The Clarks Factory Girls at War by May Ellis - #bookreview

 

"I can't believe we've been at Clarks for two years already," said Louisa. "Do you remember our first day? We thought we were so grown up, didn't we?" She laughed. "We were so wet behind the ears. We've learned a lot since then."

***

Can love blossom in times of trouble?

Life-long friends Louisa, Jeannie and Kate are following in the footsteps of their families, working at the Clarks shoe factory.

But when Britain declares war on Germany, the Somerset village of Street is shaken to its core. The Clarks factory is at the heart of life in the village, but the Clark family are Quakers and pacifists. Before long, there are fierce debates amongst the workers and tensions between those who oppose the war and those who believe the village men should go to fight.

Each of the girls must decide her own position but as brothers and sweethearts leave for France, Louisa is relieved that her sweetheart Mattie, a Quaker, who won’t be signing up. But she’ll soon find that they face fierce opposition at home as well as across the Channel.

Will the girls’ friendship be enough to keep them together, as everything around them falls apart?

***

I have been wanting to read this book for a while, but other books kept getting in the way. Then I was offered the sequel, Courage for the Clarks Factory Girls, for a blog tour next month. It was the perfect nudge to bump this, the first in the Clarks Factory Girls series, up my reading list.

The book is set in Somerset during World War One, and features the lives of three seventeen year old young women; Kate, Jeannie and Louisa. The friendship between them is the main theme of the book and it was well presented. They have been friends since school and I loved the loyalty to one another that they shared.

There is much about the Quaker religion which was very interesting, particularly during a period of war. They were staunch pacifists and refused to go to war which could cause much difficulty within the community and were sometimes labelled as cowards for their beliefs.

The author depicted the period in which the book is set extremely well. The role of women at the time was well portrayed. For example, the lack of equal pay. Also, women were not permitted to vote until 1918, and even then not all women were eligible.  The acceptance of the way in which wives and children were sometimes badly treated by their husband/father was appalling. I would like to say this was confined to the period but even today women and children are still subjected to domestic abuse. However, the author deals with this sensitively and there is certainly nothing graphic in the book.

I have really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book and I can hardly wait to get started on the next book in the series Courage for the Clarks Factory Girls.  Please keep an eye out for my review on the 2nd of July.

ISBN: 978 1835330197

Publisher:  Boldwood Books

Formats:  e-book, audio, hardback and paperback (currently available on Kindle Unlimited)

No. of Pages:  336 (paperback)

About the Author:

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 live s 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.

(author media courtesy of Boldwood Books)