My Review for The Match Factory Girls by Kay Brellend

"I've been looking for you. I'm in trouble and could do with a place to stay."

Historical fiction is one of my favourite genres 📚❤️, but I usually read books set around the Second World War, so the late 1800s is a rarity for me ⏳. The author weaves fact and fiction together seamlessly 🧵, incorporating difficult subjects including prostitution, abuse, gambling, and factory strikes ⚙️.

It seems absurd to me that girls who were brought up well, with a good education and a decent job, were banished to the workhouse by their parents if they fell pregnant 😔. I appreciate that, in some walks of life, this still happens even now, but it continues to baffle me that parents could do that to their own flesh and blood 💔.

Even though it is set in the East End of London 🏙️, which we all know or imagine to be part of a large city, there is still a huge sense of community spirit and support, which I loved 🤝💞. Young and old alike are more often than not willing to help their neighbours with whatever they need 👵👧.

I’m looking forward to seeing what Kay has in store for us in the next book in the series ✨📖.

Thank you to Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review The Match Factory Girls by Kay Brellend, and for including me on the tour 🙏📚.

About the Book

In the shadows of 1887 London, one woman must fight for her future – and her child's.

When Amelia Spencer finds herself unmarried, pregnant, and cast out by society, she flees to the Bryant & May match factory, searching for her estranged sister, Sadie. But the East End is no refuge - Sadie is trapped in a violent marriage, and the factory is as dangerous as the streets outside.

Desperate for a fresh start, Amelia takes work at Bryant & May and dares to dream of a better life for herself and her son. A chance meeting with the kind-hearted Nicholas Dupree offers hope - but Whitechapel is no place for fragile dreams.

When the shadows of Amelia’s past return with a vengeance - and a killer begins stalking the women of Whitechapel - Amelia must fight to protect her child and the life she’s struggled to claim, before everything she’s fought for is destroyed.

Love, survival, and dark secrets collide in a heart-pounding saga of courage and redemption.

About Kay

Kay Brellend is the best selling author of historical novels set in London's working class communities. She was born in north London and her first saga, based in the early twentieth century slums of Islington, was published in 2011. She drew inspiration for The Street from her grandmother’s reminiscences about growing up in ‘Campbell Bunk’ as the notorious road was known. 

The ensuing Campbell Road series of seven book was followed by more gritty East End and World War sagas, but she has turned to the Victorian era for the Match Factory Girls trilogy, published by Boldwood and set in the time of the infamous Whitechapel murders.

Kay's heartwarming and emotional historical sagas champion working class community spirit and resilient women courageously coping with poverty and loss despite the odds stacked against them.

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My Review for The Market Girls of Petticoat Lane by Patricia McBride

“…their laughter wove its way around the bustling stalls, a joyous sound telling of friendship and resilience.” 💕

The Market Girls of Petticoat Lane is the first book in a brand-new series from Patricia McBride, and I knew I’d love it before I even started 📖✨ Despite being set during the Second World War, it’s cosy and full of hope and inspiration 🤍🌟 Maisie, Amanda, and Bethan — despite their differing home lives — are the very best of friends. They work together, play together, and look forward to a productive business future together 👭👚

I really enjoyed the camaraderie between the friends, and it’s honestly eye-opening to see how different young people were eighty years ago compared to today ⏳ The work ethic is far more evident, especially during the war years 💪🕊️ It’s always a joy to read wartime fiction like this, and I inevitably feel happy and contented by the end of the book 😊📚

Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review The Market Girls of Petticoat Lane by Patricia McBride. 🙏✨

About the Book

With the world at war, three women stitch hope into every seam…

In the bustling heart of London’s East End, Maisie, Amanda and Bethan work long hours at the uniform factory. The pay is poor, the shifts relentless and the bombs fall far too close for comfort ­– but these three women refuse to give in to despair.

For when not at the factory, the girls spend their days on the markets of Petticoat Lane, trying to source material in order to make dresses ­– doing their best to bring any small amount of joy in these troubled times.

When a chance encounter leads them to a bundle of parachute silk, they decide to think bigger. And so, with needles in hand and a dream in their hearts, they begin sewing a beautiful wedding dress in secret.

