The call of the Wrens

Walsh (Side by Side, 2018) follows two English women, Marion and Evelyn, showing how they became involved with the Women's Royal Naval Service, more commonly known as the Wrens. The reader is introduced to Marion at the start of WWII, when her friend Sara comes to meet with her and persuade her to rejoin the Wrens for the coming war, continuing the work she had done in WWI. Her history gradually unfolds over the course of the book, taking several twists and turns until her connection with Evelyn is finally revealed. Evelyn has been protected and coddled her entire life owing to a physical disability and her posh upbringing. She finds ways to act out and be rebellious, but it isn't until Churchill declares war that Evelyn finds a way to slip out of her mother's grasp by joining the Wrens. This well-written, straightforward book will be of interest to readers curious about the types of work available to English women who wanted to aid in war efforts during both world wars.

Walsh (Becoming Bonnie) offers an enticing story of two Englishwomen serving their country during both world wars. In 1917, Marion Hoxton ages out of the orphanage she was raised in and joins the Women's Royal Naval Service (the "Wrens"), while her best friend Eddie Smith joins the Royal Navy. As they each make their way toward the front lines in France, their friendship develops into romance. Meanwhile, Marion works as a dispatch rider and helps her new friend Sara train carrier pigeons to send and retrieve messages. In a parallel narrative set in 1940, well-to-do Evelyn Fairchild joins the Wrens, desperate to prove she's overcome a childhood disability impacting one of her legs by serving as a motorcycle driver. Evelyn and Marion's paths cross when Marion returns to be a leader in the new Wrens, her romance with Eddie having turned out not as they'd hoped. Marion also harbors a secret about Evelyn's true parentage, as Evelyn's parents failed to disclose she was adopted. Walsh expertly contrasts the lives of orphaned Marion with privileged Evelyn to expose their common desire to show their value outside societal labels. Historical fiction fans will be riveted. Agent: Shannon Hassan, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Nov.)