Now that the weather is hopefully warming up thoughts turn to holiday time reading.

‘Hopeful Hearts for the Wrens’ by Vicki Beeby, is a light romantic novel set in Orkney and guaranteed to take your mind away from the cares of every day.

The novel follows the adventures of Yorkshire lass, Sally Hartley who is stationed during World War Two in Orkney. Although ‘Hopeful Hearts’ is the third in the series about Sally and her two friends, Iris and Mary, you can easily catch up with their lives if you haven’t read the first two.

If you have read the other books in the series then you will want to find out what happens to Sally’s romantic dreams of marrying Adam and if anything takes place between her and Italian POW, Aldo.

Set mostly in Stromness, the book is a reminder of the vital role Orkney played in WW2 and how life changed not just for those in service but for islanders.

Interestingly it also covers the period in the final years of the war when Italy surrendered and what became of the Italian POWs and how some were moved to a camp at Stromness.

The women are housed in the Wrennery in Stromness and work their long shifts in a signal outpost overlooking the harbour recording the vessels which enter the port. Those familiar with Stromness will be taken back to walk the paths the girls did to reach their outpost and the cafe in the town they would meet in.

There is a brief section where the action moves elsewhere and we find out more about the different home lives of Iris and Sally. Most of the story, however, is set very much in Stromness.

As you read, Vicki Beeby, lays down pointers to the culmination of the plot but being able to guess what that is does not take anything away from the journey towards it.

Hopeful Hearts for the Wrens by Vicki Beeby and published by Canelo, is priced at £8.99 or £3.99 if you would prefer an Ebook.

Also in the series: A New Start for the Wrens and A Wrens Wartime Christmas.

Fiona Grahame

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