Michelle Gallen

It's a coming of age story set over one summer in 1994 in a small town near the border with Ireland (aka the Free State). The town's population is roughly half Protestant (Prod) and half Catholic (Taig), but one can (and should) go living all their lives not really engaging with the other half. However, there's an integrated shirt factory in town, which is managed by a shady Brit Andy Strawbridge. Three girls start working there over the summer while waiting for their graduation grades and looking forward to leaving the town and starting college in autumn. It's quite an eventful summer in the lives of the girls.

Loved it! This book is definitely flying under the radar. I wouldn't have read if not for the book club. I'm not particularly interested in Northern Ireland, but I loved the setting and the characters and I loved loved loved the accent (both written and in the audiobook by the amazing Amy Molloy). It's a book with a very strong feeling of place and time. Great craft! The novel is not packed with action - I'd say it's more of a slow-burn. I wouldn't also call it funny, it's more somber than funny, though it's smart and witty and the dialogues are great. A glossary would have been useful, but Google came to rescue.… (altro)

Eighteen year old Maeve Murray has her future planned out. Waiting for her A-level results to be published, she decides to take a summer job in a shirt factory with her closest friends Aoife and Caroline to earn some money before she moves to London to pursue higher education with the intention of embarking on a career in journalism. She can’t wait to get out of her Northern Ireland town and start a new life. Her first step towards independence is getting a summer job (despite the fact that she has to deal with an unpleasant boss whose treatment of his female employees is disrespectful to say the least) and renting a flat with her friend Caroline near her (temporary) workplace. Over the next few months, we follow Maeve as she adjusts to life as a factory worker, meets new people and makes new friends all the while hoping for a better future.

Michelle Gallen’s Factory Girls is an entertaining novel. Maeve is spirited (a bit brash at times) and resourceful. She observes and learns from her experiences, not all of which are pleasant. Set in the summer of 1994, in a small town in Northern Ireland during the last years of the Troubles, this novel gives us a vivid picture of the social and political landscape during those turbulent years. The author touches upon themes of divisiveness between the factions (more political than religious), sectarianism, bias, conflict, sexism and economic hardship, through an engaging narrative and a protagonist you keep rooting for. The narrative is shared from Maeve’s perspectives and we get to know more about her from her memories, which are presented to us through flashbacks. Maeve’s experiences in the factory in a mixed group of people which she considers to be a learning experience that will help her when she moves to London. A likeable protagonist, a cast of interesting characters, a good dose of humor and wit, and the historical context is what works for this novel. However, it took a bit of time to get into the story and I felt that the initial fifty percent of the novel suffers from minor repetitiveness. It also took a while to get used to the dialect. Despite some minor flaws, I did enjoy Michelle Galen’s Factory Girls. I can’t help wonder if we will get more stories from the author featuring Maeve, as she embarks on a new life.

Many thanks to Michelle Gallen, Algonquin Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of this novel. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This novel is due to be released in the USA on November 29, 2022.

My Rating : 3.5⭐️

#FactoryGirls… (altro)