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.
General
Imprint: |
William Morrow
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
August 2023 |
Authors: |
Jennifer Chiaverini
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152 x 31mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
432 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-06-308074-4 |
Categories: |
Books
|
LSN: |
0-06-308074-5 |
Barcode: |
9780063080744 |
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