For me, the interest is often women on the battle field, that I forget about the behind the scenes women and what they were able to contribute. It really opened my eyes to aspects of the war that I didn’t really give much thought to.

They literally were the most tenacious, resourceful, and enduring women that I’ve read about. While Summers provided lots of historic research in her narrative, it wasn’t ‘boring’ by any means. This book, though non-fiction, did not read like a non-fiction academic book. This book was absolutely wonderful! I have lately been so focused on things like Nursing in the Civil War (all part of my History MA) that I haven’t read a lot about women in other wars or other parts of the world and what they contributed.

“Home Fires,” Summers’s fascinating social history of the Women s Institute during the war (when its members included the future Queen Elizabeth II along with her mother and grandmother), provides the remarkable and inspiring true story behind the upcoming PBS Masterpiece series that will be sure to delight fans of “Call the Midwife “and “Foyle’s War.” Through archival material and interviews with current and former Women s Institute members, “Home Fires “gives us an intimate look at life on the home front during World War II. These women produced jam that they created from start to finish all of which went to feed a hungry nation. Ironically, even though these women helped with vital, important work in their communities, they were perhaps best known for making jam. Not every woman was cut out for war and battlefield nursing so what did they do? Well they made jam! They advised the government on issues such as evacuation housing, children’s health, and reconstructed. Summers focuses her research on the Women’s Institute which was an organization the ran canteens, knitted garments, and collected herbs to replace medicines. In towns and villages across Great Britain, ordinary women were playing a vital role in their country s war effort. This book focuses on what was happening at home while the boys were away a war.

Julie Summers has written a lot on the subject of women and WWII especially (I have my eye on one of her other books, Fashion on the Ration, as well!) and her book Jambusters (AKA Home Fires) was the inspiration for the new PBS series Home Fires. I am a sucker for anything about WWI or WWII and women! This book totally caught my eye from the title alone and I knew instantly that I had to read it!

Jambusters by julie summers