Factory Girls by Michelle GallenMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The book takes place in Ireland, the summer of 1994, during the time of the troubles. The Protestants and Catholics do not mix, instead they bomb each other.
Maeve and her two friends get a job for the summer at a shirt factory while awaiting their exam results. Getting good marks means they can leave this small town, go across the water to university.
The shirt factory is unusual as both groups work side by side. Maeve had never been around ‘Prods’ before and finds they are just like them. However, with so many killings between them, it’s hard to know how they can truly be desegregated.
Several times in the book we get Maeve’s memories, of her first riot, bombings she’s been near, or heard about nearby. It is something that is personal in everyone’s lives. Now, there are boyfriends, possibly, the manager of the factory, and saving money while waiting for those results. Yet, the job is the center of the book.
Maeve and Caroline get an apartment together, right across the way from the factory gates. The three’s friendships change during this summer, an end of an era for them.
Maeve is a brave, outspoken girl, she is a strong character born out of the bomb debris. The book feels a bit course at times, which fits the time, location and the character.
A strong book with a bit of humor to it as well.
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