Thursday 19 July 2018

The Factory Girls of Lark Lane - Pam Howes


About the book… 

The Factory Girls of Lark Lane: A heartbreaking wartime family saga.

The struggles of war will build the strongest of friendships…

1940, Liverpool: Best friends Alice Turner and Millie Markham work for the war effort at Rootes munitions factory, making shell caps and Halifax bombers. Alice’s sweetheart Terry is home from the front for a brief period of leave, and the women are excitedly planning a whirlwind wedding.

But the honeymoon is soon over, and the ever-present air raid sirens quickly bring Alice back down to earth. When a terrible explosion at the factory leads to a tragic death, and a loved one is announced missing in action, it’s only their friendship and the support of the other factory girls which help to keep Alice and Millie’s spirits up.

As the war stretches on with no sign of an ending, can Alice and Millie help one another make it through – and find happiness even in the darkest of times?

The Factory Girls of Lark Lane is a heart-wrenching family saga about women in World War 2, the strength of friendship, and hope. If you’re a fan of Nadine Dorries, Diney Costeloe and Kitty Neale, you’ll love Pam Howes!

Buy Links: 
Buy now via Amazon: mybook.to/TFGoLLSocial

About the author… 
Pam is a retired interior designer, mum to three daughters, grandma to seven assorted grandchildren and roadie to her musician partner.
The inspiration for Pam’s first novel came from her teenage years, working in a record store, and hanging around with musicians who frequented the business. 
The first novel evolved into a series about a fictional band The Raiders. She is a fan of sixties music and it’s this love that compelled her to begin writing.


My thoughts…
I was given an ecopy of this book in exchange for an honest review by Bookouture,  Pam Howes publisher.  This is something I'm more than happy to do.

Reading The Factorg Girls of Lark Lane was pure nostalgia to me.  It took me straight back to my teenage years where I worked in an office on an industrial estate in Speke, Liverpool. I spent my lunch breaks reading books set in the city during the war years by Maureen Lee, Helen Forrester and Lyn Andrews.

Pam Howes more than lives up to these icons and has captured the true essence of a city and period of time where your friends were your family and people shared what little they had - pulling together to support each other during desperate times.

Despite the hurt and tragedy that affected the tight knit community there was also fun and laughter, everyone appreciating the small things and each other, grateful that they survived the night through another air raid, huddled together with neighbours and friends listening for the bombs that devastated whole streets at a time - the sense of pride, generosity and support spills from the pages of this beautifully sad yet uplifting story. 

Despite not reading any other books in this series I was soon wrapped up in the lives of friends Alice and Millie and their families. It's hard to imagine being married for a day and your husband going off to war, leaving you expecting a baby and no idea of when you may see each other again - the strength of character and acceptance of life and it's restraints  is demonstrated throughout this book beautifully.

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