Summer 1940. As bombs fall over London, another battle is raging deep within Britain’s forests. A war few believe women are strong enough to fight.
Fresh from forestry training camp, Keeva O’Connor and her fellow Lumberjills are sent to fell trees vital to the war effort. In the forests, they are watched, men mock their work and danger lurks in the shadows.
In the villages, trust is fragile, doors slam in their faces and suspicion grows. As romance kindles, rumours spread and friendships are tested by secrets, jealousies and forbidden longings.
When the Lumberjills are accused of espionage, can Keeva uncover the truth before prejudice tears their tender bonds of sisterhood apart?
Inspired by true events, this is a gripping story of resilience, friendship and love, bringing to life the forgotten story of the Lumberjills in World War Two – and the secrets they risked everything to protect.
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The Lumberjills Under Suspicion by Joanna Foat was published on 22 July 2026 by Merrow Downs Press. As part of this #RandomThingsTours Virtual Book Tour, I am delighted to welcome the author here today to Random Things. She's been kind enough to answer some questions for me.
Questions & Answers with author Joanna Foat
1. One of the book's central themes is prejudice; not just towards women doing 'men's work', but also suspicion, gossip and mistrust within communities. Why did you want to explore those emotional and social battles alongside the physical demands of wartime forestry?
During my research into the original Lumberjills, I discovered that prejudice, suspicion and mistrust were recurring themes in many of their stories. Their physical work was hard enough, but this emotional pressure often made it even harder.
There were also many accounts of women being reported to the police for "behaving suspiciously" while working in the woods. One Lumberjill, Sylvia Evans, whose photograph appears on the cover of my history book Lumberjills: Britain's Forgotten Army, was arrested simply for waiting at a bus stop. Her son told me she was tall, blonde, wearing jodhpurs and so the police thought she looked German. She spent the night in a police cell before being released.
They weren't greeted with a warm welcome. Instead, the young women were told they weren't wanted because forestry was men's work, they were judged for having too much freedom and even for leading local men astray.
Lumberjill, Barbara Beddow, believed local people often saw them as "a bit wild and too free." These women had left home, earned their own wages and enjoyed an independence that many young women had never experienced before. Their freedom challenged expectations, and that tension became an important part of the novel. I wanted to show that the greatest obstacles weren't always the trees they had to fell, but the attitudes they faced every day.
2. You've spent more than a decade meeting former Lumberjills and recording their memories. Was there one conversation or story that changed the way you viewed these remarkable women and ultimately influenced your writing?
One of the first Lumberjills I met was Eileen Mark (née Worsell). She had grown up in Hackney and worked in a glass factory making baby bottles and poison bottles before joining the Women's Timber Corps. She was full of life and had lots of stories and adventures. She said, "I was always up for a laugh, and if anyone was going to get into trouble it would be me."
After meeting Eileen, I remember thinking the Lumberjills would make an incredible film or television series. A screenwriter suggested I write a novel first, so I did. Eileen became the inspiration for Rosie. I even gave Rosie Eileen's maiden name, Worsell, because I wanted readers to know she was rooted in a real person, even though the story was fictionalised.
One of my favourite stories came from Eileen herself. She was stacking pit props beside a road when they mysteriously disappeared one evening. Furious, she marched into the nearby anti-aircraft camp to demand an explanation. The soldiers admitted they had used the timber for a campfire. The sergeant apologised, offered her tea and cake, and introduced himself as Wally. Wally later became her husband, and they were married for 54 years. Stories like that reminded me the Lumberjills' lives were filled not just with hardship, but with humour, courage and unexpected romance.
3. You've written both non-fiction history and historical fiction about the Lumberjills. How do you balance historical accuracy with creating compelling characters and storylines that resonate with modern readers?
My starting point has always been the stories shared with me by the Lumberjills themselves. I have always felt a responsibility to tell those stories honestly and authentically. That's why I wrote Lumberjills: Britain's Forgotten Army first, using their own words wherever possible so their voices could shine through.
Publishing the history book first then gave me more freedom to write fiction. The novels are inspired by real events and real women, but fiction allows me to explore the emotional highs and lows behind their experiences. Their stories provide the foundation and imagination brings them to life in full sensory detail.
Rosie, for example, is inspired by Eileen Mark, and many of her adventures come directly from Eileen's memories. Other characters are also shaped by moments shared by different Lumberjills. I stay true to the spirit of those stories, while weaving them into characters whose emotional journeys readers can follow.
Sometimes fitting character stories around major wartime events chronologically in the plot is the biggest challenge. But for me, the characters and their emotional journeys and the history of the Women’s Timber Corps as an organisation always comes first. This is the forgotten history and the story I am more fascinated by. I think this will always resonate with modern readers more deeply. If they care about the women, they'll care about the history too.
4. Through your books, exhibitions and more than 200 public talks, you've dedicated much of your career to championing the Women's Timber Corps. What first sparked your fascination with the Lumberjills, and what has kept you so passionate about telling their story?
