Citizen Armies
(The Jackson Family Saga, #2)
By Beryl Kingston
A heartening tale of
unity and courage.
The Jackson family’s peaceful south London life is shattered when World War Two breaks out.
Sixteen-year-old Mary is immediately evacuated, and the rest of the family sets about combining daily life with wartime duties in the nation’s capital.
The war is gruelling and heart-breaking for Londoners, and Rosie and Jim Jackson are no exception. But their close family bonds and the warmth of friends and neighbours see them through, as the ups and downs of family life – marriages, births and deaths – continue as they always have, despite the conflict that rampages around them.
Until one day, a tragedy that nobody had dared to consider, strikes a devastating blow. And as the war gradually comes to a close, the Jacksons find themselves facing the future with a family – and a country – that have been irrevocably changed.
Citizen Armies combines the qualities of an absorbing family saga with acutely observed and beautifully written social history, and is bound to please lovers of fiction and history alike.
The Jackson family’s peaceful south London life is shattered when World War Two breaks out.
Sixteen-year-old Mary is immediately evacuated, and the rest of the family sets about combining daily life with wartime duties in the nation’s capital.
The war is gruelling and heart-breaking for Londoners, and Rosie and Jim Jackson are no exception. But their close family bonds and the warmth of friends and neighbours see them through, as the ups and downs of family life – marriages, births and deaths – continue as they always have, despite the conflict that rampages around them.
Until one day, a tragedy that nobody had dared to consider, strikes a devastating blow. And as the war gradually comes to a close, the Jacksons find themselves facing the future with a family – and a country – that have been irrevocably changed.
Citizen Armies combines the qualities of an absorbing family saga with acutely observed and beautifully written social history, and is bound to please lovers of fiction and history alike.
"I
must warn you that being an ambulance driver is not a glamorous job. It will be
dangerous and dirty and exhausting."
Rosie
Jackson was under no illusion how difficult her job might be if London was
indeed bombed, but she felt compelled to help in any way she could. Her beloved
husband, Jim, was a Chief Warden and if he were out there, risking his life for
his fellow Londoners, then so would she.
But
despite the training, despite the imagined expectation, nothing had prepared
Rosie for this. War was cruel and brutal. She knew that. But why...? Why target
innocent people? It was beyond comprehension.
As
Rosie struggles with war fatigue, her family rally around her. With their love
and encouragement, Rosie continues to do her bit to show Hitler and his Nazis
that they cannot break the
From
the Miracle of Dunkirk to the London Victory Celebrations of 1946, Citizen
Armies (The Jackson Family Saga, #2) by Beryl Kingston is the heart-wrenching
tale of one family as they navigated the horrors of the Blitz on London during World War II.
Citizen
Armies is a compelling account of an ordinary family in an extraordinary and
unprecedented time of war. I was captivated by the first sentence and by the
end of the first chapter, I felt like I had known these characters forever.
Kingston has such a wonderfully compelling narrative and realism to her writing
that makes this book not only utterly irresistible but next to impossible to put
down.
Citizen
Armies maps the course of the war from the perspective of the Johnson family.
Through them, we get a real sense of how those at home followed the events of
the war. We are with them during the Dunkirk evacuation, and we experience the
Blitz of London, which climaxes with the terrifying V-1 and V-2 flying bombs,
or the buzz bombs and doodlebugs as Londoners called them. The book ends with victory and celebrations. Kingston has brought this era back to life and has captured the very essence of what it was like to live in London during this time.
There
are moments in this story where everything seems very bleak as the worst of
humanity has the advantage, but it also demonstrates the determination, the
utter stubbornness of the British to withstand whatever the Nazis threw at
them. The "we will pull through in the end," mentality is alive-and-kicking in this story.
As a
history tutor who specialises in this period of history, I am always in awe of
the British spirit of defiance. When I think about how many countries
surrendered to the Germans because of Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) tactics, it
always amazes me how Britain did not, even at the darkest of hours, contemplate
surrender. Instead, they rallied together, made a cup of tea and got on with
it. Maybe this was because of Churchill's ability to inspire patriotism and to
be able to turn a disaster such as Dunkirk into a successful operative, or
perhaps it was the government's careful use of propaganda which brought the
British populous together. Or maybe, it was because the people of Britain
realised the significance of defeat and what that would mean. Perhaps it was
all of the reasons and then some. Nevertheless, this mood, this sense that no
matter what the Germans threw at them, the British would be victorious was
firmly embedded in the mindset of the population — blindly optimistic it may
seem to modern eyes, but very pragmatic nonetheless. This is what Kingston
has captured with so much elegance and authority in this story. Never once, do
her characters dwell on the fact that they could lose. They would win. It might
take a while. But they would win — one way or another.
Kingston's
depiction of the horrors of the Blitz and the emotional consequences of those
who risked their own lives every day in a bid to help save others has to be
commended. I have read many historical fiction books that focus on the
devastation of the Blitz, whether that be in London or other UK cities and
ports, but I have never read one written by an author who experienced it first
hand. This knowledge gave a very dramatic sense of realism. The relentlessness of
the bombing and the devastation and loss of life is staggering, and in Citizen
Armies, we witness this terrible destruction primarily through the eyes of
Rosie Jackson. Rosie is a very loving and compassionate woman, who adores her
husband and her children, and is quite content with her life. When war is
declared, Rosie doesn't think twice about her own safety, she wants to help,
and she does so by learning to drive an ambulance.
Kingston
demonstrates what life was like for an ambulance driver during World War II in
great detail — from the long gruelling shifts to the horrors that they
witnessed on a daily basis. As the war progresses, Rosie struggles with her
mental health. The end of the war seems so far away, and Rosie feels trapped in
a nightmare which won't end. However, with help Rosie continues to help others,
and like Britain, Rosie would not surrender. It did strike me, though, through
the course of this novel, how the bombing became almost a normal part of
everyday life, much like the weather. There is almost a desensitising of what
was going on — Kingston demonstrated this beautifully with Rosie, who after her
shift would fall into an exhausted sleep in the shelter, regardless of the
bombs dropping on her city.
This is
a really wonderful book. Not only is it rich in historical detail, but it is
also like taking a step back through time with Kingston as the very competent
tour guide. I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of Citizen Armies (The Jackson
Family Saga, #2). Not only is the story fabulous, the
characters wonderfully human, and the setting brilliant depicted, but the
writing is fabulous too. There is nothing in this book that is not to be liked
— a real treat for lovers of quality historical fiction.
I
Highly Recommend.
Review
by Mary Anne Yarde.
The
Coffee Pot Book Club.
Pick up your copy of
Citizen
Armies
Beryl Kingston
Bestselling Beryl Kingston was born in 1931 in Tooting, where she spent the first four months of the Blitz. She was evacuated twice during WWII, the first time to Felpham and the second to Harpenden in Hertfordshire.
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See you on your next coffee break!
Take Care,
Mary Anne xxx