Memories Of Home: Shipyard Girls In Love By Nancy Revell

I am Sunderland born and bred and whilst up there for a school reunion last September, I wandered round the shop in the National Glass Centre, having enjoyed the most delicious seafood platter for lunch (yes, that is a recommendation). I stopped at the bookshelf (as is my wont) and picked up Shipyard Girls in Love by Nancy Revell. A good stocking filler for my mum, I thought, since the blurb talked of the shipyard girls of 1941. My maternal grandfather was a shipyard manager and both mum and dad worked in the offices of the shipyards, which was where they met. As the shipyards, along with the mines, the rope works, Vaux brewery and Pyrex, dominated the town for decades, I thought it may appeal to her – she’s always looking for another book to read.

Come this July and Mum presents me with a pile of books for the charity shop or a book-swap shelf somewhere. There, on the top, was ‘Shipyard Girls’, so I kept it, curiosity getting the better of me.

It’s an easy read – one of a series, about a group of girls whose lives intertwine. Revell encourages the reader to identify with the girls as they face their daily struggles during World War Two - more engaging soap opera (that’s a clue to the ending!) than a great Austen novel.

There are, however, many references to the poverty which existed in the town in those dark days, and to the blitz, which add to the novel’s sense of historical faithfulness. What appealed most, though, were the accuracy of references to the town itself: Villette Road and Hendon, Grindon Village, Backhouse Park and the more upmarket area of Ashbrooke and the Cedars. I could picture myself walking those streets. The names, too: Thompsons, prominent in the world of Sunderland shipbuilding, and Mrs Milburn, owner of the bakery and café on Holmeside where I have queued to buy bread. Even my old school, Bede, got a mention, though I did think that Revell erred on the side of cliché when using ‘The Lambton Worm’ as the child’s bedtime story.

The authenticity these references give the book was deeply satisfying to this ‘Mackem’ although a reader who knew nothing of the area would not be disadvantaged. It reminded me, too, how important it is for a writer to be accurate in their references,to maintain credibility and to help the reader invest in the narrative without being distracted by thinking, ‘That’s not right’.

I was reminded of the excellent Malcolm Hollingdrake books which are gripping murder mysteries, enhanced still further by their setting: Harrogate, where I live now - barely safer, it seems, than Morse’s Oxford! Recently, sitting in the window seat of Nero’s in this elegant north yorkshire town overlooking the cenotaph, reading my first Hollingdrake, I realised that the character in the book was sitting in exactly the same spot, looking at exactly the same view; suddenly, the book intensified and took on an even more dramatic twist as I felt truly part of it.

There’s more to writing than simply putting pen to paper, or these days, tapping keys. Writers who do their research thoroughly, deserve their success.

Shipyard Girls in Love is published by Penguin Books.