The Steel Girls

Written by Michelle Rawlins

Narrated by Laura Brydon

When war breaks out, friendship will see them through

‘A heart-warming story perfect for saga lovers’, Nancy Revell,Sunday Times bestselling author of The Shipyard Girls series

Sheffield, 1939. With war declared, these brave women will step up and do their bit for their country

Housewife Nancy never dreamed that she’d end up in Vickers steelworks factory but when husband Bert is called up to serve, she needs to put food on the table for her two young children.

Betty’s sweetheart William has joined the RAF Reserves so she can’t sit around and do nothing – even if it means giving up her ambitions to study law at night school.

Young Patty is relishing the excitement the war brings. But this shop-girl is going to have to grow up quickly, especially now she’s undertaking such back-breaking and dangerous work in the factory.

The Steel Girls start off as strangers but quickly forge an unbreakable bond of friendship as these feisty factory sisters vow to keep the foundry fires burning during wartime.

‘Hardship, courage and hope on the Home Front’ Kate Thompson, bestselling author of Secrets of the Lavender Girls

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Readers LOVE The Steel Girls!

‘Enjoyed this lovely story from the first page’
‘I’d love to read more about these inspirational ladies’
‘A heartwarming story’
‘The bravery of these women was deeply moving, I loved it!’
‘I was so engrossed from the start’
‘A really entertaining, feel-good and heartwarming read’

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Release date: Apr 15, 2021
• ISBN: 9780008427306

Reviews for The Steel Girls

[nicx27 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I've been looking forward to reading The Steel Girls since I first heard that Michelle Rawlins was writing it. She's taken all the research, knowledge and first-hand accounts that she garnered whilst writing her non-fiction book, Women of Steel, and applied it to this, her first work of fiction.The Steel Girls is set in Sheffield and focuses on the women who, during World War II, went to work in the steelworks for which the city is so well known. We meet Nancy, Betty and Patty, the girls of the title. Nancy is the eldest of the three, not old enough to be Betty and Patty's mother, but she becomes the mother figure of the group when she joins the workforce at Vickers steelworks to keep her mind off what is happening to her husband after he is called up. Betty puts her ambitions to be a lawyer on hold and Patty is really just after a fella to call her own. The women forge a strong friendship amidst the harsh working conditions.I thought this was an absolutely delightful read in the saga genre, a gentle story with an undercurrent of pure grit. The women face not only prejudice from the men who think a woman can't do their job, but also the dangerous, noisy and dirty factory environment. I can't possibly imagine how scary it must have been to enter the building and be faced with the heat and the racket but Rawlins certainly helped me to envisage it. This first book in the trilogy concentrates on the very beginning of the war, as men are called up and women learn to cope without them. I really felt for Nancy, Betty and Patty as they learned a new way to live, showing tremendous courage and more than a touch of feistiness. I thought they were really lovely characters and felt that the author poured her heart and soul into bringing them to life. This is a story of friendship, camaraderie, and just getting on with it. I'm really looking forward to catching up with the girls in book two, Christmas Hope for the Steel Girls.