But in wartime, secrets don’t stay hidden for long. And when Amanda uncovers seedy goings on at the factory, all of their livelihoods may be on the line…

About Patricia

Patricia McBride is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books as well as numerous articles. She loves undertaking the research for her books, helped by stories told to her by her Cockney mother and grandparents who lived in the East End. Patricia lives in Cambridge with her husband.

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My Review for The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly

“An autistic psychopath is the human being who is most fundamentally himself. He cannot be anything but original and spontaneous. He is uninhibited by the collective social will.”

The Matchbox Girl is a story based on true events in Austria 🇦🇹 during the Second World War. Our protagonist, Adelheid, has been placed in a specialist paediatric clinic 🏥 for children with a range of mental illnesses.

Adelheid tells her story as she lives it 📝. At times it feels chaotic and random, yet she makes meticulous notes about everything that happens around her—sometimes to the detriment of those sharing her world 😬. She follows the rules carefully and does exactly as she’s instructed, until she begins to realise 🤔 that maybe she needs to follow her own rules instead.

I initially found The Matchbox Girl difficult to read—not because of the subject matter, but because of the haphazard use of capital letters 😕. This felt like a deliberate stylistic choice, intended to reflect Adelheid’s fragmented mind, but it soon became normal and I stopped noticing it altogether 🙂

I particularly enjoyed reading about Dr A (Dr Asperger) 🧠 and the early identification of the disorder. While much of this book makes for unhappy and uncomfortable reading 💔, I think it’s essential that we understand what happened in our past—and why it still matters today.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for the gifted copy of The Matchbox Girl by Alice Jolly.

About the Book

From the multi-award-winning author - a beautiful, stunningly ambitious novel telling the story of a young girl's battle for survival and search for the truth in occupied Vienna 

Adelheid Brunner does not speak. She writes and draws instead and her ambition is to own one thousand matchboxes. Her grandmother cannot make sense of this, but Adelheid will stop at nothing to achieve her dream. She makes herself invisible, hiding in cupboards with her pet rat, Franz Joseph, listening in on conversations she can't fully comprehend.

Then she meets Dr Asperger, a man who lets children play all day and who recognises the importance of matchboxes. He invites Adelheid to come and live at the Vienna paediatric clinic, where she and other children like herself will live under observation.

But the date is 1938 and the place is Vienna – a city of political instability, a place of increasing fear and violence. When the Nazis march into the city, a new world is created and difficult choices must be made.

Why are the clinic's children disappearing, and where do they go? Adelheid starts to suspect that some of Dr Asperger's games are played for the highest stakes. In order to survive, she must play a game whose rules she cannot yet understand.

Triumphant and tragic, soulful and spirited, The Matchbox Girl is a burningly brilliant book – that brings the stories of a generation of lost children into the light.

About Alice

Alice Jolly is a novelist and playwright. She published a memoir in 2015 called Dead Babies and Seaside Towns, which won the Pen Ackerley Prize, and one of her short stories won the 2014 V. S. Pritchett Memorial Prize, awarded by The Royal Society of Literature. She has also published two novels with Simon and Schuster and four of her plays have been produced by the professional company of the Everyman Theatre in Cheltenham. She teaches creative writing on the Mst at Oxford University.

Her novel Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile was published by Unbound in June 2018. It was a Walter Scott Prize recommended novel for 2109, was on the longlist for the Ondaatje Prize awarded by the Royal Society of Literature and was runner up for the £30,000 Rathbones Folio Prize. Her novel Between the Regions of Kindness was published by Unbound in April 2019. In 2021 she was received an O. Henry Award for her short story ‘From Far Around They Saw Us Burn.’ She published a short story collection with Unbound in March 2023 entitled From Far Around They Saw Us Burn.

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My Review for Britannia Strikes by Russell Dumper

“If you don't trust us, why tell us?”

And so Leo’s ominous plans for expanding the British Empire continue, while the Resistance fights back, in the second instalment of Russell Dumper’s Britannia series.

Having got my head around the world-building in the first book, I settled into Britannia Strikes very quickly this time, now that I know who everyone is and what their roles are. I still can’t help picturing our current Royal Family as this fictitious one though 🙈 — it’s been very cleverly imagined by the author.

I’m not usually a fan of political stories, but this series has really grabbed my attention. The level of research that must have gone into it is phenomenal, and I’m full of admiration for Russell’s dedication to a world he’s been developing since his teenage years.

This is a dystopian novel full of intrigue and mystery — and it’s quite frankly unsettling at times, as you realise how easily its events could mirror the real world, with all its relentless and often controversial decisions.

If you’re a fan of dystopian fiction, sci-fi, politics, or spy thrillers, this book has it all. I’m already eager to see what happens next.

Thank you to Russell Dumper for the gifted copy of Britannia Strikes.

About the Book

With King Alfred concentrating on Outpost, the British Empire is following a new, more sinister path. King Regent Leopold is pushing through his dream of expansion as he seeks to crush the rebellions rising in opposition. His plans, formed in the shadows, will have a devastating effect on his enemies and confirm The Empire as the only, true world superpower.

The Dayak are enjoying support and growth, following their victory in the Battle of Serpent Valley. With Nepal on the cusp of independence from the iron grip of The Empire, they must consolidate their position. But the British never give up so easily and the East India Company should never be underestimated. Letitia Pearl, Bob Royce, and the monks, must all spot the dangers lurking just across the border. And maybe closer to home, too...

Jamie Bayston is recovering from the loss of his family the only way he can - by throwing himself into his work. As Ed MacLoughlin and Trevor Layttle train him, and try to find answers, it looks increasingly likely that they will need to head back into the jaws of the lion to find them. 

About Russell (taken from The Spalding & South Holland Voice)

Russell Dumper has followed his childhood dream of becoming an author. “I’ve always loved writing and it has brought be so much joy since I was a small boy. It’s a fire that burns inside of me, a passion that I’ve always had. I have so many more books to write, and I can’t wait to write them,” he said.

His book, Britannia Rises, is set in an alternate near future ruled by the British Empire.

“There are all kinds of characters, twists, links into modern events, action, suspense and surprises galore. “When asked, I describe it as a kind of modern Game of Thrones meeting a James Bond origin story. There are many plots overlapping each other and the main characters are deep and complex,” he added.

The father of two small children, who lives in Spalding, said he had the idea for the story aged 14 or 15.

“It’s developed a lot over the years, as you can imagine, with several rewrites to get to where it is now. It will appeal to anyone who loves thrillers and suspense books, from young adults upwards.

“It’s a story that will make you love and hate the same character. I suspect the full series will be seven or eight books,” said Russell.

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My Review for The Ruins in Which We Bleed by Steve N. Lee

'No shouting cracked the silence; no flashlights sliced the darkness'.

Steve's writing is incredible. I didn't particularly want to be in Helena's shoes, as slowly, her family disappears, and she has no alternative other than to face the horrors that the Germans are inflicting, all alone. Yet, I had no choice. Such is the power of the words which Steve writes and the in-depth descriptions he portrays of the sufferings Helena experiences, I was right there with her. Every step of the way. 

Every time I read a book like this, one which is inspired by true events and particularly one set during WWII, I often have to stop reading, and reflect that all this s**t really happened and how courageous and resilient people absolutely had to be. 

So much research has gone into Helena's story and Steve has done an amazing job of telling her story and ensuring that no matter how much time has passed, they have not been forgotten.

Thank you to Steve N. Lee for the opportunity to read and review The Ruins in Which We Bleed.

About the Book

A story of courage and a fight for survival like none you have ever read. Guaranteed!

Inspired by a previously untold true story.

Following the Nazi invasion of Poland, 13-year-old Helena is imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto, a squalid hellhole rife with disease and starvation. Yet, although the Nazis have destroyed her home, her life, and her future, they haven't destroyed the only thing that truly matters — her family. Helena might be just a child, but she's a fighter, and she'll do whatever it takes to help her loved ones.

Making sacrifices no child should ever have to make, seeing horrors no child should ever have to see, Helena bravely battles on as her world crumbles amid random killings, slave labor, and deportations. And through it all, her compassion helps to protect her family. But then the Nazis unleash new horrors.

