Blog Tour ~ The Butlins Girls by Elaine Everest

Jaffareadstoo is delighted to be host today's penultimate stop on 

The Butlins Girls Blog Tour

Pan Macmillan
4 May 2017

What's it all about..

Times have been hard for Molly Missons. Following the loss of her parents, mysterious, long-lost family have darkened her door, laying claim to her home and livelihood.

Molly applies for a job as a Butlins auntie, in the hope of escaping bitterness and arguments.When she receives news that she has got the job, she immediately leaves her small home town, enthralled by the promise of a carefree new life in Skegness.

As soon as she arrives , Molly finds true friendship in Bunty and Plum. But the biggest shock is discovering that star of the silver screen, Johnny Johnson, is working at Butlins as entertainments adviser, Johnny takes an instant liking to Molly and she begins to shed the shackles of her recent heartache.

What did I think about it..

From the start of the story you can't help but warm to Molly Missons, she's such a lovely person, kind, generous and warm hearted. At the start of the story, we meet her when she is a at a really low ebb, her beloved parents have recently died, leaving Molly to face life alone. However, her good friend, Freda keeps her spirits up, that is until two unfamiliar relatives turn up to claim what they feel is their inheritance. Molly, with her life and security under threat, decides takes a position as a red coat at the newly reopened Butlins holiday camp in Skegness where she finds that friendship and a delicious romantic attachment can chase away her demons.

There's a real feeling of authenticity in this nicely written post-war saga. The story initially opens in Kent in 1946 and then takes the reader to the east coast, to Skegness, and to the wonderful era of fun loving holiday camps and the joy of seeing people once again enjoying a carefree holiday. Molly and her new found friends form a perfect back drop to showcase just what life was like in those heady post war days when excitement seemed to have returned, at last, to British life.

What I liked about the story was how the writer gets right into the personality of all her characters, especially Molly, Plum and Bunty who are firm friends from the outset. Molly, especially, comes across with an air of innocence which belies her strength of spirit and both Plum and Bunty add their own unique personality into the mixture. The mystery at the heart of the novel lends intrigue, and the delicious frisson of romance between Molly and the handsome, Johnny Johnson is fun to read.


With joy and sadness combined, The Butlins Girls would make a lovely holiday read...especially if you are heading to Butlins Skegness for a well earned break 😊

Best Read With...a brown Betty pot of tea and a plate of sticky buns...

About the Author

Elaine has written widely for women's magazines, with both short stories and features. When she isn't writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school in Dartford, Kent, and the blog for the Romantic Novelists' Association. The Butlins Girls is her second novel with Pan Macmillan, following her successful novel The Woolworths Girls

Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent.

Twitter @ElaineEverest #TheButlinsGirls

Facebook 

@panmacmillan

My thanks to Bethan at edpr for the invitation to be part of this blog tour and for giving me the opportunity to read The Butlins Girls.

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