His Very Own Girl by Carrie Lofty
Historical Romance
Released: September 4, 2012
Pocket
Reviewed by May
“You got a girl, Doc?”
Joe stared down at the white gauze he held. Tying a field dressing had become an impossible puzzle as three words echoed in his head: Lulu loves me.
“Yes sir, I believe I do.”
Joe is an American fresh out of training as a medic, and a lowly Private First Class. Lulu is an English pilot – and a woman with ambitions and a clear agenda. When the two meet it is a moment to remember, as Lulu was crash landing a malfunctioning plane and Joe was the first on the scene. From that first electric moment to further chance meetings – these two seemed to have found something special in a very chaotic and hard time.
You can make me all manner of promises, and I can be completely daft and make promises in return, but we have no say in the matter.
January 1944 in Leicestershire, England is where our story starts – and Carrie Lofty paints a story that is so vivid in such a time of change, it’s truly a unique novel. In the midst of WWII is where this book takes place, and this is an England we don’t normally see in romance.
Joe and Lulu meet up a number of times, out dancing and spending free time drinking and dancing while they can. Joe does not approve, no, he really dislikes that Lulu is a pilot and feels that it is terrible that a woman would have to do such a thing. This attitude never changes during the book – something that made Joe harder to like. Lulu wasn’t as hard to like – I really enjoyed not only all of her English slang and love of flying, but also that she really was a caring woman. She writes to soldiers she’s met along the way, and she’s determined to do all she can to put an end to the war. When discussing with Joe her pen pals – it really struck me how uncertain this time would have been for anyone.
“And if the letters stop coming?” he murmured.
“Then I assume they’ve found a sweet girl and have no more need for me.”
“Better that way.”
I would describe this book as more historical fiction with romantic elements than straight historical romance because Lofty does focus a good deal on historical detail and of course our characters are apart for long periods of time, with a scant few letters between them to keep them connected. I feel like the book worked well this way – there was no over-romanticizing or acting as if things were smooth and lovely for this couple. It was a very hard time, and she really did a beautiful job of telling this couple’s love story in a way that showed hope while also sharing a lot of scenery of being in that time and place.
These characters have nobody that cares if they live or die, they are so alone and as Lofty does so well in her books, she really wove an emotional tale. While I appreciate that she did not get overly into battles or pages of detail about the places that these characters were sent during the war, I did feel like it was a very slowly paced novel. Not that I wanted more action sequences, I understand that it was very character driven, but I did wish for something more to be happening on the pages. The most interesting scenes for me were when the characters were apart and taking part in the war efforts.
Ultimately this book was a really beautifully written piece, and I admire the author for taking on a difficult time period. With women still unable to do so much, and with so many limitations it was a really different time and she didn’t pretend otherwise. Her hero is unapologeticabout being against women having to work or be in any kind of danger, and while this annoyed me throughout the book – for the time period it fit and was a lot more realistic than a man in the 40’s who wanted women to be piloting planes into war zones. Likewise I didn’t love the choices Lulu makes towards the end, but again it felt realistic for that time and I can understand her motivation and respect her decisions.
I had problems getting invested in these characters or even particularly liking them, but I don’t think I would have changed anything about the book to alter that. It really felt like you were looking in on these people’s lives, hearing the story of how they fell in love and made it through the war. While not as romantic as I tend to like my romance fiction, it was a very believable read. If you are looking for a dramatic historical read (but ultimately happily ever after ending) set in WWII, then I’d encourage you to check this book out.
Grade: B
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Great review, and I think I will do just that :)
I saw this in Edelweiss but I didn’t pick it up because the 40’s isn’t really my thing. Lovely cover though and sad to hear it fell short of your expectations.
It wasn’t really that it fell short, so much as it just wasn’t my cup of tea. There was a lot to like about it, there was a lot of good I can say about the book – but I just didn’t love reading it all that much. If that makes any sense!