Description
Wren Jane Beacon goes to War is about much more than her exploits at Dunkirk, however, central though they were to her development; the book tells the whole story of her coming of age under extreme conditions. Being a Wren would not have been her chosen path in life – a place at Oxford University was open to her, but the call of duty to serve her country in its grim fight for survival, overwhelms this. A tough choice in 1939 for a girl not yet out of her teens, but she makes an outstanding, if chequered, success of it.
At the beginning of World War Two, women still lived limited lives. Without consciously trying to, Wren Jane Beacon is in the vanguard of young women striking out to new relationships with authority and the male of the species, while shaking the social order to its foundations. Not least, her independent approach to her sexuality is of a new order.
From early days in Plymouth to Dover to the beaches of Dunkirk she follows her star, her brilliance and bravery always keeping her one step ahead of vengeful authority. She finds the living spirit of the lower deck seaman, loyal and true. She finds the solidarity and friendship of fellow wrens. She finds herself as a person and as a woman. And she finds first love, against the tragic backdrop of the all-engulfing war. The Second World War saw the greatest upheaval ever for women in society, and Wren Jane Beacon is in the thick of it as a person and as she becomes a hardened professional.
All this and more is to be found in this first novel in an exciting new series. Within the framework of a ‘rattling good read’, this is a portrait of life in historic changing times, set against a sweeping panorama of the War. It is a well told, well-researched and deeply-considered book about human relationships; the Royal Navy; and women’s place in the world.
