Today I am thrilled to be opening the Blog Tour for not 1, but 2 books by the very talented Tania Crosse. The Wheelwright Girl and The Ambulance Girl are set in Dartmoor in 1914 and both a gripping read.
The Wheelwright Girl AMAZON GOODREADS
Author – Tania Crosse
Publisher – JOFFE romance, sagas and mysteries
Genre – Historical Fiction
Publication Date – 4th February 2020
A compelling wartime saga about a spirited young woman seeking happiness on her own terms.
Perfect fans of Nadine Dorries, Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court, Freda Lightfoot and Catherine Cookson.
Originally published as Wheels of Grace.
Dartmoor, 1914. Grace Dannings is a farmer’s daughter. But that’s never stopped her wanting more.
She dreams of making her mark as a London Suffragette. Too bad she’s still stuck in Walkhampton, the sleepy village where she was born.
As a child, she could escape to the wheelwright’s mill. Spellbound, she’d watch labourers hammer white-hot iron and timber into wagon wheels.
Now she’s a woman and nothing about the village feels like home. The men are brutish, the women afraid of change. Her best friend is trapped in an abusive marriage, yet no one seems to care.
GRACE WON’T SETTLE FOR THAT.
Perhaps she could have married Martin, the mill owner’s son. But society says she’s not good enough. So Grace must find a new dream.
SHE WILL PROVE THEM WRONG. BUT CHANGE IS COMING . . .
When World War One breaks out, no one in the village escapes untouched. Grace wants to be part of the war effort.
When the wheelwright’s men leave for the front, Grace immediately volunteers to fill in. The move raises eyebrows in the village.
But Grace has her sights set on a fulfilling new vocation. And she’s not about to stop for anything — or anyone. But at what cost to her own happiness?
A poignant, sensitive and intensely moving account of one village’s war and the endurance of those who wait at home for news of their loved ones.
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Tania has been shortlisted for Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
My Review
This is a very gripping story that will appeal to all readers of Historical Fiction.
The location is Dartmoor and it is 1914. In a quiet village the residents all pitch in to help with the ‘bonding’ of the wheels followed by a celebration. However, this is to be the last celebration they will have for a while as war is declared and the young men set off to fight. How many will return and how many will have their lives torn apart nobody knows.
This is an extremely well written book that visits all aspects of the effects of war on a community. As the men are conscripted the women pitch in to do their bit for the war effort in any way they can. For Grace Danning life will never be the same as she has to deal with tragedy and its effects on her family and friends she steps up to the plate spreading herself around to help in as many areas as possible. Office assistant, trainee wheelwright, maid, housekeeper, baker, big sister and friend she pings around the village doing what she can until an opportunity she can’t refuse is offered to her and she turns into a voluntary nurse helping the men shell shocked and traumatised by the war.
The characters are very realistic and Tania makes a brilliant job of describing the scenes to enable the reader to picture it at the same time building in the suspense as we pray for the injured to recover and help to mourn the ones that are lost.
A very moving pageturner well worth the 5 stars
The Ambulance Girl AMAZON GOODREADS
Author – Tania Crosse
Publisher – JOFFE romance, sagas and mysteries
Genre – Historical Fiction
Publication Date – 4th February 2020
A compelling wartime saga of love, loss and self-discovery at the battlefield’s edge.
Perfect fans of Nadine Dorries, Rosie Goodwin, Dilly Court, Freda Lightfoot and Catherine Cookson.
Originally published as Teardrops in the Moon.
A YOUNG WOMAN WHO DOESN’T WANT TO BE TIED DOWN
Dartmoor, 1914. Twenty-four-year-old Marianne Warrington is in danger of being left on the shelf. That’s what her mother says and that’s precisely how she wants it.
She has her future mapped out and it doesn’t include marriage or babies. Instead, she vows to devote herself to rearing horses on her parents’ farm.
BUT HISTORY HAS OTHER PLANS
Then World War One breaks out and the Warringtons’ peaceful existence is shattered forever. Amid the chaos, Marianne seizes her chance to prove she’s more than just a spinster.