I was working as a freelance communications consultant for the Forestry Commission when I heard my boss, David Williamson, talk proudly about his all-female management team in the Chilterns. So I began researching stories about women in forestry. Someone in Forestry Commission Scotland's HR told me that women had first entered forestry during the First and Second World Wars and were called Lumberjills.
I could hardly believe it. Thousands of women had felled trees with axes and crosscut saws, yet I had never heard of them. Most of their records had been destroyed, there was only one small website dedicated to a few Scottish Women's Timber Corps members and just a few references in history books. Even my colleagues had never heard of them.
As a child I loved climbing trees. My dad bought me an axe for Christmas because I loved chopping wood for the fire. So, I thought, had I been born 50 years earlier, perhaps I would have been one of the Lumberjills. So I decided I wanted to meet them.
The story is a perfect mix of everything I love. Women working in jobs traditionally held by men, breaking through prejudices, proving they were strong enough to do the job. Triumph against adversity. This was not just the rare few exceptional women; this was 15-18,000 women across the country and felt like an incredibly important story to tell.
The Lumberjills themselves and their families are an incredible source of strength and encouragement for me. What also spurs me on is the reception I get from people who equally love discovering their stories often for the first time. It is also an opportunity to immerse in an adventure in nature and tell the history of the forests too. I have a great passion for nature. Together it makes a powerful combination that just fires up the passion in my belly and keeps me feeling inspired and motivated to reach more people all over the world with their stories.
5. The women in your novel show extraordinary resilience, friendship and courage in the face of hardship. Do you think the legacy of the Lumberjills has something important to say to readers today, particularly about challenging expectations and supporting one another?
The real women of the Women's Timber Corps showed extraordinary resilience, friendship and courage in the face of hardship, and those are the qualities I most wanted to capture in my novels. Their stories constantly moved me, and many formed lifelong friendships that carried them through some of the most difficult years of their lives.
Absolutely, I think it is so important whoever you are to challenge expectations, but especially for women. Because we can find our options narrowed down by unconscious bias, peer group pressure, expectations from parents, school and bias in industry and the workplace.
I feel the story of the Lumberjills can inspire young women to explore unconventional career paths, challenging norms and encouraging them to embrace their full potential in a wider career choice. With more women entering male dominated environments it will help create a safer, more welcoming and equal environment for women.
Against the backdrop of prejudice, bias and sexual harassment, I believe this togetherness of the Lumberjills is a real living example of how women overcame the problems they faced in the past. This is hugely relevant to women today. You really do need your friends and other women to stand up for you. This is what I have seen the Lumberjills do.
The Lumberjills have made me laugh and cry with their stories, they have inspired me and been my role models since I met them. They are wonderful. When I have found life tough, I always knew that writing about the Lumberjills would make me feel strong again and they have been there for me in spirit, pushing me on. I’d love other women to draw strength from the Lumberjills in the same way.
6. You've helped bring the story of the Lumberjills to audiences through books, exhibitions, television, radio and live events. Looking ahead, what would you most like people to remember about these forgotten women, and are there any new projects or stories you're hoping to explore next?
When I first met Irene Snow, she opened the door and said, "Nobody has ever asked me what I did in the war before." She was in her late eighties, had worked in dangerous conditions for the war effort and then quietly slipped back into ordinary life with no recognition. This made me realise how forgotten these women had been. I want people to remember that this is what will happen if you do not celebrate women’s achievements in society. You will lose half of our collective history.
I hope future generations remember the Lumberjills as strong, resilient and determined female role models. They learned to stand up for themselves with humour and courage because they did exactly the same jobs as the men and knew they were equal. I’d also like people to remember the role played by the forests, how nature brings out the best in people, their natural abilities and helps them to shine.
Next, I'm writing the third novel in the series, following on from where Keeva, Rosie, Beatrice and Edith left off in The Lumberjills Under Suspicion. I'd also love to see the stories like the Women's Timber Corps become part of the national history curriculum so every child grows up knowing their story. And I'm still holding onto my original dream of seeing these stories adapted for television or film, so more people can discover these remarkable women.
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the history of the Women’s Timber Corps, affectionately known as the Lumberjills. For over a decade, she has travelled Britain researching the women who worked in wartime forestry during the Second World War, meeting former Lumberjills and recording their remarkable stories.
She is the author of four books on the Lumberjills, including the historical novel series The Lumberjills. Her books bring to life the courage, friendship and resilience of the young women who left ordinary lives behind to work in Britain’s forests during
wartime.
Joanna has written and curated two major exhibitions on the Women’s Timber Corps
for Forestry England and delivered more than 200 talks across the UK. She contributed to the VE Day 80 commemorations at the Royal Albert Hall. Her media appearancesinclude BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, BBC TV’s How We Won the War, WalkingWartime Britain, BBC South TV and Dan Snow’s History Hit podcast.
https://instagram.com/joannafoat/
https://facebook.com/thelumberjills.uk
https://linkedin.com/in/joannafoat/
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