Review – The Toffee Factory Girls

“Some may say I’m ruthless, reckless, a rebel. But all those ingredients, along with the best cream and top-quality sugar, go to make Jack’s toffees the best in the land.”

Chester Le Street, 1915. A war raging on longer than people had predicted, men enlisting in their masses and a huge factory in need of some order, hard work and a rebrand? Get some women in to sort it all out! Hetty, Anne and Elsie make the perfect trio in the first of Glenda Young’s latest trilogy ‘The Toffee Factory Girls’, which has all the ingredients of a gripping and un-putdownable saga; and is wrapped up with intrigue that has left me itching to know what happens next.

No-nonsense, organised Anne was my favourite from the start, but as with all of Glenda’s novels, I found myself constantly re-evaluating me opinions of each character as the story progressed. As a type-A person myself, I instantly related to Anne, but together with ditzy Elsie and dependable Hetty the three girls form a perfect blend of personalities which compliment each other, and are a force to be reckoned with when they work together. Without spoiling anything for those who are yet to read this, it became clear from early in the plot that Anne has a rich back story which I am intrigued to learn more about as the trilogy progresses. Glenda has once again mastered that fine balance of giving enough to really pique the reader’s curiosity, sending the cogs in my imagination whirring as I turned each page, but maintaining the mystery right until the end, which has left the door firmly open for us to (hopefully) delve deeper into her history next time, which I can’t wait for.

“If you want my advice, take happiness where you find it. You never know when your life will be turned upside down.”

One of the main things that I love about Glenda’s novels is the complexity of her characters. Although Anne was initially my favourite, I don’t mind admitting that I was frustrated at some of her treatment towards Hetty and Elsie at times. But, as with autonomous humans in real life, well-written characters seldom do what we want them to, or at least not consistently. Anne is exactly the type of complex female heroine that I have no doubt told Glenda exactly how her story pans out, and not the other way around! Similarly, I took an instant dislike to the somewhat immature Elsie, particularly after her early betrayal of Hetty, but through her complex personal journey throughout the story, I found myself really rooting for her by the time I closed the cover, and can’t wait to see her continue onwards and upwards (hopefully) when we see her again next time. Hetty felt, to me, like the glue which holds the group together, and could easily have become the typical passive ‘best friend’ character, who probably would have been given a back seat in favour of the more vibrant Anne and Elsie by many other authors. However, I presume Glenda is a dab hand at juggling from the way she perfectly balances all three girls’ stories with equal parts of drama, suspense and love. As a feminist it pains me to admit it, but something I really love about Hetty’s story is the bubbling romance, which is even sweeter than the toffees she wraps. But having said that, Hetty strikes me as the kind of girl who has always been overlooked. Expected to put her own wishes and feelings aside in order to support everyone around her, which is what makes her such a loyal friend, so if anyone deserves to have someone notice her and shower her with a bit of love, it’s our Hetty.

Again, as with all of Glenda’s other saga novels, the setting is so vibrant that it’s almost like another protagonist in itself. Despite being relatively local to Chester-Le-Street, I had no idea about the real factory which inspired Jack’s Toffee, but now I almost feel like I’ve been there because it’s described in such vivid detail as the plot progresses. I could practically smell the toffee wafting out of each page turn.

All in all, although ‘The Toffee Factory Girls’ has all the key elements of a typical saga – romance, mystery, feisty heroines and a rich array of background characters who swirl the plot around and keep the reader guessing until the end (and beyond), it certainly stands out from the others on the shelves. Once again, Glenda Young has taken a relatively forgotten and mundane chunk of local history, and given it a rich and exciting new life. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next for The Toffee Factory Girls, because if this first instalment is anything to go by, I know it won’t disappoint.

Review – The Widow’s Choice

“One thing I’ve learnt this past year, is that you don’t ever know what’s around the corner.”

She’s BACK! No, not just the fantastic Nancy Revell, but one of our beloved, fierce and fabulous women welders from Thompson’s.