When her brother leaves for the battlefield, Marianne is determined to follow. She signs up to serve as an ambulance driver in war-torn France. There, she witnesses unimaginable horrors.
Yet there’s one face she can’t banish from her thoughts. It belongs to Major Albert Thorneycroft: a handsome and perplexing stranger who means more to Marianne than she’d care to admit.
WHAT IF FINDING HAPPINESS MEANS LOSING HERSELF?
As the war rages on, a battle ensues between Marianne’s head and heart, testing her resolve like never before.
TANIA CROSSE weaves blissfully human stories with impeccable research, giving her characters all the complexity and colour of real life. Tania has been shortlisted for Best Romantic Saga in the 60th annual RoNA Awards.
My Review
It is the early 1900s and Marianne is enjoying a peaceful life on her parents’ stud farm riding her beloved Pegasus on the moor. They are a close family but things change and Kate getting married is just the beginning of all the changes the family will experience over the course of this story.
This is a very interesting family saga and also very informative I learned some things I wasn’t aware of about life in WW1.
The characters are all very realistic and work excellently in this story with each having their own personalities and faults. The story itself includes romance, heartbreak, suspense and a little side story involving Rose’s past which brings a hint of crime to a very moving read.
I do like a book that starts with a prologue and ends with an epilogue and this one ticked all those boxes The reader gets to envisage the scene through the excellent descriptions and we follow Marianne’s life right the way through to old age as she grows and matures. Helping the war effort by volunteering for the Ambulance service and being posted to France among the carnage that war caused.
An excellent read that is perfect for Historical Fiction fans but will also appeal to readers from other genres too. I am looking forward to more from this author.
WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT TANIA CROSSE:
“I know you spend many hours researching your subject and this truly shows by the way you bring your stories to life. I can never put the book down! I have always enjoyed your books – particularly the Devon ones as it gave us “up country folk” an insight into Devon life and its social history. Can’t wait for the next one now!!” H.
“Highly recommend this read. Moments of tragedy are uplifted by a sense of empowering and inspiring strength from the main characters. The narrative is brilliantly authentic and every emotion that is expressed by the characters is mirrored in the reader’s heart.” Cindy
“I now look forward to reading more from this brilliant author.” John H.
“Tania Crosse is an excellent story teller. She tells a story of how tragedy turns to happiness in the most unexpected way. ” S.J.
“This is the first book I’ve read by Tania Crosse, but it won’t be the last. I started this just before bedtime, feeling rather sleepy, and then just couldn’t stop reading. I loved everything about this heartwarming story and will look out for all future books by this author. Highly recommended.” Sarah M.
ALSO BY TANIA CROSSE
THE AMBULANCE GIRL
THE WHEELWRIGHT GIRL
Tania Crosse author bio
Historical novelist Tania Crosse was born in London and lived in Banbury Street, Battersea, where her two most recent titles are set. However, at a very young age the family moved to Surrey where Tania’s love of the countryside took root. She always enjoyed reading and has composed stories ever since she could hold a pen. After studying French Literature at university, she devoted twenty years to bringing up her family. But her passion for writing never left her, and side by side with her in-depth research into Victorian social history, she began to pen her novels in earnest as her family grew up.
When Tania discovered Morwellham Quay, the restored Victorian copper port and now living history museum in Devon, she fell in love with this magical place and felt a spiritual compulsion to create a story that would illustrate life there in times gone by. This led to the publication of her debut novel, ‘Morwellham’s Child’, and now Tania has fourteen published titles with which to thrill her readers.
Tania has now completed her series of novels illustrating the rich history of Tavistock and the surrounding area of Dartmoor from Victorian times to the 1950’s. She is now working on a series of Twentieth Century stories set in London and the south east. She draws very much on her own experiences of life to create her books. She hates being catagorised as a writer of historical romance. The history comes first, she insists, and the human tales develop from her research. The characters lead harsh, demanding lives and their stories are often cruel and harrowing.
Tania has been happily married for forty five years and claims she would never have achieved her success without her husband’s support. They have three grown up children, two grandchildren and three grand-dogs!
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