Emma's Review: The Waterway Girls by Milly Adams

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

War lands them in the same boat.  Can they pull together?

October 1943, West London
Nineteen-year-old Polly Holmes is leaving poor bombed London behind to join the war effort on Britain’s canals.

Stepping aboard the  Marigold  amid pouring rain, there’s lots for Polly to get to grips with. Not least her fellow crew: strong and impetuous Verity, whose bark is worse than her bite, and seasoned skipper Bet.  

With her sweetheart away fighting in the RAF and her beloved brother killed in action, there’s plenty of heartache to be healed on the waterway. And as Polly rolls up her sleeves and gets stuck into life on board the narrowboat – making the gruelling journey London up to Birmingham – she will soon discover that a world of new beginnings awaits amid the anguish of the war. 

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Arrow publishing, an imprint of Penguin Random House, are really on the ball at the moment with their historical sagas as everything I have read from them lately I have really enjoyed. I'm a big fan of Nancy Revell's Shipyard Girls series and now have discovered the wonderful writing of Milly Adams in her new series The Waterway Girls. It often strikes me how can authors find another aspect of World War Two to write about that hasn't been written abut over and over? But here Milly Adams has written of a facet that I had never heard of before and it was great to not just read of the same story told over and over again.

The Waterway Girls of the title were the women employed by the Ministry of War Transport's Women's Training Scheme to work the canals during war time. They were trained up and then transported all manner of goods, materials and equipment needed in the long fight to defeat Hitler. The women worked the canals from London to Birmingham in this case and their stories were brought to life in a most realistic, engaging and interesting way that soon I was lost in the story and enjoying every bit of it.

It is October 1943 and Polly Holmes originally from Woking in Surrey feels like she is finally beginning to do something useful for the war effort. She has enlisted and with further training and several canal trips under her belt she should see herself qualified to work the waterways alongside other strong and willing women. Life on board the long motorboats will prove to be anything but easy but Polly is willing to take everything on board and relishes the many challenges ahead. Her twin brother Will had been killed in action several months before and life at home for her family has not been the same since. Her mother has descended into this frenzy of needing to have everything perfect while all signs of her son have disappeared from her home. Her mother doesn't want Polly to volunteer but needs must and for Polly's own sanity she wants to break away from the confines of home. Her father can retreat to the solitude of his allotment and shed and Polly feels she needs that release as well only her chosen option is very different.

From the outset I loved Polly's character. She wasn't the strongest of people when we first meet her but over the course of the book she gained plenty of strength, guts and determination. I don't think she knew quite the rough ride that was in store for her but she dealt with everything with good grace. Time and commitment are needed for the job along with the ability to work alongside each other in close quarters and with the canals being the crucial arteries for the transport of so much vital goods and equipment women made of stern stuff were needed. It was enjoyable to read of the changes Polly and her co workers under went with plenty of drama's thrown in along the way to keep readers on their toes.

Polly throws herself into all aspects of the job and she soon feels being on the waterways makes her part of a different world. Really it was dramatically different from anything she had ever known and I thought Milly Adams writing was so rich in detail that very in depth research must have been undertaken before she even began writing the book. It was very useful to have a map of the waterways at the front of the book but also a glossary of terms associated with the canals. Normally this would put me off reading a book as I would think the story would be too heavy if a glossary was necessary but here it really was such a useful addition. I found myself referring back and forth many times in order to understand certain terms better and to enhance the picture I was building up in my head. Polly works alongside Bet (Elisabeth) Burrows who is in charge of the boat and overseeing the training of the girls. She was a real mother figure yet at the same time she commanded respect as she was the boss and the one with the most experience. I liked how Polly and fellow co-worker Verity Clement gave the respect and understanding Bet required yet at night times when they wanted to let their hair down after a hard days slog Bet joined in and relaxed and became their friend. Bet knew when was the time to be serious and get the job done well and safely and when was the time to relax and enjoy the brief moments of respite and pleasure.

As for Verity she was a character who took me a very long time to warm to, she blew so hot and cold and the argy bargy and comments back and forth between herself and Polly at times did little to endear herself to me. She came from a privileged background but clearly she was running/escaping from something that had deeply affected her in that she attempted to put the past behind her and not discuss anything that had gone on. It took me quite some time to realise that her prickly, abrupt manner was all a front and that with time, patience and a series of incidents which would make the women a tight unit that maybe Verity would come out from her shell of hardness and smart comments and be the nice person she had been before. Her abrasive attitude certainly covers a slight lack of confidence coupled with a deep rooted unhappiness.

If the women had gotten along all the time and life was always a bed of roses on the canal it wouldn't have made for much of a book. Coupled with this, the fact Milly Adams throws in lots of little sub plots featuring the people who have worked the canals all their lives prior to the war and the arrival of the women makes for a very good read. Saul, Jack and Ganfer of the Swansong made appearances every now and again but as I suspect with real life at the time there was a slight distance between the regular workers of the canals and the people who were viewed as the newbies or imposters. I did think the inclusion of these characters and their story lines made the book even more gritty and true to life.

The only fault I found with the book was that I felt the mid section became quite repetitive, it seemed to go on a bit with nothing much happening bar repeating what the girls got up to on a daily basis like opening the locks or cleaning this and that. I understand the detail needed to be there and life at the time was probably repetitive, tough and strained but I felt it made the mid section drag slightly. Also despite having the glossary at some points I became confused and overwhelmed with all the terms and it just became a bit too much for me. The story became bogged down in technical terms before the last section focused more on the personal side of things. Pushing these issues aside I would recommend The Waterways Girls, it is ideal for fans of Daisy Styles and Nancy Revell.

I became fully invested in the lives of Polly, Bet and Verity and I loved seeing the transformations they were undergoing. They were completely different characters by the time I reached the end of the book and I felt I had been with them every step of the way and battled every emotion just as they did day in and day out. The fact I did feel I had travelled back in time to a point in the war that many people more than likely don't know about is testament to the accomplished and impressive writing from the author. The Waterway Girls ended on a cliffhanger with plenty of unanswered questions which guaranteed there will be a return visit in the future and I for one will definitely be back to see how things pan out for a group of women I loved spending time with.

Many thanks to Becky McCarthy from Arrow publishing for my copy of The Waterways Girls to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.