Peggy's brother Sam, over time their friendship grows but is suddenly shattered when Sarah is involved with an accident at the munitions factory where she works and a short time later her beloved Sam is blinded in a blast. Can their love be shattered by the adversities life has thrown at them? Will Marion's beloved Bill make it home from the war and how is life going to go on when Tony is tragically killed in a gas leak down in the cellar where they sheltered from the bombing.
Evocative and highlights the way people come together and forge strong bonds in times of sadness and distress, written with a wealth of historical detail and a sense of touching reality as you get to see life at home for the families and the women that held those homes together, everything is told in stark reality and in such a way the reader can empathise with the characters through their pain and you can also feel joy in their little triumphs.
Well worth reading and is a must for fans of wartime sagas an historical novels.
February 3, 2016
This was one of my many online purchases from the Book Depository in the U.K.(yes, they offer free word wide shipping too!) As a fan of the PBS series, Home Fires, I've been constantly searching for similar books set against the backdrop of World War 2 Britain. In "Keep The Home Fires Burning," Anne Bennett has created a remarkably gripping story of one family's struggle to survive and persevere during the war years. The author has certainly done her research and brings a great deal of historical accounts into the story that swiftly takes the reader back in time to that particular period filled with apprehension, fear, and the will to keep moving forward. She also provides the reader with the perspective of being a devout catholic family living in Britain during this period as well. The Whittaker family will capture your heart and stay with you long after the last page has been read as the experience the tragedies of war and the ever-present love that holds them together throughout the years. "Keep The Home Fires Burning" is an emotionally charged story with well-developed characters and a gripping plot...keep the tissues near by! I enjoyed every page of this and I'm looking forward to reading other novels by this amazing author! FIVE stars.
July 30, 2020
For anybody who like me loves reading books on WW2 and the way communities pulled together you will love this book. I’ve read dozens of books but this one excelled in my opinion many pages and keeps you gripped the entire time reading about the Whittaker family and their struggles in the war and how they pulled together just wonderful hope the author writes more like this 🙂
September 25, 2022
Well it was a nice story. However there were numerous spelling errors, the constant use of “Mom” (set in Birmingham in England) and the constant use of “Yeah” by the characters when they were chatting to each other. Again, as I have found in historical fiction, it was possible to see where the research had been popped into the text. But a nice happy ending
October 3, 2023
I'm a huge fan of Anne Bennett's books, however this one seems to follow a monotonous tone, throughout the book. Unfortunately this made it difficult to keep up with the story, and the changes to key characters.
May 9, 2019
Have read this book a few times many years ago. Wonderful ww2 fiction .
January 2, 2025
Brilliant story. This book made me laugh and cry
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June 8, 2018This book
This book is really good. I've read it twice which I very rarely do. I can't recommend it highly enough to other readers.
This book is really good. I've read it twice which I very rarely do. I can't recommend it highly enough to other readers.
December 19, 2015
This is set in Birmingham during the second world war. The story basically follows two sisters each of whom married differently - one to a hard worker who joins up, the other to a slacker who suddenly gets a steady job as men are called up but his flat feet keep him at home. Both are Catholic women with young families and the initial contrast in wealth is suddenly reversed, because soldiers were paid poorly and a tiny allowance was made for their families.
Two new lodgers are country girls who have come to work in the foundry and munitions factory. This is hazardous work so very well paid. But older women consider the girls who do this work to be tramps simply because it was always men's work before and girls were expected to work in shops or in service. The unsympathetic priest tries to insist on attendance at Mass but the women stand up to him and say that the working family members will attend when they can. Birmingham was highly industrial at the time so a main target for bombing. The canals were covered over at night to hide the water and we are told even Cadburys gave production lines over to armaments - a Quaker firm.
That's the main thrust of the story and a drama is introduced almost as an afterthought as the war ends to give us a romance. But people's lives were hard enough without plot twists that had them in worse personal straits, and sometimes the story is the story.
Two new lodgers are country girls who have come to work in the foundry and munitions factory. This is hazardous work so very well paid. But older women consider the girls who do this work to be tramps simply because it was always men's work before and girls were expected to work in shops or in service. The unsympathetic priest tries to insist on attendance at Mass but the women stand up to him and say that the working family members will attend when they can. Birmingham was highly industrial at the time so a main target for bombing. The canals were covered over at night to hide the water and we are told even Cadburys gave production lines over to armaments - a Quaker firm.
That's the main thrust of the story and a drama is introduced almost as an afterthought as the war ends to give us a romance. But people's lives were hard enough without plot twists that had them in worse personal straits, and sometimes the story is the story.
January 10, 2015
I liked it until the last hundred pages. It was supposed to be a story of a family. Not romance between two young people who could not live without each other after only writing letters to each other for three years. WHAT THE HELL? It's very cheesy. It ruined the story! Why do stories always have romance in it? Really, it's not needed!! Not all the time!
November 4, 2016
It was interesting to read this book about the English home front during World War II. Most of my reading on the subject has been from a Dutch or American perspective. The bit about Sam's stress blindness was just a touch unbelievable.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 13, 2014
Very plain writing with no frills. For those days when your brain is too saturated to read something substantial.....
March 22, 2015
Wonderful read
December 10, 2015
A great distributive story of families horrific lives during war.
October 5, 2016
Great Anne Bennett book,really good book.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews