The Shipyard Girls

Welcome, everyone!  I hope all of you have had a delightful Saturday. Today marks the one year anniversary of the death of my father, Gene F. Anderson.  He was a special man who is missed very much. Today I am sharing a book that will take the readers back to 1940 in England where World War II has erupted and men are enlisting.

The Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell is starts in August 1940 and England is at war.  Rosie Thornton is the head welder at J.L. Thompson & Sons in the shipyards in Sunderland, and she will be getting some new recruits to train.  Polly Elliot, Hannah, Gloria, Dorothy Williams, Martha Perkins and Mary are the new hires.  Rosie sizes them up and figures one of them will not last the week (it turns out to be Mary).  Welding is a tough job, but the women are up to the job.  Rosie works hard at the shipyard during the day, but at night she has a second job.  She is not proud of it, but she needs the money to support her sister, Charlotte.  Their parents died in a car accident and their only other family is their sinister uncle, Raymond Gallagher.  Rosie set up Charlotte at Runcorn Girls’ School in Harrogate, Yorkshire.  Rosie will do what she must to protect Charlotte.  But Rosie is always afraid that her secret will get out.  Polly lives with her mother, sister-in-law, and niece.  Polly’s twin brothers are off at war.  Polly sees Tommy Watts one day when he emerges from the water at the shipyards.  Tommy is a deep-sea diver and does underwater repairs to the ships.  Polly is instantly attracted to Tommy (Tommy feels the same way).  But Helen Crawford, the yard’s manager daughter, has her own designs on Tommy.  Helen is not going to let Polly get her in way and sets out to eliminate the competition.  Each woman has her own troubles, but together this group can handle anything that comes their way.  Join Polly, Hannah, Gloria, Dorothy, Martha, and Rosie in The Shipyard Girls.

The Shipyard Girls is the first book in a new series.  The book is well-written and easy to read.  I enjoyed getting to know the various characters in the story.  The Shipyard Girls focuses mainly on Rosie, Polly, and Gloria.  There is a wee bit too much focus on the romance between Polly and Tommy (I admit to skimming a little through the mutual admiration sections).  The Shipyard Girls reminds me of the books by Donna Douglas (which I love).  I give The Shipyard Girls 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it).  There are a couple of slow sections, but they did not detract from my enjoyment of the story.  I liked reading about these six women and the work they did to help the war effort.  The author did a very good job on her research.  I will definitely be reading the next book in series which is The Shipyard Girls at War (coming out in March 2017). Please bear in mind that The Shipyard Girls is a British novel.  It will have British slang and terminology.

I am off to finish up a few chores and then watch the new Hallmark Christmas movie Every Christmas Has A Story.  It stars Lori Loughlin and Colin Ferguson (loved him in Eureka).  I just started reading Unraveling the Pieces by Terri DuLong.  May all of you have a lovely evening.  Make sure to take time to tell your loved ones how much they mean to you! Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader