The Tobacco Girls by Lizzie Lane is a historical saga that warms the heart as soon as you pick it up.

Set in Bristol and starting in 1939 as Maisie Miles leaves school. A young woman with her plans for gaining a better life, that is until her father decided she will be working in the W. D. & H. O. Wills tobacco factory. Maisie is certain he has his own agenda for this, but gets her head down and gets on with it.
Bridget Milligan is an eighteen-year-old girl with absolutely no intention of following in her mothers footsteps and filling a house with babies until it is overcrowded. Then we meet Phyllis, engaged to Robert, who is dependable and solid. She has a dream of working in an office as a typist but her parents are of the mind that anything other than her job in the tobacco factory is a waste as she won’t be working when she is married.

These three girls all find friendship and camaraderie together in the tobacco factory. We see their tragedies and joys before the War and as the war begins.

A great historical saga that sends you right back to the era when women only worked until they married and they were at the beck and call of men. I revelled in the era and the characters. Strong friendships and family bonds all merge as one in this emotional and gritty story of times gone by with characters that almost step out of the page they are so fully fleshed out.

In conclusion, a brilliant saga of days gone by that is well written and holds you all the way. I am looking forward to the next book.

Thank you to Rachel’s Random Resources, Boldwood Books and Lizzie Lane for the copy of the book for my review today.