Book picks similar to
The Biscuit Factory Girls by Elsie Mason
elsie-mason
historical
historical-fiction
historical-world-war-two
The Mother’s Day Club
Rosie Hendry - 2020
But when Marianne arrives, Thea quickly realises that she has her own secrets. The ladies of Rookery House are fighting their own battles on the Home Front, but the community will be drawn together to protect their own.
A gorgeously uplifting saga for fans of Ellie Dean and Donna Douglas
The Nightingales in Mersey Square
Lilly Robbins - 2020
Desperately in need of kindness, love and a safe place to call home, local trainee nurses Clare and Gaye immediately volunteer, alongside their new friend Diana.While the rest of Britain is under siege, Clare is learning how to be a great nurse under pressure, Diana has found that love can be found in unexpected places and Gaye is hiding a terrible secret. But as the reality of war comes closer, all three girls will face personal challenges or tragedies as life changes in ways they could never have imagined.A heart-warming world war two saga of friendship and hope in the face of adversity, perfect for fans of Maureen Lee and Lyn Andrews.
Girls in Tin Hats
Annie Murray - 2020
Two very different girls from this tight-knit community join up as ARP wardens to do their bit for the Home Front. Violet Simms lives with her controlling, widowed mother who runs the local pawn shop. At just twenty-years-old, Violet longs for friendship, love and escape. It seems her dreams might come true until tragedy strikes on one of the very worst nights of the Birmingham Blitz. Grace Templeton is the eldest in her family of ten children. Spirited Grace is determined never to become burdened by child bearing and drudgery like her mother. Adored by childhood sweetheart, Jimmy Oval, Grace believes she can do better. Volunteering as an ARP warden feels like a chance for adventure – until she sees the horror and reality of war first hand. In this blacked out city, where not everyone is quite what they seem, she comes to realize she is less in control of events than she had thought.The war will have long-lasting effects on every family… Long buried secrets come to light, and their stories are woven together amid the intense bombing of Birmingham.The girls’ lives will be changed forever by friendship and love, by tragedy and joy.
Girls in Tin Hats is the heart-wrenching generational saga by Sunday Times top ten bestselling author Annie Murray.
The Women of Waterloo Bridge
Jan Casey - 2020
Enjoying the physical work and her newfound purpose, she begins to realise that there could be so much more to her life than anything she'd ever dared to dream. Grieving after her little boy dies in an air raid, Gwen is completely lost when her husband sends their younger children to the countryside for safety. Enlisting as a construction worker, she is partnered with cheerful Evelyn. Despite Gwen's initial reluctance, the two women strike up a heartwarming friendship – but will it be enough to save Gwen from her sorrow? Musical prodigy Joan's life has always been dictated by her controlling mother. When an affair ends in scandal, Joan finally takes her life into her own hands. Determined to never touch a violin again, she soon finds work at Waterloo Bridge. Yet there are other complications for her to overcome...
For these three women in London, only one thing is certain: the Second World War will change their lives forever. A heart-wrenching new WW2 saga for fans of Jenny Holmes and Soraya M. Lane.
The Cotton Spinner (The Mill Town Lasses Book 1)
Libby Ashworth - 2020
. .Then Titus is arrested and sent to prison for attending a Reform meeting. Jennet is left to fend for herself and things go from bad to worse as she finds herself pregnant and alone – with another man’s child . . .
The Railway Girls
Maisie Thomas - 2020
Perfect for fans of Nancy Revell and Ellie Dean.
In February, 1922, at the western-most entrance to Victoria Station in Manchester, a massive plaque was unveiled. Beneath a vast tiled map showing the lines of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway network, a series of seven bronze panels recorded the names of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War – a total of 1,460 names.In March, 1940, a group of women of varying ages and backgrounds, stand in front of the memorial, ready to do their bit in this new World War..._________________________________________Mabel is determined to make a fresh start as a railway girl where no one will know the terrible thing she did and she can put her guilt behind her... Or is she just running away?Meanwhile Joan will never be as good as her sister, or so her Gran keeps telling her. A new job as a station clerk could be just the thing she needs to forget her troubles at home.And Dot is further into her forties than she cares to admit. Her beloved sons are away fighting and her husband – well, the less said about him the better. Ratty old sod. She is anxious to become a railway girl just like her dear mam – anything to feel she is supporting the sons she prays for every night.
The three women start off as strangers, but soon form an unbreakable bond that will get them through the toughest of times...
Under a Spitfire Sky
Ellie Curzon - 2021
But Florence is nursing a broken heart and a terrible secret, which might destroy her one chance of happiness...Meanwhile, a new plane is being developed that could turn the tide of the war, but Florence fears there is traitor is in their midst, putting Siegfried - and the whole country - in terrible danger. Can Florence save her Spitfire boys, and her own heart?
