Canary Girls

Chiaverini (Resistance Women) adds to the glut of revisionist war stories featuring strong women characters with a serviceable if overlong tale focused on England during WWI, where women were encouraged to take jobs in industry and agriculture. Former suffragette Helen Purcell marries an industrialist who converts his family’s sewing machine manufacturer into a munitions factory. Poor young April Tipton, tired of the grueling work of a housemaid, learns she can make a better wage in a factory. Lucy Dempsey’s famous footballer husband is away with the English Footballers’ Battalion. All three women converge at Purcell’s arsenal, where April and Lucy work as “munitionettes” in the Danger Building filling fuse caps with yellow TNT powder. Soon, their skin turns yellow, earning them the nickname “canary girls” but also giving them chest pain, coughs, and vomiting. Helen, with her clout as the boss’s wife, becomes the factory’s welfare supervisor to monitor the girls’ health. Meanwhile, Lucy helps organize a factory football team, a welcome distraction. Though Chiaverini takes too long establishing the characters, she succeeds at immersing readers in 1914 London, with convincing details of munitions manufacturing, stark class disparities, patriotic duty, and soccer matches. Those willing to go the distance will root for these indomitable women. Agent: Maria Massie, Massie & McQuilkin. (July)