Product Description

It is England, 1943. The country is at war with so many men away fighting, it is the women left behind who must keep the country going, and when Alice Todd is abandoned by her husband, she must find a means to provide for herself and her young son. She is offered the job of looking after the group of land girls at Lower Post Stone Farm and soon discovers they each have a story - and some have secrets they'd rather not reveal. The harsh times of war are tempered by the Saturday evening dances in the local hall, but as the hostilities continue, it is clear to Alice that there is more tragedy to follow closer to home. "Muddy Boots and Silk Stockings" is the evocative and compelling story of the sacrifices made during wartime and the indomitable spirit of those left behind, from a writer of the much-loved drama series "The House of Eliott".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69765 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-11
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Review
'Subtle and surprising - a writer with insight' Penelope Wilton

Customer Reviews

Muddy Boots and Sloppy Writing
Initially I had been taken in by the blurb of the book and expected the sort of novel that I enjoy the most - a good, character story which I could wrap up in and lose myself. Instead this is a lackluster attempt at capturing the spirit of love and friendship set against the backdrop of a romantic war, which usually is an extremely fertile setting for fiction, but Stoneham just doesn't utilize this in any way, her characters are horribly predictable, with little personality and there are just too many of them stumbling around lost through the pages completely uncertain of what they are doing there.
The plot is really not worth mentioning as it is non existent, branching off into random little stories about the girls while working on the farm, none of which are enthralling at all. And Stoneham has little skill in painting the dramatic pictures her story is trying to tell, brushing over key scenes by having them merely mentioned as a happenstance in gossip between the girls. She misses out on the drama and misses out on the emotion, it makes the whole thing drab, and soulless.

If you want a cracking character novel set in WWII you won't find it here, go read "The NightWatch" by Sarah Waters instead.