With the ghetto a raging sea of flames, explosions, and gunfire, Helena runs for her life only to hurtle straight into an unimaginable hell from which there seems no escape. And the Nazis are closing in. Can her love for her family give her the strength to survive?

Inspired by a heartbreaking true story of unbelievable courage, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit, The Ruins in Which We Bleed reveals that, even in the darkest of times, one person can make a difference through the greatest power of all — love.

About Steve

Steve has three passions: anti-heroes, animals, and travel. To date, he's visited 60 countries and has adopted five homeless cats, but he's yet to prowl the streets in the dead of night to beat up bad guys (though he still daydreams about doing so, but who doesn't?).

In pursuit of adventure, he's cage-dived with great white sharks, sparred with a monk at a Shaolin temple, and explored exotic locales such as Machu Picchu, Pompeii, and the Great Wall of China.

Fortunately, his passions fuel his fiction. He loves to pepper his action-packed thrillers with the exotic places he's explored and the unusual encounters he's experienced, while his dog stories glow with the love and companionship that will warm the heart of any animal lover.

More recently, while on his travels, Steve came across two true stories from the Holocaust which moved him so deeply, he has based two novels on them.

He lives in the North of England with his partner, Ania, the great-great-great niece of the 1924 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and two stray black cats who visited their garden one day and liked it so much, they moved into the house. Luckily, they graciously allowed Steve and Ania to carry on living there, even allowing Steve to continue paying the mortgage to give him a sense of purpose.

If you love stories of four-legged heroes, tales from histories darkest hour, or books with pulse-pounding action, you'll love Steve's three series. He wrote them for book lovers just like you!

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My Review for A Song Of Silence by Steve N. Lee

'For those they took, whose names we'll never know because no one was left to remember them'.

Once again, Steve N. Lee has bowled me over with this WWII historical fiction novel. It is set in Poland at the beginning of the war, in an orphanage run by Mirek, a published author, and Baba Hanka, a grandmotherly figure who I adored. He was a miracle worker in the kitchen. She made edible meals out of plants and herbs that had been foraged in the forest.

Mirek was an incredible strength to the kids he was looking after, and even when things were looking bad, he pulled on his positive mask and attempted to turn things into a game, so the kids wouldn't be scared.

This is a book, based on true events, about WWII so of course it's heartbreaking, hearing about yet more unspeakable events which took place and how horrific people were treated. But everyone should be aware of just how bad things were for hundreds of thousands of people and how heartless the people who carried out these monstrous acts.

'It isn't only the love we've lost that makes it hurt so much, it's the love we'll never get to give'.

Thank you to Steve N. Lee for the opportunity to read and review A Song of Silence.

About the Book

War thrust them together. Love will tear them apart.

Inspired by a true story...

When the Nazis invade a sleepy Polish town in 1939, Mirek Kozlowski swears to keep everyone in his orphanage safe at all costs. However, despite his struggles and sacrifices, the war drags him and his children deeper and deeper into its violent nightmare.

With 89 children looking to him for hope, Mirek must do whatever it takes to protect them — no matter how criminal, distasteful, or perilous it may be.

And just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, the arrival of a sadistic SS captain brings unspeakable atrocities to his town — and surprisingly, a glimmer of hope for Mirek to save all those he cares about if only he has the courage to grasp it…

A story of love, bravery, and compassion, A Song of Silence explores history’s darkest hour and how, even in the face of overwhelming evil, one man can become a dazzling beacon of light.

Discover what it means to be human. Discover A Song of Silence.

About Steve

Steve has three passions: anti-heroes, animals, and travel. To date, he's visited 60 countries and has adopted five homeless cats, but he's yet to prowl the streets in the dead of night to beat up bad guys (though he still daydreams about doing so, but who doesn't?).

In pursuit of adventure, he's cage-dived with great white sharks, sparred with a monk at a Shaolin temple, and explored exotic locales such as Machu Picchu, Pompeii, and the Great Wall of China.

