Wartime with the Tram Girls by Lynn Johnson- historical fiction (WW1)
Constance is nineteen. Her father is keen to find her a husband to take good care
of her. This is 1913 and the women's suffragette movement is on the rise as is the
likelihood of war. She meets Matthew just as he signs up and goes off for his
training but in a brief visit home they get engaged. After she learns of her family’s
current situation and her own disasters she decides that she would like to earn
some money as well as help the war effort and sets out to become a clippie on
the trams- a world away from the privileged upbringing she has had up to this
point. A story of how things changed for many, especially women during this
time and how women were taken for granted. I really enjoyed this and learnt
something along the way. It's not just about war( in fact that is really only the
background story), it's about “needs must” determination and pushing
through. There were not only gender barriers but class ones too. Many
houses had staff and when they left the woman of the house had never
cooked let alone cleaned- doesn't sound much now but then it was a
huge difference and began how women have become more
independent and assertive in life. You were judged by your class
and the company you kept- how times change. A wonderful read
and an inspiring one.
For more reviews please see my blog http://nickibookblog.blogspot.co.uk/
or follow me on Twitter@nickisbookblog
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Wartime With The Tram Girls
July 1914: Britain is in turmoil as WW1 begins to change the world. While the young men disappear off to foreign battlefields, the women left at home throw themselves into jobs meant for the boys. Hiding her privileged background and her suffragette past, Constance Copeland signs up to be a Clippie - collecting money and giving out tickets - on the trams, despite her parents’ disapproval. Constance, now known as Connie, soon finds there is more to life than the wealth she was born into and she soon makes fast friends with lively fellow Clippies, Betty and Jean, as well as growing closer to the charming, gentle Inspector Robert Caldwell. But Connie is haunted by another secret; and if it comes out, it could destroy her new life. After war ends and the men return to take back their roles, will Connie find that she can return to her previous existence? Or has she been changed forever by seeing a new world through the tram windows?
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Author Bio – Lynn Johnson was born in the Staffordshire Potteries and went to school in Burslem, where the novel is set. She left school with no qualifications and got a job as a dental nurse (and lasted a day), a nursery assistant, and a library assistant before her ambition grew and she enrolled at the Elms Technical College, Stoke-on-Trent and obtained six O’levels. She obtained a Diploma in Management Studies and a BA Hons in Humanities with Literature from the Open University while working full-time. Most of her working life was spent in Local Government in England and Scotland, and ultimately became a Human Resources Manager with a large county council. She started to write after taking early retirement and moving to the north of Scotland with her husband where she did relief work in the famous Orkney Library and Archives, and voluntary work with Orkney’s Learning Link. Voluntary work with Cats Protection resulted in them sharing their home with six cats. She joined Stromness Writing Group and, three months after moving to Orkney, wrote a short story which would become the Prologue to The Girl From the Workhouse. Social Media Links – https://twitter.com/lynnjohnsonjots
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