The War Girls of Goodwill House
Fenella J. Miller - 2022
The Road to Berry Edge
Elizabeth Gill - 1997
Perfect for fans of Dilly Court, Maggie Hope and Nadine Dorries.
1903. As Rob Berkeley comes home to Berry Edge, ten years after his brother's terrible death, he brings with him memories that Faith Norman, his dead brother's fiancée, would rather forget. Rob, driven by guilt, is determined to bring the family business, the foundering steelworks, back to full strength. But every time he sees Faith, he is remained of the part he played in her bereavement and the debt he owes her and Berry Edge. The secrets he hides from the community around him could threaten his very future, and jeopardise his growing feelings for Faith . . .
The Light Within Us
Charlotte Betts - 2020
1891. Spindrift House, Cornwall.
Talented painter Edith Fairchild is poised to begin a life of newlywed bliss and artistic creation with her charming husband Benedict. He recently inherited Spindrift House near Port Isaac and Edith is inspired by the glorious Cornish light and the wonderful setting overlooking the sea. But then happiness turns to heartbreak. In great distress, Edith turns to an artist friend for comfort and after a bitterly-regretted moment of madness she finds herself pregnant with his child.Too ashamed to reveal her secret, Edith devotes herself to her art. Joined at Spindrift House by her friends - Clarissa, Dora and Pascal - together they turn the house into a budding artists' community. But despite their dreams of an idyllic way of life creating beauty by the sea, it becomes clear that all is not perfect within their tight-knit community, and that the weight of their secrets could threaten to tear apart their paradise forever . . .
Praise for Charlotte Betts:
'Romantic, engaging and hugely satisfying' Katie Fford
'A highly-recommended novel of love, tragedy and the power of art' Daily Mail
'I was captivated by this moving, heart-warming and beautifully woven story - gripping, atmospheric, eloquently told and full of rich detail' Kate Furnivall
A Daughter's Price
Emma Hornby - 2020
Gritty and page-turning historical saga set in Northern England in the late 1800s, for fans of Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin.
The Runaway Children: The heartbreaking, page-turning new historical saga from Lindsey Hutchinson for 2022
Lindsey Hutchinson - 2022
The Post Office Girls
Poppy Cooper - 2021
On Beth Healey's eighteenth birthday, she hopes that she will be able to forget the ghastly war and celebrate. But that evening, her twin brother Ned announces that he has signed up to fight. No longer able to stand working in her parents' village shop while others are doing their bit, Beth applies to join the Army Post Office's new Home Depot on the Regent's Park, and is astounded to be accepted. She will be responsible for making sure that letters and parcels get through to the troops on the front line. Beth is thrilled to be a crucial part of the war effort and soon makes friends with fellow post girls Milly and Nora, and meets the handsome James. But just as she begins to feel that her life has finally begun, everything starts falling apart, with devastating consequences for Beth and perhaps even the outcome of the war itself. Can Beth and her new friends keep it all together and find happiness at last?The Post Office Girls is perfect for fans of Johanna Bell, Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell.
EADERS LOVE THE POST OFFICE GIRLS!
'A superb debut novel' - 5 STARS'Entertaining, enlightening and thoroughly enjoyable' - 5 STARS'I absolutely loved this book and I am already eagerly awaiting book two in the series' - 5 STARS'The book gave a wonderful in sight into postal-service life during the war. Well done, Poppy' - 5 STARS'An excellent WW1 book' - 5 STARS
A Last Goodbye
Dee Yates - 2018
In time they're joined by rugged farmhand Tom, come to lend some muscle to Ellen's ageing father, who has begun to find sheep farming hard to manage alone. Almost inevitably romance grows between Ellen and the new arrival but once married however, Ellen discovers that Tom has a brutish side to his character. As war in Europe spreads, she begins to dream of him leaving for the trenches as a way for her to escape.Even with Tom fighting abroad however, the family can not hide from the realities of war as a group of POWs are brought to their valley to build a reservoir. And amongst the men, sworn enemies and shunned by all the locals, Ellen finds a gentler heart that she finds difficult to resist...
The West End Girls
Elaine Roberts - 2020
1914.
Growing up on a farm in the country, Annie Cradwell has always dreamt of singing on stage. So when she hears her friend Joyce has a room to spare in London, she sets off with best friend Rose for an adventure beyond anything they could have imagined. In London, Annie and Rose stumble into jobs first at the Lyceum Theatre. Being a dresser to capricious star Kitty Smythe wasn't exactly what Annie had in mind. But then the musical director, Matthew Harris, offers her singing lessons. And Annie starts to wonder – could this be her chance? Or is it all too good to be true? With the threat of war in the air, everything is uncertain. Is there a place for hopes and dreams when so much is at stake?
Annie, Rose and Joyce are three girls with very different dreams – but the same great friendship. From the author of the beloved Foyles Bookshop Girls series, The West End Girls is the first in a brand new series full of Elaine Roberts' trademark warmth. Perfect for fans of Daisy Styles and Rosie Hendry.