A little while ago, I wrote this post and today I’m sharing my thoughts on The Shipyard Girls series as a whole. So before I get into my thoughts, I will start by explaining a little about the series. Made up of a total of twelve books, The Shipyard Girls is the brainchild of author Nancy Revell. Her style of writing is very similar to that of Daisy Styles and Rosie Archer, both of which I have enjoyed over the years.

First released in 2016, The Shipyard Girls has been expanding as the years have gone on until earlier this year when the final instalment was released. I will admit that this is the main reason why I chose this summer to start reading the series. I wanted to be able to read it from start to finish, in the same sort of way I did with the Burracombe series by Lilian Harry. Whilst the titles of each book may give you a clue as to what each instalment is about, there is so much more filling those pages.

The Shipyard Girls series in order

1. The Shipyard Girls
2. Shipyard Girls at War
3. Secrets of the Shipyard Girls
4. Shipyard Girls in Love
5. Victory for the Shipyard Girls
6. Courage of the Shipyard Girls
7. Christmas with the Shipyard Girls
8. Triumph of the Shipyard Girls
9. A Christmas Wish for the Shipyard Girls
10. The Shipyard Girls on the Home Front
11. Shipyard Girls Under the Mistletoe
12. Three Cheers for the Shipyard Girls

The Real Shipyard Girls

Before I get into my thoughts on the series, I just wanted to talk a little bit about the real shipyard girls. Author Nancy Revell originates from the Sunderland area and has a family history entwined with the shipyards. This forms a great basis for any series based around the shipyards, because there will always be those family stories to think back to. This, added to extra research that has clearly been done, gives the reader a sense of knowing more about how life was.

The series being set in Sunderland was definitely the best choice. A that time, Sunderland was dubbed “the biggest shipbuilding town in the world” and I can very much believe it. Like with a lot of jobs when the second world war broke out, they were lacking man power. With just the young, old and medically unfit workforce left, something needed to be done and fast. You might wonder why it would be so important. Whilst ships were used in battles and evacuations such as Dunkirk, they were also used to bring in much needed food and supplies. Even back then, we imported a lot of produce, which without it, we would have undoubted starved and lost the war.

Swapping their pinny for overalls

In Sunderland alone, an estimated 700 women swapped their housewife pinny for a shipyard overall. This is a huge amount, especially when there were other shipyards around the country too. These brave women chose to risk their lives for the greater good, in much the same way as their men folk did. As you can probably imagine, the shipyards were so often a target for German bombers. In addition to this, the general nature of a shipyard was dangerous in itself.

These inspirational women would work extremely long shifts, often over twelve or fourteen hours. They were outside no matter what the weather. Typical jobs they would find themselves doing were welding, riveting, burning & rivet catching, operating cranes as well as painting the hulls of half-finished ships. Whatever job needed doing, they would do it with pride. Yet when the working day was over, they would then look after their families and homes. At a time when there were no washing machines and the like, this was no easy task.

Yet despite all of the, the history books have largely forgotten about the vital work these women did in the shipyards. Could The Shipyard Girls by Nancy Revell bridge some of that gap? Let’s find out…

My Thoughts

When it comes to a long book series, I’m often wary to start with about whether there will be enough content to make each book enjoyable. I’m happy to report that in the case of The Shipyard Girls, there definitely is. There is a great pace throughout the books that make them thrilling and entertaining.

One of the things I really loved about this series is the journey of how the women flourish together as well as individually. For a team of women, from all walks of life, whose only connection is learning to weld, they soon become as close as family. It is a relationship that is surprising at times but so lovely to see. Each character has their own story, secrets and struggles, which as a reader, you really get to see. This just makes you love the characters even more and they end up feeling more like friends. Like any good book, there is always the bad characters which keep the tension going. All you can do as a reader is hope that it all comes good in the end.

Nancy Revell has a clever way of focusing her writing on the social and political history of that era, without you even realising it. Its woven so neatly into the story, that you learn so much along the way. Especially about how the acceptance of women working in the shipyards went at that time. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the lives of the women as well as the shipyard and the Homefront war.

Drama, Tension, Romance, Loss & Friendship

Each one of the books is packed full of so much content. I love the drama that fills the pages in unexpected ways. From births and deaths to arguments in-between. The tension is help throughout so many chapters that I found it hard to put the book down. As with most stories set in wartime, inevitable there is loss. However this is written into the story in such a way that its not too upsetting to read about. Friendship and romance always make for a good basis to any story and this is no exception.

Final Thoughts

I’m not in the least bit surprised that The Shipyard Girls has become a best selling series. Not only does it capture your imagination, but it stays with you long after the series has finished. Nancy Revell has done a wonderful job of creating an amazing tribute to those women who worked in the shipyards during the second world war. After enjoying each and every book in the series over the last few months, her epilogue had me crying. It was just such a beautiful and very fitting end to a captivating series. In the future, I would love to see it turned into a tv drama. There is definitely enough content to create several series of it. I honestly think it would get such a good reception, in the same way millions of people have fallen in love with Call The Midwife over the years.

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Other posts you might enjoy:

The Air Raid Girls by Jenny Holmes

A Woman Of War By Mandy Robotham

Book Review: The Bomb Girl Brides by Daisy Styles