Overview
Rosie the Riveter meetsĀ A League of Their Own in New York TimesĀ bestselling author Jennifer Chiaveriniās lively and illuminating novel about the āmunitionettesā who built bombs in Britainās arsenals during World War I, risking their lives for the war effort and discovering camaraderie and courage on the football pitch.
Early in the Great War, men left Britainās factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. āBe the Girl Behind the Man Behind the Gun,ā the recruitment posters beckoned.
Thousands of womenācooks, maids, shopgirls, and housewivesāanswered their nationās call. These āmunitionettesā 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 Marjorieās descriptions of higher wages, plentiful meals, and comfortable lodgings, she takes a job at Thornshire Arsenal near London, filling shells in the Danger Buildingādifficult, 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 Footballersā Battalion, Lucy resolves to do her bit to hasten the end of the war. When her coworkers learn she is a footballerās wife, they invite her to join the arsenal ladiesā football club, the Thornshire Canaries.
The Canaries soon acquire an unexpected fan in the bossās 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 ācanary girls.ā Suspecting a connection between the canary girlsā 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.
This book title, Canary Girls (A Novel), ISBN: 9780063080751, by Jennifer Chiaverini, published by HarperCollins (August 6, 2024) is available in paperback. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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