Heroes of the Home Front

Factory Girls #2

by Annie Clarke

December 1941, North East England: It takes courage to risk your life every day.

Despite the recent loss of her father, Sarah is settling well into her new role at the munitions factory. Her blossoming romance with pitman Stan is a welcome distraction from the dangerous working conditions. But a shocking revelation is about to put everything on the line.

Meanwhile Fran is desperately missing her sweetheart Davey, who has been conscripted to work at Bletchley Park. Beth is longing for someone too – and it’s not her husband on the front line…

As the factory girls face hardship on the home front, they will discover that the heroes they need are already by their side.

400 pages, Paperback

Published September 19, 2019

Reviews

[Teresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I seem to be in the minority here with this series. Again I found this to be over long and repetitive. I got really tired of the word Bliddy which seemed to appear on every page and was All or nothing at All the only song they knew?
I did enjoy parts of the story. I love anything set in this time period and learning about the lives of the pit families was interesting. However, they were all a bit too good to be true. People who were horrible and unkind and down right cruel, were forgiven and it was their mission to make all right with the world.
It was all just a bit much for me.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have loved reading about the Factory Girls Franny,Sarah and Beth along with their boyfriends, husbands and their mothers.Faced with the horrid work they do the sing and they have such beautiful voices,Following the deaths of their fathers in the pit caused by the whelp they find it hard to cope but then sarah finds her mom drunk and this brings back bad memories.The co-op are their to help sarah and are determined to help their friend to grieve.I have loved these books as my dads mom was also called Annie Hall.Thank you Annie Clarke i cannot wait for book three so well done this book is Brilliant 5*

[Booklover BEV · Rating 5 out of 5]

After thoughly enjoying girl's on the homefront, I was ready for heroes that starts in December 1941 in the north east pit village of massingham. Fran Beth and Sarah still working hard at the munitions factory during this dreadful war. The Factory Girl's choir kept them going. As I am from the north east I loved this book with so much humour these lasses are joined at t'hip. This book is so full of warmth tears love laughter as well as touchingly sad in places. I loved the old photo's of one familiar place for me at the end of the book and looking forward to reading the next in the series did someone mention a wedding? Loved it all its a bliddy good book.

[Shruti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Annie Clarke does it again! This sequel was just as great as Book 1, with more badass women, a beautifully executed redemption arc, and a stronger-than-ever-before sense of community!

Read the entire review on This is Lit.

[mois reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The massingham girls

I really loved reading about the girls there families and the loves of there life's but in happiness comes tragedy 5 stars .

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely series

[Pauline Chamberlain · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good saga set in ww2

[Anita Dent · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to reading this book as it was set in an area familiar to me however the only place I was able to recognise was Newcastle RVI. The story was ok, if a little predictable.

[Nicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having enjoyed Anne's previous book 'girls on the home front' I was excited to read this book.

It once again follows Sarah and her friends Fran and Beth who live in Massingham, a mining village. Sarah is still mourning the recent death of her father, and working at the local munitions factory.

There are lots of unexpected events and some new characters to get to know, as well as lots of familiar ones.

I really enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed the previous one, and I am looking forward to the next one to see where life takes our factory girls next!

[Shreedevi Gurumurty · Rating 5 out of 5]

December 1941, North East England: It takes courage to risk your life every day.Despite the recent loss of her father, Sarah is settling well into her new role at the munitions factory. Her blossoming romance with pitman Stan is a welcome distraction from the dangerous working conditions. But a shocking revelation is about to put everything on the line.Meanwhile Fran is desperately missing her sweetheart Davey, who has been conscripted to work at Bletchley Park. Beth is longing for someone too – and it’s not her husband on the front line…As the factory girls face hardship on the home front, they will discover that the heroes they need are already by their side.The Rural Pie Scheme was organised by the Ministry of Food to provide pies for labourers in the countryside who did not have access to a works canteen or British Restaurant. It started in 1942.Workers' Playtime was a British radio variety programme transmitted by the BBC between 1941- 1964.Originally intended as a morale-booster for industrial workers in Britain during WWII, the programme was broadcast at lunchtime, three times a week, live from a factory canteen "somewhere in Britain".Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the war.The estate housed the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), which regularly penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers – most importantly the German Enigma and Lorenz ciphers. The nature of the work there was secret until many years after the war.The Newcastle Blitz refers to the strategic bombing of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England by the Nazi German Luftwaffe. Close to 400 people were killed between July 1940 and December 1941 during bombing raids on the city.'Sassenach' is a Scottish term for an English person.Geordie is a nickname for a person from the Tyneside area of North East England,and the dialect used by its inhabitants, also known in linguistics as Tyneside English or Newcastle English.