A Gift from Woolworths by Elaine Everest | Blog Tour Guest Post | (@ElaineEverest @panmacmillan)

Published by Pan Macmillan

Available in ebook and paperback (1 November 2018)

292 pages

My thanks to Faye Rogers PR for the invitation to take part in the blog tour for A Gift from Woolworths.  My thanks also to Elaine and Pan Mac for the paperback copy to review.  I couldn’t review in time for the tour but instead am delighted to share a post from Elaine but first the all important book description.

|   About the Book   |

Will the war be over by Christmas?

As the war moves into 1945 the lives of the women of Woolworths continue. When store manager, Betty Billington, announces she is expecting Douglas’s baby her future life is about to change more than she expects.

Freda has fallen in love with the handsome Scottish engineer but will it end happily?

Maisie loves being a mother and also caring for her two nieces although she still has her own dreams. When her brother appears on the scene he brings unexpected danger to the family.

Meanwhile Sarah dreams of her husband’s return and a cottage with roses around the door but Woolworths beckons.

Will our girls sail into times of peace, or will they experience more heartache and sorrow? With a wedding on the horizon, surely only happiness lies ahead – or does it?

A Gift from Woolworths is the next instalment in Elaine Everest’s much-loved Woolworths series.

Top Ten Things about my Protagonist(s)

by Elaine Everest

Thank you so much for hosting me on your blog as part of my tour for A Gift From Woolworths.

I’m fortunate in having a lovely group of protagonists to choose from so here are my random thoughts. No doubt I’ll think of more once this interview is complete.

1. Betty Billington is the most wonderful boss any girl could have. She may be strict at times but she always put her staff and Woolworths above anything else. She’s also a good friend and a person who will take control in times of trouble.

2. Maisie is someone to have a laugh with. If you ever need a friend to come out fighting she’s your girl! She can also get you into scrapes if you aren’t careful!

3. Sarah, probably my favourite character in the Woolworths series because if my readers hadn’t taken her romance with Alan to their hearts there may not have been any more any more Woolies books. I like that she has such a loving family who are there for her all the time.

4. Young Freda, who we have watched grow up during the Woolies series is everyone’s kid sister. The best person to call on when the girls need a babysitter.

5. Betty had a fiancé who died during WW1 his name was Charlie and he is based on my own Great Uncle Charles who died at Ypres on 17th August 1917 – the same day as Betty’s Charlie.

6. Maisie can turn any old rag into a wearable outfit. This comes in handy during during the war when ‘make do and mend’ was a common saying. She even made Sarah’s posh mother a siren suit for the Anderson Shelter.

7. Sarah gave birth to her first child, Georgina in the Anderson shelter in her nan’s garden during an air raid. It was a tight fit as Maisie, Freda and nan, Ruby, were present.

8. Freda longs to fall in love and marry and be just like her friends. So far she has been unlucky in love. Perhaps in A Gift From Woolworths she may have her dreams answered?

9. Sarah’s father, George should have died in The Woolworths Girls but she had such a great relationship with him I couldn’t do it and instead he broke his leg.

10. Sarah is a very old fashioned girl even for the war years as she just wants her husband home to live in a little cottage with rose around the door with their children. Even in WW2 when women were starting to realise they could have a job and a family Sarah was unusual. But does her dream come true. We will find out in A Gift From Woolworths.

Best wishes

Elaine
Xx

|   About the Author   |

Elaine Everest, author of Bestselling novel The Woolworths Girls and The Butlins Girls was born and brought up in North West Kent, where many of her books are set. She has been a freelance writer for twenty years and has written widely for women’s magazines and national newspapers, with both short stories and features. Her non-fiction books for dog owners have been very popular and led to broadcasting on radio about our four legged friends. Elaine has been heard discussing many topics on radio from canine subjects to living with a husband under her feet when redundancy loomed.

When she isn’t writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school at The Howard Venue in Hextable, Kent and has a long list of published students.

Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent and is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association, Crime Writers Association, The Society of Women Writers & Journalists and The Society of Authors as well as Slimming World where she can be seen sitting in the naughty corner.

Twitter   |   Facebook   |   Amazon UK    |  Goodreads