The Home Front Girls: Book 5
Publication Date: September 3, 2025
Manchester, 1942: With war raging in the skies, can the Home Front girls still find the happiness they so deserve?
When Betty and her best friend Sally discover a baby tucked in a blanket amongst the rubble at the Manchester Salvage Depot, they can barely believe their eyes. As Betty holds the baby in her arms, she feels a familiar longing stir in her chest. Might she and her husband be allowed to care for this abandoned child, and create the family they have always longed for?
Sally is shocked when she realizes she too has news: she’s pregnant and the two friends begin planning for the new arrival. But with her husband Andrew serving overseas, and Sally’s health a cause for concern, she must do everything she can to care for the precious life inside her.
When the grandparents of the abandoned baby are found, Betty’s heart breaks. She has grown to love this child as if she was her own, and she’ll do whatever it takes to provide a safe home for this baby. Then Sally’s health takes a dramatic turn for the worst, and an anxious night is spent waiting for news as the residents of Star House rally to support one another.
With two precious lives to fight for, the future feels more perilous than ever before. Will Betty finally become the mother she has always wanted to be? And will Sally be able to give her husband the most precious homecoming gift of all?
It’s been three years of blackouts, but friends Betty and Sally continue to do their part as fire watchers.
In the fifth and final installment of the Home Front Girls series, author Susanna Bavin serves up a new twist with A Baby for the Home Front Girls.
The series, which should be read in sequence, picks up with the friends—Lorna, Betty, and Sally—married and almost happy. The one missing piece is an end to World War II.
The focus shifts to the discovery of an abandoned newborn. Salvage duty often yields unusual things, but finding a baby tugs on the maternal heartstrings of the young women. The story takes a sharp turn later on when people claiming to be relatives show up to take the baby.
The author’s meticulous attention to detail illustrates the challenges faced in 1942 as the characters struggle with long-distance relationships, health issues, and uncertainty.
A Baby for the Home Front Girls signals the well-deserved end for the young women who stepped up for the war effort.
Susanna lives in Llandudno in North Wales with her husband and their rescue cats, but her writing is inspired by her Mancunian roots. She has written stories ever since she was a child and always wanted to be a published author. Susanna enjoys reading, walking and gardening and she loves living by the sea. She also writes as Maisie Thomas, for The Railway Girls series, and as Polly Heron, for The Surplus Girls series.
Many thanks for your review, Amy, and for taking part in the blog tour xx