GI Brides: The wartime girls who crossed the Atlantic for love

GI Brides: The wartime girls who crossed the Atlantic for love
Duncan Barrett

Calvi Calvi

The Sunday Times bestsellerFrom the bestselling authors of The Sugar Girls, G.I. Brides weaves together the real-life stories of four women who crossed the ocean for love.The ‘friendly invasion’ of Britain by over a million American G.I.s caused a sensation amongst a generation of young women deprived of male company during the Second World War. With their exotic accents, smart uniforms and aura of Hollywood glamour, the G.I.s soon had the local girls queuing up for a date, and the British boys off fighting abroad turning green with envy.But American soldiers offered something even more tantalising than a ready supply of chocolate, chewing gum and nylon stockings. Becoming a G.I. bride provided an escape route from Blitz-ravaged Britain, an opportunity for a whole new life in America – a country that was more affluent, more modern and less class-ridden than home.Some 70,000 G.I. brides crossed the Atlantic at the end of the war to join the men who had captured their hearts – but the long voyage was just the beginning of a much bigger journey.Once there, the women would have to adapt to a foreign culture and a new way of life thousands of miles away from family and friends, with a man they hardly knew out of uniform. Some struggled with the isolation of life in rural America, or found their heroic soldier was less appealing once he returned to Civvy Street. But most persevered, determined to turn their wartime romance into a lifelong love affair, and prove to those back home that it really was possible to have a Hollywood ending.www.gibrides.com

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In memory of Mary McIntosh

Contents

Cover (#ua685bce6-3997-59e6-b005-d0d63be04349)

Title Page (#ulink_b68e3ac6-79a7-59f3-b25a-7f7ab639bc63)

Dedication (#ulink_add893fd-acb2-546b-be1b-b5bfd740892e)

Chapter 1: Sylvia (#ulink_c9b1dbc7-8160-524c-a093-ec2a60fb1b87)

Chapter 2: Rae (#ulink_ff787f50-c311-5448-a38e-fc0b53f334a3)

Chapter 3: Margaret (#ulink_519328f9-0a72-5a59-af24-fc36a57b4f8b)

Chapter 4: Gwendolyn (#ulink_3faaff5c-da43-5ae9-a162-3f07971f5026)

Chapter 5: Sylvia (#ulink_3402f256-fd36-5488-b534-89ed9c2c3f7e)

Chapter 6: Rae (#ulink_fc12d40e-9948-5f3e-886a-f847e3cf108b)

Chapter 7: Margaret (#ulink_af37abfe-2430-5217-835d-598983bea39a)

Chapter 8: Gwendolyn (#ulink_a0d4407a-9ebc-56da-8b43-ef7b257c7c5f)

Chapter 9: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 10: Margaret (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 11: Rae (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 12: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 13: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 14: Margaret (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 15: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 16: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 17: Rae (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 18: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 19: Margaret (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 20: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 21: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 22: Rae (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 23: Margaret (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 24: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 25: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 26: Rae (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 27: Margaret (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 28: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 29: Sylvia (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 30: Rae (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter 31: Gwendolyn (#litres_trial_promo)

Epilogue (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

June’s Story (#litres_trial_promo)

The Sugar Girls (#litres_trial_promo)

What next? (#litres_trial_promo)

Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

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Sylvia (#ub884693b-38cf-51dd-b0e1-61e6a044802e)