Of course if you’ve even so much as skimmed over my earlier blog posts, it’s obvious that I (like many, many others) was/am a huge fan of ‘The Shipyard Girls series’, and was therefore waiting with baited breath to see what Nancy had for us next. No pressure there, right? ‘The Shipyard Girls’ was such a huge hit with saga readers, and beyond, so it must have been pretty daunting for Nancy to follow on from. Think The Spice Girls – yes, we eventually got ‘Spice Up Your Life’ which was an absolute bop, but when the first creative success you have is ‘Wannabe’, it’s basically impossible to immediately follow that with something equally brilliant (sorry ‘Say You’ll Be There, you just didn’t cut it for me). So I’ll be honest, I did no background research on ‘The Widow’s Choice’. I decided to approach it completely fresh, tried to put all things ‘Shipyard Girls’ out of my head, opened the pages and prepared to just appreciate it for whatever it was, whether that be another smash or something akin to that slightly less catchy second pop single. However, as always, Nancy knocked it out of the park.

Excited is an understatement to describe the moment I realised ‘The Widow’s Choice’ was a follow-on from ‘The Shipyard Girls’. Although the ‘Shipyard Girls’ saga ended with a wholly satisfying and heartwarming finale, they are all such fantastic characters that I will always have room for more of their stories. Like Downton Abbey – the series finale was completely *chef’s kiss* and tied up all the ends, but the subsequent films were like a wonderful dessert after an already fabulous meal, just like ‘The Widow’s Choice’. Having said that, however, Nancy has managed to perfectly strike that difficult balance between nods to the individual characters’ histories which thrill the familiar fans (hello Dr Eris – I spotted you towards the end!) and a rich plot which takes the reader on such an exciting and unpredictable journey that it works entirely as a standalone novel. So, if you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t read ‘The Shipyard Girls’, do not let this be a barrier to picking up ‘The Widow’s Choice’; although I would also urge you to start on ‘The Shipyard Girls’ after, because that’s equally gripping and un-put-downable.

“Angie owed it to all of them to put on a brave face and to start getting on with life again.”

So, we find our beloved Angie and Quentin four years on from VE day, and my goodness haven’t things changed! Angie has navigated the transition from coalminer’s daughter come woman welder to mistress of the manor, although I can imagine that the process of this was far from seamless, particularly once we’re introduced to Quentin’s mother Evelyn – monster in law if ever I saw one! Nancy Revell really does know how to write a baddie that we love to hate. I did wonder if Evelyn had ever come across our old favourite villain Miriam in their mutual social circles, although I dread to think of the chaos which that combination of personalities would ensue. The phrase ‘folie a deux’ springs to mind.

Although she is lady of the manor now, I was quickly relieved to find that our Angie hasn’t changed too much. She may be far from the impulsive, fun-loving and carefree girl we met several years back, but she certainly hasn’t forgotten her roots. When tragedy strikes in the opening chapter, Angie is understandably distraught and has the wind well and truly knocked out of her sails. But, with her motley crew of younger siblings in tow, as well as a spirited toddler of her own in the mix by now, the support of the eclectic mix of household staff and a fabulous new friend Clemmie (who even gives our Dor a run for her money), she rises to the challenge and, of course, comes out on top. And, in classic Nancy Revell saga style, does so with a new romance so fiery leaves even the draughtiest corners of mid-Winter Cuthford Manor, toasty warm.

I’m already counting down to the next installment, and can’t wait to see what Nancy has planned next for Angie and her tribe!

*Nancy Revell’s books are enjoyed by all ages in this family!*

Review – The Sixpenny Orphan

“The future was full of possibilities, making her mind race and her heart soar.”

We all know that Glenda Young has asserted herself as one of the main faces in the saga genre. When I pick up one of her books I don’t even need to read the blurb as I know I’ll be hooked from the start; frantically flipping the pages with baited breath, desperately needing to know what happens next. Of course, ‘The Sixpenny Orphan’ was no exception.

