Customer Reviews

Land Girls (Paragon Softcover Large Print Books)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a nice,easy read. Set in England during WW2 it is an engaging tale of three young woman who go to the a farm in the country to help out as part of the war effort. I loved the attention to detail employed by the author to evoke the senses particularly in her descriptions of farm life and nature. Whilst it is not a very deep novel, it is a pleasant and rewarding read.

It's a good read. Had never heard of the "land girls before, looked interesting, and it was!. Good characters, reminded me of some of my own girlfriends, the wild one, the shy one, the perfect one. Liked learning more about farm life in England at the time, sort of made me yearn for a good day of hard yet rewarding work. Also loved the older men in the story dealing with their lost youth, their dreams, their crushes on the young girls, it was sweet. And oh, that farm boy, busy lad I must say! All in all a good book, hope it makes a great movie.

It's 1941 & farmhands are conscripted for the war sofarmers enroll in England's new Land Army, which sends young women outof the cities into the fields. These girls bring to the distant, quiet countryside high adventure, clashes in culture & all their passion for life. During my early years, the couple who eventually adopted me had a Land Girl to help them raise the evacuated children so this novel reminded me of memories I'd tucked carefully away. Angela Huth has recreated a charming & defiant time of life with a special twist.Great reading!...

If you like English books, and if you like WW II English books especially, this is a good read. Not so serious or well-constucted as an Iris Murdoch, not so esoteric or topical as a Margaret Drabble, but a good English-y story, with lots of Dorset charm. Am looking forward to the movie, but read the book first.

I like books of this era, particularly Coming Home by Rosamund Pilcher so picked up Land Girls with great expectations. I was not let down. This novel is a thoughtful character study of how three extremely diverse young women react to the difficulties of farming, isolation, and each other during the frightening days of World War II. I enjoyed that the story is bookended by scenes from the future. This offers greater insight into the girls. Truly a book that will absorb you!

I enjoyed the Land Girls primarily due to its glimpse of girls/women during WWII. With the men away at war, and England cut off from supplies from other countries, women were the only "chance" for England itself to survive. They were essential in the factories and on the farms. They kept the country going, and in doing so, forged a new way of life for women. Women realized they were capable human beings. They basked in their new found abilities and the knowledge that England needed them for the same reasons she had needed its men. The war changed the world in many ways, perhaps most crutially by what it did for women. Whether these changes were for the good of all people is open to interpretation. But there is nothing like learning you are a strong and capable person, and for me, that is what was best portrayed in this story. I did not care for the ending, though. I felt it didn't make sense in relation to the rest of the story. It seemed contrived and forced, and that is why I could not give it more stars.

I saw Land Girls on video before I read the book, and once again, the book was better than the movie. I never understand why they need to change crucial parts of a perfectly good story, when it wouldn't have done the film any harm at all to tell it Angela Huth's way. That said, I loved the book, especially the ending; it was just as sad, but more fulfilling, than the end of the film.

I enjoyed this somewhat simplistic novel, but wish it had dealt a little bit more with the war. If anything, the war merely provided a backdrop for this gentle drama, which came dangerously close to becoming a romance several times, what with all the romantic entanglements in which the young women found themselves involved.

Huth's novel is peopled with endearing and memorable characters, but the actual plot left me hungry for something more. Greater depth? Richer detail? A more complicated dilemma? I think I expected to learn more about the Second World War and its effects on the rural communities in England; what I came away was more of a gentle beach read, if you will. Not exactly "fluff" but definitely not "literary" quality.

One of the best books I have ever read. A brilliant study of three totally different personalities thrown into a situation where comraderie took over. I can't wait to see the film.

In this 20th Century based novel, Land Girls by Angela Huth, the author takes three girls through a life changing experience. Huth takes wealthy city girls Aga, Prue, and Stella to live on a farm. On this farm, these girls have to perform jobs that men would do if they were not at war. WWII is going on and it will take a while for these girls to get adjusted. This place was horribly old-fashioned, Gloomy, dingy.(p.10) Everything was terribly different from home, but even though these girls came from different backgrounds, they help each other survive. They are bound to become friends for life. These young girls will encounter love, honor, friendship, and courage through the adventures in this novel.
Angela Huth wrote a great novel in which she is able to put war together with love and friendship. I think that it is a great talent to be able to put all these concepts together in one book. I also like the way the characters were chosen because they are very different, which means that the reader will have fun reading about the different issues these characters will encounter. The change in life styles for these girls is also a big deal that makes the story more interesting because we will see how the girls change from their peaceful lives at home to this farm. All the girls encounter love with a certain boy, which is also interesting because we see how love acts on different people. The best thing in this book is the way the author takes all these characters, which are strangers to each other and take them through many adventures that, will make them become friends for life.
This novel could be recommended to both men and women. To women because the novel is all about how women are able to do as much as men when it comes to hard work. With this novel, women will get the encouragement that we can do man jobs and that we are as good or even better than they are when it comes to inner strength. Because the women in this novel have plenty of inner strength for joining the Womens Land Army and working for men. Men should read this novel so they can learn to appreciate women. With this novel men will see that women are very hard working who will do many things for them. Men will realize that women are not useless and that they can carry on with or without men. I would not recommend this novel to younger, immature people because it contains some sexuality. Get your knickers off as fast as you can is my belief, before the poor buggers are shot down. Bit of quick fun, then off to the next one.(p.180) Overall this novel is very interesting and adventurous; reading it was a very exciting experience.