The War Girls of Goodwill House

Goodwill House, Book 1

By: Fenella J Miller

Narrated by: Julia Franklin

Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

'Curl up in a chair with Fenella J Miller's characters and lose yourself in another time and another place.' Lizzie Lane

As war looms, can they keep the home fires burning?

Lady Joanna Harcourt and her daughter Sarah discover their life of luxury at Goodwill House is over. Because with Lord Harcourt away fighting, the Harcourt girls are facing financial ruin.

Lady Joanna is terrified of losing their home, but for Sarah, this means her dreams of becoming a doctor are over. Headstrong Sarah isn’t one to quit! War or not, she’s determined to find a way to save her home and follow her dreams– whatever it takes!

Dashing RAF officer Angus Trent might just save the day. The new RAF base at Manston will soon be full of young women all hoping to serve their country, and Goodwill House will make the perfect home for them. But can Sarah convince Lady Joanna to agree to her plan?

Angus has never met a woman quite like Sarah – courageous, brave, unwavering. She has a huge task ahead of her, but if anyone can do it, his war girl can.

Book 1 in the brand new Goodwill House series by bestselling author Fenella J. Miller

©2022 Fenella J Miller (P)2022 Boldwood Books

Good story hard to understand audible

This was a good story. I enjoyed it however, I had a hard time understanding the person who was audibly reading the book. I will try the next book of the series and see how it goes…

Loved it in print, was even better in audio

Fenella J. Miller is a new author to me. The War Girls of Goodwill House has me wanting to read more. I can't express how happy I am to know that this story is just the beginning of series. I have become quite fond of many of the characters. A few, not so much.

Goodwill House is an estate that is now almost empty of residents. The Lady of the House, Joanna Harcourt, is learning to survive on very little with her husband now defending England in France. I have to admit I always took it for granted that those weren't issues for the aristocracy. To say this story has been an eye-opener is an understatement. Luckily for Lady Harcourt; her daughter, Sarah has a good head on her shoulders.

Sarah has dreams of Medical school at Oxford until she finds out there isn't the money to send her. That won't stop her from achieving her goals, even if they don't fit with society. Sarah finds ways to keep the manor going. She finds ways to bring in needed funds all while continuing to work toward a career in medicine.

Their struggles give glimpses into living through WW2. The reader is shown how a country can come together in a common goal. The reader learns of the challenges for WAAFs when recruiting is done before plans are in place. The RAF just wasn't prepared to house them safely. I loved learning so much more about the RAF in the beginnings of the War as the worked to fight back against Hitler.

Books like The War Girls of Goodwill House teaches us about our history with our the dryness of a history textbook. The author brought the human touch to our past. Not all was good. Not all was bad. Teamwork and civilian support helped the British succeed.

02/15/24 I just finished the audiobook. It was marvelous. The narrator was wonderful to listen to with her beautiful , for me in the US) accent. It made it all feel more real.

Could not finish, disappointing

Cant believe this book was penned by the same author who wrote the great "Spitfire Girls" series 💖 ?
Here, the heroine was a girl of seventeen & half who thought of herself as mid twenties but prattled on like a 13 year old. How are we to believe the Wing Cmdr would be interested in her romantically.
This was compounded by the awful narrator who played the part as a nine year old. Ugh.
The story had very little plot line, padded out with inconsequential detail and lots of repetition .
Have tried to read the Kindle format to bypass the narrator but didnt help much.
Sorry, this offering is not representative of the authors' usual calibre. 😢