Scan barcode
A review by gwalt118
The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey
3.0
My IRL book club chose this historical fiction novel for our May session. The novel follows three childhood friends as they become Clubmobile Girls during World War 2. I had never heard of Clubmobile Girls until I read this novel. Overall, though, this one felt a little too light on the history and a little too heavy on the fiction for my tastes with this particular genre.
There was just too much coincidence throughout the novel for me - the same soldiers and volunteers running into each other all over Europe seemed farfetched. I thought almost all of the women were a bit vapid and vein, perhaps volunteering for a war effort simply to find a husband. Fiona, the main protagonist, was a bit less so, but even so - the premise of her volunteering for a war to find out what happened to her missing-in-action fiance is just about the epitome of naive.
At times, this book read more like a historical romance novel. It felt like the romance became the core of the plot, which frustrated me at times because I'm not sure that was the most important aspect of the storyline. I wanted much more than what I got from this novel.
Everyone else in my book club absolutely loved it, though -- so I was definitely THAT person at book club this month!
There was just too much coincidence throughout the novel for me - the same soldiers and volunteers running into each other all over Europe seemed farfetched. I thought almost all of the women were a bit vapid and vein, perhaps volunteering for a war effort simply to find a husband. Fiona, the main protagonist, was a bit less so, but even so - the premise of her volunteering for a war to find out what happened to her missing-in-action fiance is just about the epitome of naive.
At times, this book read more like a historical romance novel. It felt like the romance became the core of the plot, which frustrated me at times because I'm not sure that was the most important aspect of the storyline. I wanted much more than what I got from this novel.
Everyone else in my book club absolutely loved it, though -- so I was definitely THAT person at book club this month!