Canary girls

by Jennifer Chiaverini

Large Print, 2023

Publication

New York : Harper Large Print, 2023

Collection

Eiland Center

Call number

Large Print Fiction C

Physical description

672 p.; 23 cm

Status

Available

Call number

Large Print Fiction C

Description

Fiction. Literature. Historical Fiction. HTML: Rosie the Riveter meets A League of Their Own in New York Times bestselling novelist Jennifer Chiaverini's lively and illuminating novel about the "munitionettes" who built bombs in Britain's arsenals during World War I, risking their lives for the war effort and discovering camaraderie and courage on the soccer pitch. Early in the Great War, men left Britain's factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. "Be the Girl Behind the Man Behind the Gun," the recruitment posters beckoned. Thousands of women�??cooks, maids, shopgirls, and housewives�??answered their nation's call. These "munitionettes" worked grueling shifts often seven days a week, handling TNT and other explosives with little protective gear. Among them is nineteen-year-old former housemaid April Tipton. Impressed by her friend Marjorie's descriptions of higher wages, plentiful meals, and comfortable lodgings, she takes a job at Thornshire Arsenal near London, filling shells in the Danger Building�??difficult, dangerous, and absolutely essential work. Joining them is Lucy Dempsey, wife of Daniel Dempsey, Olympic gold medalist and star forward of Tottenham Hotspur. With Daniel away serving in the Footballers' Battalion, Lucy resolves to do her bit to hasten the end of the war. When her coworkers learn she is a footballer's wife, they invite her to join the arsenal ladies' football club, the Thornshire Canaries. The Canaries soon acquire an unexpected fan in the boss's wife, Helen Purcell, who is deeply troubled by reports that Danger Building workers suffer from serious, unexplained illnesses. One common symptom, the lurid yellow hue of their skin, earns them the nickname "canary girls." Suspecting a connection between the canary girls' maladies and the chemicals they handle, Helen joins the arsenal administration as their staunchest, though often unappreciated, advocate. The football pitch is the one place where class distinctions and fears for their men fall away. As the war grinds on and tragedy takes its toll, the Canary Girls persist despite the dangers, proud to serve, determined to outlive the war and rejoice in victory and peace.… (more)

Genres

User reviews

LibraryThing member Cats57

When you see in the book's description: "Rosie the Riveter meets A League of Their Own," it is no lie.

I give this book 5 stars for its historical accuracy, 5 stars for the compelling storyline, and, although interesting, only 3.5 stars for all of the football/soccer (I'm not a huge fan of soccer).

I found it interesting to read the Author's notes on women's Soccer in Britain through the years and how sexist it all was compared to how it is now.

The work in these munitions plants is hair-raising, and I don't think I could do it even for the good of my country. Thank goodness we've invented machines to do jobs such as these. The horror these strong women face by being canary girls is amazing. It's bad enough to worry about being blown to bits, but add in the fact that none of the women complained about their yellowing skin, bleached and yellowing hair, or even the fact that the women were dying from working with TNT. It was not like it would be today.

I love history mixed with my fiction, and this book was perfect for me. I love learning about new things while being entertained by a good story. The stories of April, Helen, Lucy, and Marjorie were heartwarming. There were the expected tragedies...aren't there always s tragedies during wartime? But there was happiness also.

Perfect!

*ARC was supplied by the publisher William Morrow & Company, the author, and NetGalley.

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LibraryThing member blbooks

First sentence: Lucy rested the heavy sack of vegetables and paper-wrapped meat on her hip, reluctant to set it down at her feet beside her suitcase despite the ache in her arms.

My thoughts, part one: I love historical fiction (most of the time). I dislike sports (most of the time). If I had known

ahead of time that this newest one features sports--football (aka soccer)--so heavily, so front and center, I probably would have passed on reading this one.

Premise/plot: This newest novel by Jennifer Chiaverini has multiple narrators. Each narrator is affiliated with the same munitions factory. (One is married to the boss, but oversees here and there some of the concerns of the female workers; she is also involved in the sports team, the Thornshire Canaries.) The others work in the Danger Building doing the most dangerous work--involving potentially deadly chemicals. The factory workers are all experiencing health problems--hair turning ginger, skin turning yellow, sore throats, coughs, etc. The list goes on and on of their symptoms. But the pay is good and the motivation--to end the war quickly--is strong. All have loved ones in the war overseas. No sacrifice is too big when it comes to ending the war. Yes, the characters have names. No, the voices are not unique.

My thoughts: I do enjoy reading fiction and nonfiction about the Great War (aka World War I, the War to End All Wars). I don't necessarily enjoy reading books with multiple narrators particularly when the voices are so similar and all the characterization blends together. I don't know if it is characters blending together OR if all the characters are drawn so shallowly that it seems to blend together. The book is essentially about their friendships--they work together, they sport together, they care about one another.

I skimmed ALL sport-related sections.

Obviously, if you like sports fiction OR enjoy watching sports in real life, then perhaps this one would hold greater appeal.

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LibraryThing member mojomomma

The women left behind in World War I join factories to make munitions for the war effort. The chemicals used were poisonous and caused the women to turn yellow, hence the name “canary girls.”

LibraryThing member thornton37814

Several women unlikely to encounter one another under usual circumstances find themselves working together at a munitions plant housed in a former sewing machine manufacturing facility. Those assigned to the "danger building" find their skin turning yellow. It was due to working with TNT. Because

the male soccer players were in the war, the women of the various plants formed teams and competed in a league. I found the story of their work and health problems more entertaining than the soccer sections, but I grew up in an era when soccer was something "they played in other countries." I did, however, find the bits that told how it once again became "unacceptable" for women to participate in sports once the war was over to be interesting. I felt there was a lot of repetition of some things without moving the story forward that much in places. While I'm sure the reality of life in that time would be much that way, it made the book drag in places. I'm glad I read the story. It tells about a part of World War I that I'd never considered that much.

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LibraryThing member shazjhb

Excellent book about a group of women working in a munitions factory during WWI. Who knew TNT was such a dangerous substance. The best part was the story about Soccer as men were fighting the girls were able to play. Multiple issues. It is a longish book but great for bookclub

LibraryThing member riofriotex

Most Americans have heard of Rosie the Riveter, the icon for women workers in U.S. factories during World War II. But have you ever heard of Canary Girls?

I never had! "Canary Girls" was a nickname for a particular group of munitionettes, which in turn was a name used for women who worked in British

ammunition plants during World War I. Canary girls did some of the most dangerous work, filling bomb shells with explosive trinitrotoluene (TNT), which also turned their skin and hair yellow - hence the nickname. In some cases, though, canary girls suffered more serious health problems.

The story is told through three main narrators - April, a former housemaid; Lucy, wife of a soccer (British football) player and mother of two sons; and Helen, a second-generation German who is the wife of the manager of one of the munitions plants. April and Lucy are canary girls; Helen joins the plant administration to be their advocate. All three play for the plant's women's football team, trying to win the (real) Munitionettes' Cup. Other women working in the plant and playing on the team, as well as a few men (Lucy's and Helen's husbands, and one of the latter's assistants), round out the minor characters.

Author Jennifer Chiaverini herself described the book as "Rosie the Riveter meets A League of Their Own" (the movie about women's professional baseball during World War II), and that's pretty accurate. Although I'm not a sports fan, I really enjoyed this story.

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