Hannah’s War – new book by award-winning author Shirley Mann

Shirley Mann, whose next book, ‘Hannah’s War’ about a Land Army girl is due out later this year has just won the RNA Romantic Saga Novel of the Year Award with ‘Bobby’s War’, the story of a female Air Transport  Auxiliary pilot.

All Shirley’s books are inspired by real people’s stories and she has spent the last few years travelling the country talking to service women, many in their 90s, to make sure her books are authentic. 

Those women have included several LA women and ‘Bobby’s War’ was inspired by the Air Transport Auxiliary pilot, Mary Ellis. Shirley met Mary just weeks before she died at the age of 101 and the Romantic Novelists Association judges praised the book for being ‘obviously well researched and an emotional roller coaster.’

“As a journalist,” Shirley said, “I panic if I don’t  have a bedrock of facts to base my stories on. I’m determined the legacy of the amazing things these women did, should live on in my books and I want to make sure people really appreciate what it was like to be there.”

The Land Army heroine, Hannah is introduced in her first book, ‘Lily’s War’, a novel she only started in her 60s. It was a book prompted by the wartime romance of Shirley’s parents. 

‘I loved Hannah when she appeared as Lily’s friend,’ Shirley said ‘and couldn’t resist giving her a story of her own but I couldn’t have done it without the help of LA girls like Iris Newbould and Dorothy Taylor. I am so grateful to them for sharing their stories with me.’

The e-book of ‘Hannah’s War’ is out on 16th October and the paperback will be published on 24th March next year. Both are available for pre-order now.