Tag Archive | Kerry Barrett

Victory For The Sewing Factory Girls by Posy Lovell

Nov1

Camaraderie

Victory For The Sewing Factory Girls by Posy Lovell is a marvellous historical novel and one that I just could not put down. I absolutely loved it.

The novel is set at Clydebank, Scotland in 1916. It surrounds the munitions factory. We see how everyone does what they can for the war effort. It is a dangerous environment with the risk of explosions and the girls turning yellow and damaging their health. Health and safety is unheard of, but the factory owner listens to the concerns of the women.

With the menfolk away at war, the women step into their shoes. “The men have gone… and it’s up to the women to keep things going.” The women have a camaraderie as they help and support each other where they can. The gap between the classes is bridged as the factory owner’s daughter rubs shoulders with the women on the factory floor, helping where she can.

There is no welfare state. It is up to the women to organize relief for themselves.

Football is in its’ infancy. The women in the factory relax and enjoy kicking a ball around. Factories all over the country decide to organize themselves and play each other. This brings the communities together. The town offers support, uniting people.

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The Hidden Women by Kerry Barrett

Jan15

No Regrets

The Hidden Women by Kerry Barrett is a gripping contemporary and historical novel that will have your emotions shot to pieces.

The book celebrates the groundbreaking achievements of the first female pilots in WWII. Their bravery and courage is to be admired. They are very much modern women seeking equality with men in an age of inequality.

The Hidden Women explores the underground network of women who stood up for and helped other women, at the risk to their own liberty. Unwanted pregnancies in the war years were not uncommon, helping these women with secret adoptions and more was not. Brave women risked prison to help those with nowhere to turn. This novel is a tribute to those brave women who helped those whom society preferred to judge rather than love.

The dual timeline explores how attitudes have changed. The reader is treated to two different voices in the two time periods. Both are in the first person so we become intimately acquainted with both women and their gutsy personalities.

The women in the novel are strong in comparison with the men who seem weak and some of whom take advantage of the minors in their charge.

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