Deutscher Titel: BrombeertageWährend des Zweiten Weltkrieges wurden viele junge Frauen für den Landeinsatz auf Bauernhöfen rekrutiert. So auch Ag, Stella und Prue auf einer Farm in Südwestengland. Während Friseurlehrling Prue gleich nach geeignetem männlichen Material zwecks amouröser Abenteuer umsieht, haben Ag und Stella ihr Herz schon verloren. Eigentlich. Klar, dass Farmerssohn Joe sich den drei jungen Damen nicht wirlich entziehen kann.Irgendwie hab ich es gerade mit Geschichten aus den ersten sechs Jahrzehnten des 20. Jahrhunderts. Insbesondere Geschichten, die sich um die beiden Weltkriege herum abspielen (siehe Downton Abbey, Wir sind doch Schwestern usw.). Kein Wunder also, dass ich zugeschlagen habe, als es dieses Buch vor einiger Zeit als Kindle-Deal des Tages gab.Die Geschichte ist gut geschrieben, mit einer Rahmenhandlung in der Gegenwart, und auch sprachlich ansprechend. Auch die Charaktere überzeugen bis in die Nebenpersonen hinein. Ag ist die Intellektuelle mit geringem Selbstbewusstsein, Stella, die Romantikerin, Prue die scheinbar Frivole, die jedoch ein klares Ziel hat und besonders fleißig ist. Was mich ein wenig gestört hat, ist, dass der Fokus doch sehr auf den Liebesgeschichten liegt und nicht so sehr auf dem Thema “Landarbeiterinnen während des 2. Weltkriegs” an sich. Dennoch wird die Arbeit der Mädels detailliert, eindringlich und auch humorvoll beschrieben.Mehr habe ich über das Buch eigentlich gar nicht zu sagen, es ist auf jeden Fall lesenswert. Ich habe gesehen, dass es auch eine Verfilmung mit Rachel Weisz als Ag gibt, da Rachel Weisz eine meiner Lieblingsschauspielerinnen ist, werde ich mir die DVD wohl besorgen. Es gibt auch eine Fortsetzung, über die ich mich noch nicht informiert habe. Da die Geschiche eigentlich in sich abgeschlossen ist, weiß ich nicht, ob ich mir die noch holen werde.
This book takes place in one of my most favorite time/place combinations - England in WWII. I don't know why I love that time and place so much, I really do. I guess because it was, in some ways, a simpler time; but also, women were starting to be able to become so much more than "just" a wife or mother. I also love the self-sufficiency and make-do attitude that everyone (at least in books) seems to have had.In Land Girls, three girls are sent to a farm in the country to work. It was a plan the government had at the time - they trained the girls on all kinds of farm jobs and sent them out to help farmers who had sent their sons and hired hands to the war. Mr. Lawrence, the owner of the farm, is not sure how well women (well, girls, really) will work out on the farm - it's hard, physical, and sometimes nasty work.Stella, Prue, and Ag were very different, but ended up lifelong friends; and remained friends with the owners of the farm that they worked on as well. Mrs. Lawrence represents the old days - she IS "just" a wife and mother. The girls are determined that they want more than that for themselves, and they go about getting it in different ways. The war is distant in this book, but does impact the girls before the end.I don't want to give too much away, but the strength of character of these land girls, especially Stella, really touched me.
What do You think about Land Girls (1995)?
I think I might have read this before. I've definitely seen the film. But that was many years ago so it was like coming to a new book.And I was pleasantly surprised. I decided to read it as "research" for my role as a non-speaking, all-singing-and-dancing Land Girl in a musical (yes, I get to do kick steps in wellies and dungarees - it's a thing). But my hopes for this weren't high. Yet it's much better written and interesting than I'd thought it would be. And it's not nearly so twee and cliche as I'd feared. The characters are labelled pretty quickly (the floozie, the brain, the girl in love), even by themselves and other characters, but there is more to them than that and they change over time.
—Mary
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I had not known about the Women's Land Army until I read this book. I Britain in WWII, the WLA was an organization that trained women to take agricultural jobs while the men were at war. In this book, three very different women (one upper-class, one working-class, and one intellectual) all find themselves working on the same farm. It was quite a shock to all of them. I really sympathized with Stella over her choice of men, and whether to stand by her fiance when he is wounded, although she was in love with another man.The characters were very well developed, and I enjoyed the plot. I found myself wondering if I could have joined the Women's Land Army. Probably not - I would have absolutely hated it.I also saw the movie, and love it. At the same time, the idea of working in a grimy farm with limited hot water for baths is yucky.
—Beth
The more historical fiction and non fiction that I read about WW II, the more interesting things I learn about that time in our history. These Land Girls really served an important purpose and service to the farmers of England after so many of the young men who worked on the farms were called to serve in the armed forces. The three girls in this novel were as different as could be, yet the strong bond that developed between them was life long. Thus, the beginning and epilogue cemented the whole story together for me. Ms. Huth is an author that I was not familiar with until I read Land Girls, and now I am looking forward to reading several more of her novels.
—Karen Engel
