Secrets of the Singer Girls

Description

1942. Sixteen-year-old Poppy Percival turns up at the gates of Trout's clothing factory in Bethnal Green with no idea what her new life might have in store. There to start work as a seamstress and struggling to get to grips with the noise, dirt and devastation of East London, Poppy can't help but miss the quiet countryside of home. But Poppy harbours a dark secret - one that wrenched her away from all she knew and from which she is still suffering . . . And Poppy's not the only one with a secret. Each of her new friends at the factory is hiding something painful. Vera Shadwell, the forelady, has had a hard life with scars both visible and concealed; her sister Daisy has romantic notions that could get her in trouble; and Sal Fowler, a hardworking mother who worries about her two evacuated boys for good reason. Bound by ties of friendship, loyalty and family, the devastating events of the war will throw each of their lives into turmoil but also bring these women closer to each other than they could ever have imagined.

Kate Thompson is a journalist with over fifteen years' experience as a writer for the broadsheets and women's weekly magazines. She is now freelance and, as well as writing for newspapers, she's a seasoned ghostwriter. Secrets of the Singer Girls is her first novel.

Marvellous, full of gutsy characters I immediately empathised with. -- Margaret Pemberton The way Kate Thompson writes ... made me feel that I was reading about old friends. I just had to keep the pages turning. I am sure that before long her readers will be clamouring for more. -- Pam Weaver An evocative tale of a time when women battled together to survive and do their bit in the most difficult of circumstances. -- Ellie Dean A riveting and wonderful read. -- Mary Wood A poignant and moving story of the friendship of women during wartime Britain. -- Val Wood