Green Hands
Published on 10. September 2020
Book
Paperback/Softback
224 pages
978-1-912423-26-2 (ISBN)
Description
It is 1943, and a month into their service as Land Girls, Bee, Anne and Pauline are dispatched to a remote farm in rural
Scotland. Here they are introduced to the realities of 'lending a hand on the land', as back-breaking work and inhospitable weather mean they struggle to keep their spirits high.
Soon one of the girls falters, and Bee and Pauline receive a new posting to a Northumberland dairy farm. Detailing their friendship, daily struggles and romantic intrigues with a lightness of touch, Barbara Whitton's autobiographical novel paints a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak picture of time spent in the Women's Land Army during the Second World War.
Scotland. Here they are introduced to the realities of 'lending a hand on the land', as back-breaking work and inhospitable weather mean they struggle to keep their spirits high.
Soon one of the girls falters, and Bee and Pauline receive a new posting to a Northumberland dairy farm. Detailing their friendship, daily struggles and romantic intrigues with a lightness of touch, Barbara Whitton's autobiographical novel paints a sometimes funny, sometimes bleak picture of time spent in the Women's Land Army during the Second World War.
Reviews / Votes
"Terrific." * Daily Mail (UK) * "Charming and evocative. . . . It offers a light-hearted snapshot into [Whitton's] experiences, including the friendships and romances, as the story follows three young and inexperienced Land Girls. The author's evident enjoyment of this period in her life shines through but those less rosy aspects are also confronted, including the back-breaking nature of the work and the sexism many women faced as they took on a variety of roles, traditionally performed by men." * Militaria & History * "Witty, warm and hugely endearing, Barbara Whitton's Green Hands is full of engaging characters, burgeoning friendships and pure hard-graft. A lovely novel for anyone interested in wartime Britain, it leaves the reader with renewed admiration for the indefatigable work of the Women's Land Army." -- AJ Pearce, author of Dear Mrs Bird "Tales from the home front are always more authentic when written from personal experience, as is the case here. Barbara Whitton evokes the highs and lows, joys and agonies of being a Land Girl in the Second World War." -- Julie Summers, author of JambustersMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 129 mm
Width: 198 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
206 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-912423-26-2 (9781912423262)
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Schweitzer Classification
Person
Barbara Whitton is the pseudonym for Margaret Hazel Watson (1921-2016). During World War II, she served as a volunteer for Britain in the the Women's Land Army (WLA), the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), and the Auxiliary Territorial Service (ATS) as a driver. She chronicled her wartime experience in stories and novels.