Daisy Styles Wartime Midwives A Mother's Love, Home Fires and Spitfires, Keep Smiling Through

Wartime Midwives by Daisy Styles brings together three novels set at Mary Vale Mother and Baby Home, on the edge of the Lake District during the Second World War. Open to unmarried women and their children, the home becomes a refuge where expectant mothers and midwives face uncertainty, changing relationships and the daily pressures of wartime life.

Spanning 1942 to 1944, each story follows new arrivals to Mary Vale as the demands on the home intensify. Unexpected pregnancies, separation and the impact of bombing shape life inside its walls, while the practical strain of keeping the home running tests everyone involved. As outside events draw closer and tensions rise, unity, comfort and friendship become essential.

Included titles

• A Mother's Love
• Home Fires and Spitfires
• Keep Smiling Through

Key details

• Author: Daisy Styles
• Three-novel collection in the Wartime Midwives series
• Set at Mary Vale Mother and Baby Home on the edge of the Lake District
• Second World War setting across 1942 to 1944

Synopses

A Mother's Love

In 1944, spring at Mary Vale brings fresh upheaval. Stella, a cook at a munitions factory, begins a romance with a GI, but his letters stop after he proposes when she becomes pregnant. Lillian is conscripted as a Land Girl far from home and finds herself drawn to a charming, married vet.

Midwife Ada returns to work after the birth of her baby girl, only to face a major crisis when an outbreak of whooping cough engulfs the home.

Home Fires and Spitfires

Mary Vale takes in three very different mums-to-be, and tensions soon surface. Shipyard worker Gracie struggles with shame when she learns her lover is married. Diana’s fiancé goes missing in action just days before their wedding, while Zelda arrives isolated and bedraggled after travelling from the ghettos of Germany.

With bombs continuing to fall, the women must find unity to face the days ahead.

Keep Smiling Through

In 1942, the women at Mary Vale face their darkest hour and are forced to pull together. Sybil’s hopes of a season in London are derailed by an unexpected pregnancy. Rosie arrives with her two children after their home is bombed, and new midwife Edith joins the team with secrets of her own.

When Mary Vale is threatened with requisition by the army, the mothers and midwives turn to one another for comfort and friendship.