Fortunately, his passions fuel his fiction. He loves to pepper his action-packed thrillers with the exotic places he's explored and the unusual encounters he's experienced, while his dog stories glow with the love and companionship that will warm the heart of any animal lover.

More recently, while on his travels, Steve came across two true stories from the Holocaust which moved him so deeply, he has based two novels on them.

He lives in the North of England with his partner, Ania, the great-great-great niece of the 1924 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, and two stray black cats who visited their garden one day and liked it so much, they moved into the house. Luckily, they graciously allowed Steve and Ania to carry on living there, even allowing Steve to continue paying the mortgage to give him a sense of purpose.

If you love stories of four-legged heroes, tales from histories darkest hour, or books with pulse-pounding action, you'll love Steve's three series. He wrote them for book lovers just like you!

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My Review for A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas

Times are changing, as Manchester's ladies try to survive during WWII.

I love an educational WWII novel, and I've read many over the years. The ones where you learn more about the atrocities of the prison camps and the tenacity of the people who were held there. But I equally love a more lighthearted story, which is exactly what A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas is. It's the first in a new series, and although there is one heartbreaking topic (check the trigger warnings), this was a winner for me.

This time we are in Manchester as WWII continues, men are off fighting and the women are left to hold the fort - or the hotel! The characters are resilient and resourceful, and Kitty in particular was amazing as she fought to keep her home, and reconfigure the business to provide for her teenage daughter. Lily, Beatrice and Kitty (and Abbie) all became firm friends by the end of the story and I can't wait to hear what's in store for them next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the opportunity to read and review A New Home at the Wartime Hotel by Maisie Thomas.

About the Book

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin.

Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother. Now Lily is pregnant – and with Daniel away at sea, she is all alone. When tragedy strikes, will Kitty and Dunbar’s come to her rescue?

Beatrice is in her forties, unmarried, and working in a job that exposes her to the harsh realities of poverty and sacrifice. She wonders whether the war might give her the opportunity to change lives for the better - including her own. But when she's accused of a crime she didn't commit, the future looks bleak... until Kitty makes a surprising suggestion.

Can the community around Dunbar’s hotel pull together and provide a beacon of hope and resilience, in the dark days of war?

About Maisie

Maisie Thomas is the author of the new Wartime Hotel series published by Boldwood. The first two titles will be published in 2025. The stories concentrate on the importance of female friendship, especially when those friendships come about unexpectedly, and the ways in which women support one another through the highs and lows of everyday life in wartime.

Maisie is also the author of the bestselling Railway Girls saga series about the brave women and girls who worked on Britain's railways in WW2. She also writes as Susanna Bavin and Polly Heron. As Polly, she writes the 1920s saga series, The Surplus Girls, about young women striving for independence in the aftermath of the First World War. As Susanna she has written four stand-alone sagas (The Deserter's Daughter, A Respectable Woman, The Sewing Room Girl and The Poor Relation) and a WW2 saga series, The Home Front Girls.

Maisie was born and brought up in Manchester, which provides the location for her novels. She now lives on the beautiful North Wales coast with her husband and their two rescue cats.

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My Review for The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

'In love, we find out who we want to be. In war, we find out who we are'.

Historical fiction, particularly that set during World War II and inspired by true events, is my first love as a genre. The Nightingale is incredible. I cannot even begin to explain how this book made me feel. I was in awe of the two female protagonists, who both became a part of the Resistance in order to help others. Isabelle - the Nightingale - took many treacherous journeys across the Pyrenees, to help downed Allied airmen return home and Vianne helped to hide Jewish children who were forcibly abandoned by their mothers.

The Nightingale is a book about determination, perseverance and love. It is heart-wrenching, but positive, harrowing, yet encouraging. It will fill you with every emotion you have, a million times over, Every single time I read a book like this, I always turn the last page with a gut-wrenching thought that all of these things happened. 

Thank you so much to #BookstaBritsBookClub for choosing this as March's read. It's been sitting on my shelf for years and I finally had the opportunity to read it.

About the Book

FRANCE, 1939

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gaëtan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

About Kristin

Kristin Hannah is the award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People’s Choice award for best fiction in the same year. Additionally, it was a selection of the Reese Witherspoon Book Club in 2023. It was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week. In 2018, The Great Alone became an instant New York Times #1 bestseller and was named the Best Historical Novel of the Year by Goodreads. 

