Louise grew up in Haybourne in Cornwall and worked in a grocery store. Her life changed when her cousin, Kate, decided that she and Louise should go to a dance near the air force base. It was there that she met an RAF pilot, Paul Bolton, and so begins their romance, much against the wishes of her mother. When Paul is posted to another base Louise decides to join the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). After initial training she is posted to London where she becomes a Gunner Girl - part of a team of women and men who spend their nights looking for enemy aircraft approaching the city and then attempt to shoot them down. Louise recorded the events of this part of her life in a diary which many years later turned up among the possessions of another woman.
When Cara decided to uncover the story of the diary she discovers that her new neighbour is a history professor at the university and he offers to help her. As well as wanting to return the diary to the family of the woman who wrote it, Cara is hoping that her investigations may encourage her grandmother to tell Cara about her experience in the ATS during the war.
The book about love, friendships, broken relationships and family secrets shows aspects of the lives of women coping with challenges.
The Light over London is one of a number of books that have been published recently about the varied experiences of women during the Second World War. Some titles that have posts in this blog include:
The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Maggie's Kitchen by Caroline Beecham
Eleanor's Secret by Caroline Beecham
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith
Traitor's Girl by Christine Wells
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
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