It is 1942 and the war is not going well. As part of the war effort the Ashworth Grammar School for Girls signs up for the Merchant Navy's Ship Adoption Scheme. The headmistress, the lovely, essentially serious Cynthia Maitland, who lost her lover in the First World War, believes the idea will broaden the horizons of her girls, especially Polly and Jen, bright sixth formers eager to live and love despite it all.

All is as it should be in the line of duty until Captain Josh Percival and his officers of the SS Treverran visit Ashworth . . . The choices that follow will disrupt all their lives, reverberating even to the next generation, when, decades later, life and love are on the line again.

* A thrilling first novel - a big, wonderful, romantic wartime story - from the famous broadcaster and journalist. A debut at seventy-five years young

About the Author
A prominent figure in TV and the arts in Britain, Joan Bakewell has been a broadcaster for over forty years, a print journalist for over twenty years, and has published her autobiography, THE CENTRE OF THE BED. ALL THE NICE GIRLS is her first novel. She was made Dame in 2008.

Reviews
A poignant and pleasurable novel'. SUNDAY TIMES Penny Perrick * 'Bakewell delivers a warm, good humoured story of wartime relationships and a thrilling account of life and death on the convoys' GUARDIAN Rachel Hore *
Marvellously exciting, heartbreaking, gruelling and an unexpectedly muscular and masculine treat in the middle of what is essentially a wistful romance . . . the outcome is poignant, romantic, deeply satisfying' DAILY EXPRESS Jennifer Selway * 'A beautifully evocative novel, full of romance, tragedy and the pull of family bonds'. SUNDAY EXPRESS Jane Clinton 4 stars *
A strong, romantic plot and believable well-realised characters . . . Bakewell for the Booker' READERS * DIGEST A N Wilson *
Bakewell conjures up a cracking wartime atmosphere' DAILY MAIL Helen Brown * 'It is formidably researched and evokes real atmosphere' SAGA magazine Emma Soames *



Book Information
ISBN 9781844085316
Author Joan Bakewell
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 256g
Dimensions(mm) 135mm * 211mm * 25mm