One of the reasons I love Glenda’s saga novels is her consistent ability to write amazing heroines who overcome huge adversity, have incredible strength and both inspire and humble the reader; although this time, she truly outdid herself by giving us not one, but two! My initial prediction when I realised this story was one of two sisters, was that there would be a typical ‘good’ and ‘bad’ one, the latter of which I would love to hate. However, as Glenda does so often, she took what could have been a typical saga plot and broke away from that mould, putting her own unique spin on these characters. Although we quickly learn that Poppy is the slightly more outspoken of the two, I was surprised and pleased as the story progressed and the complexity of both characters began to unfold as the chapters (and years) went by, with both Poppy and Rose having strengths and flaws which were unique to each of their multi-faceted personalities.

I wouldn’t say I had a favourite between Poppy and Rose, since both had their own, equally rich and intriguing personal histories, but one aspect of the overall story which really stood out to me was Poppy’s struggle to balance meeting the needs of her children, husband and sister; to say nothing of her job and responsibility of running the house. Some feelings simply transcend eras, and the overwhelm which comes from meeting the emotional needs of everyone around you whilst carrying the mental load for the household as a collective, is a feeling shared by mothers, or ‘default parents’ everywhere. A great deal of Poppy and Rose’s struggles were, although very emotional, quite unrelatable for a typical 2023 reader, most of whom simply cannot comprehend that level of poverty and inequality, but the emotionally drained mother trying her best to do it all is a feeling which struck a cord with me, and probably many others, instantly.

Glenda has an amazing ability to write inspiring heroines who we are all rooting for, but what ‘The Sixpenny Orphan’ really highlighted for me is Glenda’s aptitude for writing truly incredible leading men. I have touched on this before, but the character of Sid really emphasized this for me. The world of fiction is absolutely littered with dreamy, idealistic men, but being able to create one which has appeal within the context of a mining village in 1919 is no easy task. In a time and social context where women and men had very clear roles, defined both legally and culturally; decades away from women having the most basic of rights such as their own bank account (which is ridiculous when we consider the fact that most, if not all, of our Ryhope heroines work in some capacity, but the patriarchy never did make sense to me), it must have been incredibly hard to write a man who is appealing to a 2023 audience and yet still believable in the context of the plot. Of course Glenda nailed this though, and our lovely Sid embodies all the qualities we want in a modern man; he’s supportive of Poppy’s dreams, values her family and is a relatively hands-on dad (a term I despise), but is still very much of his time in that we still wouldn’t trust him to make a batch of soup or to tackle the mammoth task of laundry day. But, when it really matters, he is wholeheartedly there for Poppy and her sister. Not that she needs him of course, because like the rest of Glenda’s heroines, she is more than strong enough to face the world on her own, even more so with her sister.

“I daresay you can cope with anything life chucks at you.”

Similarly, I really enjoyed the glimpses we had into Ambrose and Ella’s relationship. Although secondary characters, it was moving to see how Ambrose truly sees Ella as his equal and values their business as a joint venture; another modern man like our Sid. I like to think that seeing this relationship at an early age (even when she was being told off) is what taught Poppy that she shouldn’t settle when it comes to her own choice of husband. A lesson which, thankfully, Rose eventually seems to learn too. Some of our Ryhope heroines weren’t quite able to get the measure of the right man, but Poppy especially seems to know what she wants and isn’t prepared to settle. It’s not often I celebrate the male characters over the females, but the world could definitely use more Sids and Ambroses!

Another thing which I particularly enjoyed about ‘The Sixpenny Orphan’ was Lil Mahone’s redemption arc. For those of us who have followed Glenda’s Ryhope sagas up to now, Lil has become the one we all love to hate; her gossip might help to move a plot along nicely from time to time, but I would really hate to know her. Although, having said that, I think every street has a Lil Mahone in some form; and she would absolutely be the diligent, Karen-esque admin of her local village Facebook group if she were around today.

All in all, even though I’ve had many, many visits to Glenda’s world of 1919 Ryhope, she continues to churn out fresh characters and plots which make the stories of this familiar village feel like we’re visiting for the first time. The only thing I was left wanting more of from ‘The Sixpenny Orphan’, is Rose’s story. I would be so interested to read this same novel written from Rose’s perspective, to really get into how things felt from where she stood.