The Wrens

Following a humiliating experience involving the man she thought she’d marry, Iris Tredwick signs up to the Wrens in order to escape and - hopefully - find ‘the right sort’ of man to please her mother. After a bumpy start, Iris manages to befriend outspoken Mary and dreamer Sally as they are sent to their first posting - in Orkney. There she meets engineer Rob, whose flirtatious nature both charms and confounds straight-laced Iris. Much more appropriate for her is local doctor Stewart, if only she felt the same spark for him as she does for Rob.

After her fiancé dies in the sinking of the Royal Oak, Mary finds herself stationed in Orkney, still battling her grief. With Iris and Sally by her side, she is gradually overcoming her loss and is surprised to be helped by the irascible Joe. Joe is a signalman aboard the Kelpie and his cheeky Morse code messages to Mary while she's on shift bring her cheer and exasperation in equal measure. With Christmas round the corner, Mary is opening herself back up to the festive spirit—and to love.

Sally Hartley is a hopeless romantic. Her father died when she was a baby, but she has lived on stories from her mother of what a wonderful man he was. Now, all she wants is a love like theirs. And she thinks she’s found it in Adam, the brother of a friend from home. When Adam is posted to Orkney, it’s like Sally’s dreams have all come true. After Italy changes sides in the war, the Italian POWs are granted more freedom on the islands, meaning Sally can spend more time with her friend, Aldo, and the two grow ever closer.