Canary Girls
Jennifer Chiaverini
Rosie the Riveter meets A League of Their Own in New York Times bestselling novelist Jennifer Chiaverini’s lively and illuminating novel about the “munitionettes” who built bombs in Britain’s arsenals during World War I, risking their lives for the war effort and discovering camaraderie and courage on the soccer pitch. Early in the Great War, men left Britain’s factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. more
432 pages, Paperback
First published William Morrow & Company
4.07
Rating
3993
Ratings
449
Reviews
Jennifer Chiaverini
70 books 4318 followers
Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of thirty-three novels, including acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. She has also written seven quilt pattern books inspired by her novels. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, she lives with her husband and two sons in Madison, Wisconsin. About her historical fiction, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, "In addition to simply being fascinating stories, these novels go a long way in capturing the texture of life for women, rich and poor, black and white, in those perilous years."Community reviews
Canary Girls by Jennifer Chiaverini. The Canary Girls was a name dubbed to the ladies that worked in the mutations factory during WW1. The breathed in the yellow die in the chemicals causing a yellow hue in their skin and hair. It was an okay book. Interesting but slow and a bit boring. more
This is an entertaining, well-written, historical fiction novel which is based on actual events. It has likable female protagonists and vividly depicts the lives and bravery of female munitions workers during WWI. It has camaraderie, female empowerment, football, tragedy, and a touch of romance. The author's notes are interesting and informative, and are truly appreciated. I listened to the audio version of this novel, which was wonderfully performed by the truly talented and dulcette voiced Ms. more
I have always enjoyed Chiaverini's historical fiction works, and this one is no exception. If you liked The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women, this might be right up your alley. This story takes place in London during World War I. Men are enlisting right and left, and munitions plants are desperate for women workers to “Be the Girl Behind the Man Behind the Gun,” a glaring plea touted in recruitment posters throughout England. In Canary Girls, the lives of three women unfold in alternating chapters. more
I found the story informative, especially as it relates to the women who worked with munition and were called "canary girls" due to the effects of the chemical they came in to contact with. But the story was just not interesting enough to keep me glued to the pages. While the horrors described during WW1 are heartbreaking, I didn't feel a connection to the characters. more
I received an advance reader copy from NetGalley. com, and in exchange for a fair review. I am a fan of Jennifer Chiaverini, and I had high hopes for this new novel after reading "Switchboard Soldiers" last year, which was exceptional. However, this novel was not as engaging as I was hoping it would be. The protagonists weren't compelling enough, despite consistently reading the first 20% of the novel, it kept losing my attention and although I wanted to like these women, they weren't as captivating as I would have liked. more
I am a huge fan of Jennifer Chiaverini’s writing; her stories draw me in with lovable characters, interesting settings, and well-researched stories. I was disappointed, then, to find that I didn’t connect with any of these characters at all and that the story seemed to drag. I barely made it through the first part of the book and ended up not finishing this at about 25%. It wasn’t the research; again, this was impeccably done and really brought you into the story. I think it was the characters themselves that lacked the draw that I am used to in her books. more
Always read the end notes first. Acknowledgements on page 415: "I wrote Canary Girls at my home in Dane County, Wisconsin, which I acknowledge as the ancestral homeland of the Ho-Chunk Nation. "So. Are you going to give it back. And are they going to give it back to whomever they took it from. more
This book shares the hardship of women munition workers in England during World War I. Historical fiction is my usual jam, but by the halfway mark of this book I found my attention to be wandering. While it was interesting to learn about the Canary Girls, I didn't connect with the characters and the football matches were a bit too many for my personal taste. Perhaps a sports fan would appreciate the football scenes more than I did. I received a free copy of the book by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. more
I’ve realized I have very specific historical fiction requirements in my books. A big one- NO MORE WW1 or WW2 in any form. I’m a history major. I understand and support history being accessible and available to everyone. Study history so it doesn’t repeat itself. more
I am a longtime fan of Jennifer Chiaverini’s writing, and found myself unwilling to put down this book for mundane tasks. Until I read this, I had never thought about who makes weapons during a war or how toxic that work can be. Although I know that opportunities opened up for women during both World Wars, and how most gains in womens’ rights and status were negated when the men returned home at each war’s conclusion, I hadn’t made the connection that women’s suffrage rights were tied to their wartime contributions. Chiaverini’s research is extensive and her ability to tell a story of strength in sisterhood is superb, as demonstrated here, in Switchboard Soldiers, and Resistance Women. I look forward to her next historical novel. more
I have loved the other books by Jennifer Chiaverini so I had high hopes for this one. But it didn't quite hold my interest as much as I would have liked. I had known about the Radium Girls story, but I wasn't familiar with the Canary Girls story. This is a time in history with the women in the factories that should get a lot more attention when talking about the war and how we were able to be so successful. this book is focused on three main characters--April, Lucy, and Helen--each from a different level of class and how they all ended up in the same factory working different things. more
