The Biscuit Factory Girls by Elsie Mason
Genre: Historical fiction, Sagas, WW2
Read: 6th August 2020
Published: 16th April 2020
★ 1 star
DESCRIPTION:
Can Irene find a new home by the docks?
Newly married to dashing RAF officer, Tom, Irene Farley leaves behind her safe countryside life to move in with his family by the docks in South Shields. Little prepares her for the devastation the Jerry bombers have wreaked on the Sixteen Streets or that they would be living under her mother-in-law's roof, alongside Tom's three brothers and their wives!
Irene's only escape is her job at the local Wight's Biscuit factory packing up a little taste of home for the brave boys fighting for King and country across the channel. As the threat of war creeps ever closer to the Sixteen Streets, the biscuit factory girls bond together, because no one can get through this war alone...
The perfect family saga to read this summer, set on the Newcastle streets that inspired Catherine Cookson's bestselling classic The Fifteen Streets, this is the brand new series for fans of Nancy Revell, Elaine Everest and Daisy Styles.
MY REVIEW:
I was excited to read THE BISCUIT FACTORY GIRLS by Elsie Mason but sadly it failed to live up to my expectations. I have read many a wartime drama set all over the UK and I love them all, but this one just didn't hit the mark with me.
It was too slow to begin with, taking four chapters for Tom and Irene to travel to Tyneside and meet his family, then another couple for her to start work at the biscuit factory and endless vicious glaring from her sister in law for no real reason. And then, nothing really happened. It is supposed to be during the war but snitching and sniping seems to be more prevalent than air raids. I had no real sense of it being wartime and just didn't feel connected to the story or its characters in any way.
I didn't like any of the family, except maybe Sam. Beryl was OK but advised Irene to make it up with bitchy Megan rather than get on the wrong side of her. Megan was a total bitch and Ma...I didn't much like her either. Tom featured so little he may not be there at all. Same with the rest of the menfolk. And when Megan sneakily opens Irene's mail and seals it back up again, there's no fallout from that...just a "like it or lump it" kind of attitude.
I really didn't care much for the story, such as it was, or the people in it. In fact, I don't much care to outline the story either because it really just didn't do it for it. The mention of Catherine Cookson in the premise is what attracted me but it is nothing compared to her brilliant stories, so I fail to see how it can compare.
I DNF at 50%...which by then, it should have well and truly enthralled me. And it didn't.
I would like to thank #ElsieMason, #NetGalley and #Orion for an ARC of #TheBiscuitFactoryGirls in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Elsie Mason was born and grew up in South Shields on the real-life Sixteen Streets. Living beside the Tyne Docks inspired her story of the Farley family in The Biscuit Factory Girls series. She now lives in Manchester and writes full time.
Elsie has always wanted to tell the dramatic story of her own extended family in the form of a multi-generational saga. After years as a writer, The Biscuit Factory Girls series is the most personal and heartfelt tale that she has ever embarked on.
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