Bluebird Girls Books in Order

The Bluebird Girls novels follow three young singers from a small Hampshire town as they chase their dreams through the upheaval of the Second World War. Rainey Bird, Ivy Sparrow and Bea Herron first meet as members of a local choir in Gosport, where strict but kindly Mrs Wilkes offers them a few hours of stardust each week. For Rainey, fresh from escaping an abusive father, music is a lifeline, while Ivy and Bea see singing as a way to carve out a better future than the one laid out for them.

In The Bluebird Girls war is looming and opportunities seem scarce. The trio perform at charity shows and pantomimes, fitting rehearsals around school, work and crowded family homes. When a mysterious stranger appears with the promise of real stage work, the girls must decide whether to leave the safety of their routines and step into an uncertain new world of auditions, contracts and travel just as the country is bracing for conflict.

We'll Meet Again picks up their story in 1941, as the Bluebird Girls are on the brink of stardom. From working men's clubs on the south coast to the bright lights of the Savoy Hotel in London, they learn how fickle showbusiness can be. Bea is still dealing with the aftermath of a frightening encounter, Rainey struggles to live up to her mother's faith in her, and cool headed Ivy discovers that falling in love can throw even the most organised person off balance.

In The Forces' Sweethearts the trio take their act on the road with ENSA, flying and sailing out to entertain troops in deserts and jungles far from home. The travel is uncomfortable and the days are long, but singing for homesick soldiers gives their work a new urgency. When tragedy hits their little show family, their manager Blackie and Rainey's mother Jo take on heavy responsibilities, and Bea, Rainey and Ivy are forced to ask whether a life on stage is still what they want most.

Victory for the Bluebird Girls brings the sequence to the final months of the war and into the first uncertain days of peace. The women have faced bombings, bereavement and heartbreak, and in the process have found love, built makeshift families and grown up in ways they never expected when they first stood in Mrs Wilkes's choir. Now they must decide what the post war world will look like for them, together and apart.

Music, friendship and the pull between home and adventure run through every book, making the series a warm, bittersweet portrait of three ordinary women who step into an extraordinary moment in history.