Good story about women who risked their lives working in factories during ww1 making bombs and being exposed to tnt. Unusual group of English women and how they worked and learned and got to count on each other and care for each other. . more
Only thing worse than watching a soccer game is reading about them over and over again. 👎🏼. more
I could not finish this book, despite great reviews. I fell asleep reading it more than once before I decided It was not for me. more
After the first 20 pages I was so bored I couldn't bother to read on. more
WWI has come and all over England boys and men are signing up for what they feel will be a quick war leaving women to fill in at the jobs they left open. At the same time factories are ramping up orders for machinery and munitions leaving the highest paying jobs and the most dangerous to the women. These same women are now supporting their family so these jobs were sought after. It was only later that the real dangers of ingesting TNT and other deadly powder as well as handling the very combustable bombs were realized. Hundreds of women took on a yellow hue and developed serious lung complications. more
This book bored the pants off of me. It should have been cut by a good 100 pages. The main story started out slow, was good for a bit in the middle and then faded off into tedium. more
I enjoyed this very well written history of the Canary Girls, i am always amazed at the strehgth and bravery of women during war times . very good read should be a school history book. more
Canary girls is an eye-opening and very entertaining novel about the courageous “Munitionettes” who joined the war effort in the years during the Great War to work in Great Britain’s arsenals. I learned a great deal of history from this book and am grateful to know more about the incredible women who remained working in the arsenals, even after experiencing the complete yellowing of their skin and learning of the dangerous effects of TNT and TNT poisoning. The story follows three women: Lucy, April, and Helen. These three women come from very different backgrounds but all end up at Thornshire Arsenal, two in the notorious Danger Building and one in a different capacity. I loved each of these characters and their stories and was sad to see the book end. more
This was a hard one to put down. I had no idea this took place during World War 1. A wonderful novel about the “munitionettes” who built bombs in Britain’s arsenals during World War I, risking their lives for the war effort. more
I loved this book. In all of the historical novels I have read I hadn’t come across any mention of the Canary Girls. What an incredible book that was well researched. . more
Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 8th, 2023. Writing: 4/5 Characters: 4. 5/5 Plot: 5/5A story about Britain’s World War One “munitionettes” — women who answered the call of duty and worked in round-the-clock shifts to produce the much needed munitions for the war arsenal. The label referred to a specific group of munitionettes who worked with the (very poisonous) trinitrotoluene (TNT) which over a short period of time, turned their skin, bleached their hair (green for brunettes and white for blondes), and brought on plenty of health problems, some fatal. more
I absolutely love historical novels. It’s one of my favorite genres to read because I always learn something new. I had never heard of the canary girls from World War I before reading this book, and I loved learning about the contributions they made to the war effort and the many sacrifices they endured for their country. I also enjoyed learning about the women football leagues and how they defied the gender bias of that era. This was my first time reading a Jennifer Chiaverini novel, and it reminded me a lot of Kristin Harmel’s work. more
Disclaimer: I won this book in a GoodReads Giveaway. The opinion is entirely my own. I always like a good historical fiction story realizing that none of us knows the complete factual history but an attempt is always made (as in this case) to use factional characters to relate the factual history of the time and place. In this case there would the period from just before WWI until the War's end. I learned about Canary Girl who were named that because of the yellow tone their skin took on working in the munitions factories during the War. more
Early in the Great War, men left Britain’s factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. “Be the Girl Behind the Man Behind the Gun,” the recruitment posters beckoned. Thousands of women—cooks, maids, shopgirls, and housewives—answered their nation’s call. These “munitionettes” worked grueling shifts often seven days a week, handling TNT and other explosives with little protective gear. more
Rated 3. 33I was shocked and appalled but interested as I read the Radium Girls. The story of the WWI women who worked in radium-dial factories in the United States. The radium they use to paint the numbers on the faces of watch-dials for soldiers covers the women from head to toe – with many women even ingesting the chemical and becoming ill and dying. Along comes the Canary Girls who are called to duty in WWI. more
I received an ARC of this book months ago. I was very excited to read it because I had read the Quilt novels years ago. However, I had various book club books that needed to be finished and I only read about half of it. Then, I was able to secure a copy of the audiobook and zipped through it in a few days. This a unique war story. more
I received a free copy of the book from the publisher for review. I also interspersed it with some listening to the audiobook since it is read by a narrator I am a fan of (Saskia Maarleveld). This was an interesting peek into history with the exploration of what life was life for women on the British homefront during WWI. It is a story of the strength of women who stepped up in big ways during the war, the power of female friendship when women help each other, and the reminder that war is awful for everyone involved. It was hard to hear about the way women worked in literally toxic environments in order to provide for their families and contribute to the war effort. more
An interesting topic in WWI history, the munitionettes, or the girl behind the man behind the gun. While the characters in this story were fictional, stories like theirs did happen. There were Canary Girls, those whose skin turned yellow and hair changed and became brittle from the TNT poisoning. Necessary, dangerous war work that was often taken for granted. It's a book about comradery and how women from different walks of life were brought together. more