JOhanna BELL
Agent: Kate Burke
Assistant: Sian Ellis-Martin
Biography: Johanna is a freelance journalist who has written for national magazines for the past decade. Her Bobby Girls saga series is published by Hodder and the first in her new Blitz Girl series was published in April 2023.
Follow Johanna on Twitter.
THE BLITZ GIRLS
Saga, 320 pages, Hodder, April 2023
August, 1940. The war is raging in Europe, but on the home front conflict still seems far away.
Dot, living with her mother-in-law and dreading the day that her thuggish husband comes home on leave, is fighting her own battle to contribute to the war effort. Peggy has found confidence as an Air Raid Precaution Warden, despite the jeers of the men she works with - but beneath her pluck she fears for her close-knit family, scattered by the war. And glamorous Vivian, the former debutante, is running away from her own heart and into danger as a volunteer ambulance driver.
Then the bombs begin to fall over London, and all their lives are turned upside down. Thrown together into an unlikely friendship, can the Blitz Girls protect their country - and each other - in the darkest hour?
THE BOBBY GIRLS’ WAR
Saga, 320 pages, Hodder, October 2021
1916. Poppy is being transferred to an enormous new munitions complex in Gretna, on the Scottish border. Even though it means moving far away from her best friends Maggie and Annie, she is excited for the challenge.
As a member of the Women's Police Service, it's her job to maintain law and order so that the factory workers can safely carry out their vital war work. She soon makes friends, and even starts to open herself up to the possibility of love.
But then she sees something in the dead of night, and suddenly the dangers of the war are no longer far away on distant shores. With the enemy hot on her heels and no idea who to trust, can Poppy save herself - and avert disaster for her country?
CHRISTMAS WITH THE BOBBY GIRLS
Saga, 336 pages, Hodder, November 2020
1915. Patrolling is the last thing on the minds of Women's Police Service recruits Annie, Maggie and Poppy right now, because Annie and her fiancé Richard are about to get married. She's been waiting for this day her whole life, but when it finally comes it brings only heartache and Annie doesn't know if she can go on.
The influx of soldiers to the capital means that the WPS's work is more important than ever, though, and Annie's country needs her. She and the girls are posted to the bustling heart of the city and she hopes the new job will distract her from her sorrow.
It certainly does that. Soon the biggest bombing raid of the war causes chaos on their patch. On top of that, Annie suspects that a group of men are forcing European refugees into prostitution and resolves to stop them by Christmas. But by the time she realises just how high up the scandal goes, she might be in too deep to get out . . .
THE BOBBY GIRLS
Saga, 336 pages, Hodder, October 2019
1914. While men fight on the battlefields of France, at home in Britain women are finally seizing their own opportunities to make a difference . . .
Maggie lives a life of privilege and plenty. But she's hiding a dark secret that has the power to ruin her.
Annie just wants to settle down with the man she loves. But she might never see him again.
Sarah is a passionate Suffragette. But all her dreams are about to be put on hold.
Irene is clever, beautiful and proud. But her pride could cost her everything.
Four women - only one thing in common: they have all signed up for the Women Police Volunteers.
As they work to find their feet on the beat, will their friendship get them through the darkest of times?