The Four Winds was published in February of 2021 and immediately hit #1 on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and Indie bookstores’ bestseller lists. Additionally, it was selected as a book club pick by the both Today Show and the Book Of the Month club, which named it the best book of 2021. 

The Nightingale is currently in production at Tri Star, with Dakota and Elle Fanning set to star. Tri Star has also optioned The Great Alone and it is in development. Firefly Lane, her beloved novel about two best friends, was the #1 Netflix series around the world, in the week it came out. The popular tv show stars Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke and Season Two is currently set to conclude the series on April 27, 2023. 

A former attorney, Kristin lives in the Pacific Northwest.

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My Review for The Color Purple by Alice Walker, read by Alice Walker

The Color Purple is one of the most amazing, heart-breaking, and powerful novels I have ever listened to.

Chosen as February's book for our #classiclitbookclub, I did start to read the physical book, but the language was difficult, and I soon opted for the audiobook version, read by the author. This is the way I would 100% recommend anyone who isn't au fait with the African American vernacular English, broach the novel, as it will make a lot more sense and adds to the authenticity of the entire story. 

I especially loved the strength and tenacity of the female characters, as they grew in age, and confidence, eventually standing up to their male counterparts and becoming forces to be reckoned with, in their own right. 

The entire book is written as letters, initially from Celie to God and then from the sisters, Celie to Nettie and vice versa. I cannot express how much I enjoyed listening to this, and I will definitely be revisiting it, and I will probably be giving the physical book another try.

About the Book

The Color Purple is a classic. With over a million copies sold in the UK alone, it is hailed as one of the all-time 'greats' of literature, inspiring generations of readers.

Set in the deep American South between the wars, it is the tale of Celie, a young black girl born into poverty and segregation. Raped repeatedly by the man she calls 'father', she has two children taken away from her, is separated from her beloved sister Nettie and is trapped into an ugly marriage. But then she meets the glamorous Shug Avery, singer and magic-maker - a woman who has taken charge of her own destiny. Gradually, Celie discovers the power and joy of her own spirit, freeing her from her past and reuniting her with those she loves.

About Alice

Alice Walker (born February 9, 1944, Eatonton, Georgia, U.S.) is an American writer whose novels, short stories, and poems are noted for their insightful treatment of African American culture. Her novels, most notably The Color Purple (1982), focus particularly on women.

Walker was the eighth child of African American sharecroppers. While growing up she was accidentally blinded in one eye, and her mother gave her a typewriter, allowing her to write instead of doing chores. In an interview with The New York Times in 1983, Walker described her parents as “both storytellers. They always spoke with metaphorical richness.” When she was eight years old, Walker was sent to live with her grandparents for a year in rural Georgia. In a TimesTalk interview in 2015, she remembered them both as “so kind, so giving,” but they had had a turbulent past caused by her grandfather’s alcohol use. Her grandfather eventually recovered from alcoholism and changed his life for the better. (During her TimesTalk interview Walker said that this experience led her to wonder “how could people who were so wonderful, when I knew them, be terrible when I didn’t know them?” Her wondering led her to write The Color Purple, because she “had to show what happened to them and why they were like that,” describing the experience of writing the novel as a form of “reclamation.”).

Walker received a scholarship to attend Spelman College, where she studied for two years before transferring to Sarah Lawrence College. After graduating in 1965, Walker moved to Mississippi and became involved in the civil rights movement. She also began teaching and publishing short stories and essays. She married Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal, a white Jewish civil rights attorney, in New York City in 1967, after which they moved to Mississippi, becoming the state’s first legally married interracialcouple. In her introduction to a collection of her journals, Gathering Blossoms Under Fire (2022), Walker wrote: “There was a long tradition of white men having Black mistresses in the South. That was not going to be my path. So I proposed to Mel, and he happily obliged. Apart from our love, it was important politically for us to be legally married.” They had one daughter, the writer and feminist activist Rebecca Walker, but their life in Mississippi was isolating and lonely, as Walker recorded in her journals. The family was subject to threats from the Ku Klux Klan, and Leventhal was often away working on legal cases involving civil rights throughout the state. The couple divorced in 1976.

