From Penvarris with Love — Rosemary Aitken

Apprentice seamstresses Maud and Belinda find their days are full of fiddly alterations and difficult customers. But life changes dramatically for the girls in Penzance when the First World War rears its head. Belinda suddenly finds and enjoys a new independence and when her beau enlists, Maud learns how harsh love can be before its hardly started This is a wonderfully evocative tale set in Cornwall during First World War. Penzance, Cornwall, 1914: apprentice seamstresses Maud and Belinda both work at Madame Raymond's boutique and find their days are full of fiddly alterations and difficult customers. Maud finds her work is made bearable by the occasional visit to the Hoskins' farm where she is friendly with their son Stanley. Meanwhile Belinda has a string of admirers and seems to skip from one to the next in desperate pursuit of a husband. Soon the First World War rears its head and Stanley enlists and is sent off to France. Life changes dramatically for the girls in Penzance as Belinda suddenly finds and enjoys a new independence and Maud learns how harsh love can be before it's hardly started.