About the Book

Book: A Lesson in Love Author: Linda Shenton Matchett Genre: Christian Historical Romance Release Date: July 8, 2025 He thinks he’s too old. She thinks she’s too young. Can these teachers learn that love defies all boundaries? Born and raised in London, Isobel Turvine knows nothing about farming, but after most of the students in her school evacuate during Operation Pied Piper, she’s left with little to do. Then her friend Margery talks her into joining the Women’s Land Army, and she finds herself working the land at a manor home in Yorkshire that’s been converted to a boys’ school. A teacher at heart, she is drawn to the lads, but the handsome yet stiff-necked headmaster wants her to stick to farming. Left with an arm that barely works from the last “war to end all wars,” Gavin Emerson agrees to take on the job of headmaster when his school moves from London to Yorkshire, but he’s saddled with the quirky manor owner, bickering among his teachers, and a gaggle of Land Army girls who have turned the grounds into a farm. When the group’s blue-eyed, raven-haired leader nearly runs him down in a car, he admonishes her to stay in the fields, but they are thrown together at every turn. Can he trust her not to break his heart?

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About the Author

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves. A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born a stone’s throw from Fort McHenry (of Star-Spangled Banner fame) and has lived in historical places all her life. She is a volunteer docent and archivist at the Wright Museum of WWII and a former trustee for her local public library. She now lives in central New Hampshire where she explores the history of this great state and immerses herself in the imaginary worlds created by other authors.

More from Linda

The Women’s Land Army was originally formed in 1917, during The Great War to help Britain with its food production. After the men returned home, the group was disbanded. Once again at war in 1939, the WLA was reestablished, and over the course of the conflict, more than 200,000 women served all over the United Kingdom. Many came from cities and towns and knew very little about working on a farm. Most had to be taught how to drive, milk cows, collect eggs, sow, and reap the harvest in addition to the many other tasks associated with farms. Among the largest crops to be produced were potatoes. They were cheap, and several varieties matured quickly providing food to citizens, troops, and refugees. Rationing was a necessary part of wartime life to ensure everyone had enough to eat. The government issued pamphlets and cookbooks with easy-to-follow recipes made with readily available food (tinned and fresh). Lord Woolton Pie, a vegetarian potpie named after the Minister of Food, is one of those recipes. By all reports it was not well-received, however, I’ve made it on several occasions and find it quite tasty.

Pie 1lb cauliflower 1lb rutabaga (I use parsnips) 1lb carrots 1lb potatoes Bunch of spring onions chopped 2 teaspoons of Marmite (yeast extract – or you can use a stock cube) Tablespoon of rolled oats Salt and pepper to taste once cooked. Parsley (fresh or dried) Pastry 8oz wholemeal/wholewheat flour 4oz mashed potato 3oz margarine or lard 2 tsp of baking powder couple large pinches of salt Dash of water if needed. Procedure

Chop up the vegetables into chunks with those that take longest to cook into smaller pieces.
Place in pot and bring to simmer with just enough water to reach 3/4 of the way up the veg in the pot.
Add in Marmite and rolled oats, salt and pepper and cook until tender and most of the water has been absorbed.
Place mixture in deep pie dish and sprinkle with fresh parsley (or add dry parsley to mixture and mix in)
Make the pastry by mixing the flour with the baking powder and salt and then rubbing in the margarine.
Mix the mashed potato in to form a dough and knead (add a little water to the mixture if too dry)
Roll out to form pie crust and place on top and decorate then brush with milk.
Place in oven at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or so until top is form and browned.

Photo credits: Newspaper recipe: Bromley & District Times, February 1941 Lord Woolton Pie: By autumnroseuk – Woolton pie, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=46161211

Interview with the Author

Do you read books in this genre?

If so, who do you like to read? I read lots of historical romance for two reasons – first and foremost, it’s my favorite genre. I read it long before I started writing it. Secondly, I read it to see what other writers in the genre are doing. Favorite authors are Heather Blanton, Joanne Bischoff, Elizabeth Camden, Sandra Merville Hart, Lisa Prysock, Elaine Manders, and Heidi Gray McGill.

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

I would definitely go back to 1939 and the WWII years. They were difficult, but in some ways very rewarding from what I can tell. The country pulled together, doing what they had to do, whether they wanted to or not. It was also an exciting time for women as they stepped into roles they’d not had previously.

What is your favorite book and why?

Joanne Bischoff’s The Lady and the Lionheart. I read it at least once a year. The themes are redemption and self-forgiveness and strongly speak to me. The character of Charlie Lionheart is complex and tragic, yet in the end he comes into his own and God blesses him tremendously. A very moving book.

What inspired you to write this book?

I was intrigued about the British government’s requisition of estate homes of the peerage and wealthy individuals. Granted these homes were second homes, so the families weren’t being made homeless, but it would still be difficult to give up one’s property and wonder if it would be returned in one piece (Sadly, that wasn’t the case for more than 1,000 homes.). The homes were used for troops barracks, government departments (think code breaking at Bletchley Park), hospitals, orphanages, and schools. In A Lesson in Love, the house is used for a boys’ school and the grounds by the Women’s Land Army. They often clashed.

Share with me a few of your favorite things.

Fall foliage. Watching snowfall from inside a cozy, warm house. Walking in the woods. Kayaking on a lake. Working a puzzle with my hubby. Curling up under a blanket with a book. Chorale rehearsal.