The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan

Four women's lives lie in tatters two years after the start of WWII.  One is a mother with three boys whose husband has been killed in the war.  A second is a woman with a cruel and abusive husband. The third is an unwed mother working in a food factory, and the last is a kitchen maid who grew up in an orphanage. All four women learn of a cooking competition, the winner of which will become a radio cooking show cohost.  All see winning the competition as the ticket out of their predicaments, and all see the other competitors as the enemy...at first.  Then life throws them together, things happen, and they begin to see that they are much stronger as friends than enemies. 

This book is the total embodiment of the term "heartwarming." The four women each struggle, and are not always very nice to each other.  There are no Pollyannas here, but when push comes to shove, compassion wins out over grief and greed. Near the end, the author does get a little sentimental, but by that point in the story, that is exactly what the reader wants. From a bigger view, each woman represents a different kind of toll that war takes on women. The author also shows how the trials of war made women redefine their traditional roles and gain more independence. This is a good choice for readers who liked The Opera Sisters  or the WWII books of Roseanna White. Also a good choice for those who liked Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame because of the interesting war-time cooking facts and techniques. (2022, 432 p)