Firstly thank you Netgalley for this Arc

Loved this book and loved the series brilliant author can’t wait to read more

A lovely easy book to read. Perfect escapism which we all need these days. Looking forward to more in the future. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This is the new prequel to the Cornish Girls series from Betty Walker

This book is all about meeting the Cornish Girls before the war!

Its 1939 and the war is looming on the horizon. And the lives of Sheila , Betsy and Edith are about to change.

Loved this story. The saga is amazing. I love the popping back in to see how the characters are doing.

What a treat this book was! I’d thought the series had finished and I was over the moon to see that there was a prequel!

This time, we join our (by know, well known and much beloved) characters before the tumultuous events of the war. The country is about to go through hell but our plucky little family are facing it with all the strength and perseverance they can muster.

Ernest is facing trouble with his half German heritage, the young family has a lot to face and especially with the Blackshirts, they must be careful navigating this unprecedented time pre-war. Edith too is going through a difficult time but can she overcome her obstacles?

The pages flew, I was utterly absorbed into the story and I’ll always remember my fondness for this series!

I wasn’t sure about this when I started it, by the time I’d finished I most definitely wanted to start the series over again, even although I’d read them all. Recommend it.
When rumours of war were started so too did violence at home! The Hopkins family were struck by the loss of a much loved one and an assault on another in quick succession. The effects are deeply felt, leaving family to make difficult choices.

I really enjoyed this book, it gave some background to certain characters and how they ended up in their chosen occupations.
I liked most characters, with the exception being the backshirts, maybe not Peter.
Now surely Betty can round the series up to ten! No harm in wishing.

The Cornish Girls Before the Storm is book 9 in The Cornish Girls series, and this one takes us back to the late 1930s before the war had started. Having read some of the other books in this series, I already knew most of the main characters and how their stories were going to pan out. That said, I really enjoyed visiting their lives before the war had begun. I felt that despite the looming war and unrest in the country that Shelia in particular was willing to take a chance and invest in a future for herself and her family.

I thought the novel was well-written and found the historical details interesting and informative, adding to my overall enjoyment of this book. Alice's evacuation experience mirrored my mother's experience and I'm sure many others, bringing the story more alive in my mind.

I would wholeheartedly recommend The Cornish Girls series and most definitely this particular story.

Another great story about the Cornish Girls just before the second world war started.. Very different from the previous stories , this one was based around the families. Entertaining story line, very true to life, with some interesting and varied characters.

This is the start of the story of the Cornish "girls," whose stories many know. What we didn't know was what led the women to Cornwall, making this a prequel for those who have been following them or the perfect entry to the series for those who haven't. Set in 1939, it's got all the feels especially the sense of foreboding. This also concentrates as much on the families of the women as on the women themselves, and that's a good thing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARc. Walker is a good storyteller and this is a very good read.

Dagenham, East London. 1939. Sheila Hopkins is married to Henry and has two adult daughters Betty and Violet and works part-time at the Corner Caff.

Betsy her eldest has two children Lily and Alice, and she's married to Ernest Fisher and he’s half German and concerned with the unrest in Europe. Violet is single, her fiancé died of two years ago from Influenza, and she’s a cleaner at a factory.

Sheila’s childhood friend Rosalyn’s granddaughter, Edith Treloar moves in with her and Henry and after having her heart broken by a young lad, and she helps out at the caff as well and gangs of young men or fascist Blackshirts are causing trouble and it leads to a tragedy.

The children are sent to the country, Alice goes and meanwhile in Dagenham, Earnest and Lily are installing an Anderson shelter, and men have started joining up and Edith has a secret and doesn’t know what to do about it.

I received a copy of The Cornish Girls Before the Storm by Betty Walker from NetGalley and Avon Books UK and in exchange for an honest review. This is the ninth book in the series, I always wondered happened to Violet, Lily and Alice before they arrived in Porthcurno, Cornwall in 1941 and where the first novel Wartime with the Cornish Girls begins.

However I was thinking to myself was there any point going back in time after writing eight books in a series and beginning at the start and in my opinion it was a brilliant move by Ms. Walker.

It gives the reader a sense of what it what like for the characters and everyday citizens in pre-World War Two England, the problems they were facing, the unrest in the country and the tough decisions they had to make, and many having experience and lived through a war before.

I highly recommend, yes doing something different worked and five stars from me.

Betty must have seen how sad we all were a the close of her last book in this series. i was one of them, thinking that a brilliant series had to come to and end was hard for a reader. over the series id really come to know and care for the characters. and we'd followed them on such a journey. so to come to them all before the war loomed heavy, before we met them in that first book was a really great idea and for a reader adds another level of warmth to how ive felt towards the Cornish Girls series.
it was really interesting to see these families. before like totally changed. and how perhaps the whispers of unrest might be coming about. i cant imagine how that must have felt. the fear. you knew something was coming, and some because of jobs and life might know more than others. how would you ever prepare. and im sure no one in the world thought the length would be what it was. so preparing would seem impossible anyways.
lives were changing and it was interesting to get to know these families now and perhaps get a little more insight into what they went on to do next.
the anger i felt towards certain pockets too, the blackshirts for instance.
as a reader you know lives are about to change. we also now know after reading the other books how all these characters family and lives will change. you almost want to shout and warn them, but know that nothing would really prepare any of them for what was to come.
this was a wonderful addition to an already charm filled and gorgeous set of books. im so happy that goodbye wasn't just that from before. but now Betty ive got to be sad all over again! as this really must be goodbye. a wonderful series. if anyone is looking for that beautiful thing of a series to get stuck into then this one is it.

The Cornish Girls #9

Dagenham, 1939. Sheila Hopkins has always put her family first. But when tragedy strikes, she's faced with an impossible hold on what's left of the past, or take a leap of faith for the future. Her daughter Betsy is trying to stay strong for her children, even thought her marriage is tasked by sorrow and the rising tension towards her loving husband's German heritage. Then an act of violence shatters her fragile peace and everything begins to unravel.

I feel like I personally know these characters now. There is a lot of interesting details to this story. We learn about the family's before the outbreak of War. Like the rest of this series, this book is easy to read. This is a well-written series with characters you'll grow to love.

Published 1st January 2026

I would like to thank #NetGalley #AvonBooksUK and the author #BettyWalker for my ARC of #TheCornishGirlsBeforeTheStorm

It did take me a while to get into the book as I kept trying to remember the characters from the previous books although it was after this time period. This takes us pre ww2 up to the beginning of the war. Great to be introduced to the characters pre war and easy to read chapters. As usual fantastic storytelling. Thanks to Betty and her publisher. Thanks also to NetGalley

This book is set just before the 2nd world war and follows a family during this time. One of them is German and it shows how hard it was for those family members coping with the stigma especially made harder by the fascists Blackshirts.
A lovely well told story, very enjoyable.

This was nice book with a very good story about two families in the years leading up to World War Two. The book centers on two families from different communities in England. With the exception of one cuss word the rest of the story was clean read. I thought the book was unpredictable and realistic to the late 1930s. The story had a smooth flow to it. I enjoyed the characters and the content of this book. Though it is the ninth Book in the Cornish Girls Series this is the only book that I’ve read and was able to keep up with the book.
This book would be excellent for readers of Historical Fiction and Women’s Fiction. It’s scheduled for release on 1/1 26.
I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions expressed here in this review are entirely my own.
#TheCornishGirlsBeforetheStorm #NetGalley