The Mill Girls: Moving true stories of love and loss from inside Lancashire's cotton mills

by Tracy Johnson

'I dragged my heels all the way to the mill. ‘I can’t do it!’ I sulked. Mother sighed and shook her head. My heart sank. Of course, I’d seen the mill hundreds of times before, but now it was different – now, I was going in. I’d never seen a place so depressing; I wanted to cry.'With tales from hardworking Audrey and mischievous Maureen to high-spirited Doris and dedicated Marjorie, The Mill Girls is an evocative story of hardship and friendship from when cotton was still king. Through the eyes of these northern mill girls, we are offered a fascinating glimpse into the lives of ordinary women who rallied together, nattered over the beamers and, despite the difficult conditions, weaved, packed and laughed to keep the cotton mills spinning.

Genres: Nonfiction, British Literature

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2014

Reviews

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Mill Girls" is a compilation of four separate memoirs before and during WW2. It's an interesting read, though not a riveting one. I thought it was noteworthy that in almost every story, all members of the households who were of age, worked. There were no Susie Homemakers here. There wasn't that luxury. And even with several wages coming in, life was stark.

The most memorable passage in here, to me, was in story one, where the woman talked about "making do" with liquid paraffin in place of butter since they were only rationed 2oz per week. That just floored me. But the author stated that with saccharin and a bit of jam it wasn't half bad. (!) I just can't get my mind around that...

Sometimes the stories ran together since they were all describing the same scene (although from different angles and personality) so at times it felt a little repetitive. But overall it's a quick enjoyable read.

MY RATING: PG (for mild profanity)

*I received a free ecopy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Jackie Todd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not usually into non-fiction but…YES YES YES to this! So fascinating learning about these women’s lives in the mill, and the way they told their stories was engaging - it never lagged. I listening to it as an audiobook which added a little something extra with the accents ✨chef’s kiss✨

Both entertaining AND I learned lots - yay!

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested by this book so that I could learn more about my 'part of the woods', Lancashire, at a time before I was born when cotton built the Northern cities. The book is comprised of 4 short biographies of Northern women who at some point worked in a mill. I wanted to love this book but found it repetitive, it was clear that the interviewer/editor of the book had asked the ladies all exactly the same follow up questions - which at points were answered almost word for word by each person giving their story.

Something that annoyed me personally was that in complaining about their lives, they all found it important to point out, usually on several occasions, "how easy younguns have it these days" I am certain that conditions were bad back then, but having to work for a living in the north of England in 2015 is still tough no matter what and is exaggerated in the minds of people who don't have first-hand experience of this (the older generation). For example, it was complained about that at one job she didn't get a "brew break" (on top of lunch hour and breakfast break) and couldn't stand around chatting unlike today apparently, couldn't always go to the toilet whenever she wanted to like today apparently, and that if kids these days don't like what they do then they just leave and start a new job or go on benefits. Unfortunately these otherwise nice old ladies seem to have been reading a bit too much of the Daily Mail.

There are some interesting revelations of life back in the 40s and of lost traditional family values. Still worth a go for the trip back in time.

[ReadAlongWithSue ★⋆. ࿐࿔catching up · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was separate memoirs before and during WW2 from different angles from different people.

I really didn't know what I was expecting, but I didn't expect this.

It was an OK read, didn't keep my attention much though to be honest. If this was made more into a novel I might have read it with a different frame of mind.

Its well written, no reflection on the author, just that I wasn't expecting it to be Memoirs I suppose.


I would like to thank Random House UK, Ebury Publishing via Net Galley for allowing me to download this book to read and review.

If you like Memoirs then this is the book for you, however, there are some repeats within it although from others points of view.

[Sophia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually read this sort of book. I thought it was really interesting though, since I like history and to kow how common ppl lived. I Think you get a good picture of the time and the honesty in not remembering or caring about some things. The only thing is that the same things are stated many times over and over again, so that got on my nerves. Like "YES I KNOOOOOOOOOW, move on" But it's still a very good book.

[Jocelet Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great once you got going

It took me a good few pages to get into this book but once I got started there was no stopping me, if you live near any sort of mill or if there were mills around you this makes for great reading, I live in the Scottish Borders so it's will mills where I am , or should say there were spoken mills sadly they've closed their doors too which is so 😢, my mother in law worked in the Lancashire cotton mills many years back but she passed many years ago as the mills there sadly closed their doors too, as I said it made for interesting reading once you get a few pages in,

[Kathryn Fitzpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stories of four women who worked in Lancashire cotton mills around World War 2. They could have done with a firmer editing hand and a bit more variety. There were some gems of everyday life and hardship though, like the family of 5 who only had 3 dining chairs so the kids had to take turns to sit down.

[Patricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A trip down memory lane

Although I never worked in the cotton mills in Lancashire both my parents did so I loved hearing the stories from these women. The camaraderie stays with you for life and makes you the person you become.

[Helen Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mill

Brilliant book
I enjoy reading about the stories people tell about their lives. This was very interesting learning a little about the jobs in the mill. Also reading about how their lives turned out

Thank you

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, light read, memoir of the recollections of four women’s lives as young girls and the choices they had/ or didn’t have once school was finished. Their thoughts on having to work in the cotton mills and how it became a large part of their lives.

[Patricia Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mill girls

Average enjoyable bok about young girls just out of school and working at the Mills ,ll about there individual experiences it was a heartwarming book would recommend it as a good read 📚

[Jemima Wakeham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uplifting

Very nice to hear the memories of these women in times that had great runtimes that outdid the seriousness. Really good

[christine glover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mill girls

Good read,....my mum worked in the mills as a girl, so it gave me an idea how she worked, she married at 19.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book as some of the girls were from my hometown. A bomb was dropped on Chatburn Mill. I found out from relatives that my dad obtained part of the shell.

[jean sargent · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book really enjoyed reading it as I love reading anything historical. It was so interesting reading about the mill and all the different names for the jobs there. Also their lives out of work at home and what they did for entertainment

[Caroline De Silva · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

I really loved this book. Us people these days don’t know how lucky we are. They made life out of what they had. It wasn’t a lot

[Josie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[Audiobook version]

Granted, books called "The ____ Girls" are usually formulaic, but I found this less engaging than, say, The Sugar Girls, The Biscuit Girls, or Bomb Girls. (Side note: why is it always girls and not women?) There were only four separate women's stories, and none of them seemed to particularly stand out as having anything interesting to say about working in a mill.