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My Review for Dark Times for the Clarks Factory Girls by May Ellis

Book three in The Clarks Factory Girls series from May Ellis and once again we are thrown into war-torn Somerset, and the lives of the men and women of Street, many of whom work in the Clarks shoe factory. Throughout the series, battles are being fought, on the frontline, but also in homes, where parents and children don't always see eye to eye!

I love to read about the resilience of people, towns and villages, as they dealt with the horrors which war threw at them. Despite the hardships, they battle on and usually come out smiling. May Ellis draws me into her books and makes me feel like a part of the family, and I can just imagine sitting down with them and having a cuppa and a natter in front of the fire. 

The world has come a long way since the early 1900s, when women weren't allowed to work once they got married and were expected to keep house and look after the children. Sometimes it's difficult to imagine how that was even a thing!

I love my days with the girls, and I can't wait to see what May has in store for them next.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review Dark Times for the Clarks Factory Girls by May Ellis.

About the Book

1916: As fighting in Europe continues, the Clarks Factory Girls find themselves caught in a divided community...

With the country in the grips of conscription, the pacifism at the heart of Street village comes under scrutiny, and when Kate befriends Gerald, a young Quaker arrested for refusing to fight, she starts to understand the true dilemma the community finds itself in.

Still grieving the loss of her sweetheart Mattie, Louisa finds herself at odds with her parents, who refused them the chance to marry. As her mother’s attempts to find Louisa a husband show no signs of abating, Louisa takes solace in her friendship with Jeannie’s brother Lucas, but could an unexpected opportunity offer a solution to both their problems?

Meanwhile, Jeannie finds herself torn between her heart and her faith. With each other’s help, can the girls hold true to what they believe in, even as the village enters its darkest days yet?

About May

May Ellis has been a legal executive, registered childminder, professional fund – raiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world, including trekking in mountains, deserts and the Great Wall of China, as well as helping build a house in Thailand. She went to university in her forties and gained a first class degree and an MA while still working full – time. Her first book, a contemporary romance, was published in 2014. Since then she has had five more novels published, including another romance and a YA time travel adventure. The last three are gritty dramas set in the 1960s/70s published by Darkstroke Books. She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor, volunteering at her local library and for the Alfred Gillett Trust (custodians of the Clark’s archives). Her current series, based on the factory workers at Clark’s Shoes was inspired by her move to the area and her love of social history.

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My Review for A Better Tomorrow for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride

As soon as I see that Patricia has written another book, I'm champing at the bit to read it and, in particular, this series about the East End Library Girls. Cordelia, Mavis and Jane are an inspiration to the community they live in, opening the library doors to young and old alike, as well as helping their fellow EastEnders in the best way they can. 

It was fun to see the American GIs appear in the East End of London, helping out with repairs in the areas that have been affected by the bombing before they were deployed to fight, and of course all the local girls are flirting at every opportunity they get!

Some of the old characters make an appearance too, and I loved how Edith's future looks to be panning out, and it'll be interesting how the absent men are brought back into future books as they return from war.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and Rachel's Random Resources for the opportunity to read and review A Better Tomorrow for the East End Library Girls by Patricia McBride.

About the Book

With London still in the grip of war, Cordelia, Mavis, and Jane find themselves facing a new challenge. Determined to make a difference, the librarians band together to organise rent strikes, standing up against dirty landlords and unfair practices.

Meanwhile, with the arrival of American GIs in the East End, Cordelia is presented with a temptation too irresistible to bear. Should she follow her head or her heart – stay faithful to her beloved Robert fighting abroad, or enjoy the brief respite from the constant air raids and destruction?

As the women fight for what’s right, the promise of a better tomorrow begins to take shape. But will their efforts be enough to secure a better life for their community?

About Patricia

Patricia McBride is the author of several fiction and non-fiction books as well as numerous articles. She loves undertaking the research for her books, helped by stories told to her by her Cockney mother and grandparents who lived in the East End. Patricia lives in Cambridge with her husband.

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