Emma's Review: Shipyard Girls under the Mistletoe by Nancy Revell

Reviewed by Emma Crowley

Sunderland, 1944

As the promise of victory draws closer, this Christmas will surely be one to remember.

It should be a magical time for Dorothy, who has just been proposed to by her sweetheart Toby. But with each day that passes, Dorothy's feelings for someone else are growing stronger. Now she has an impossible choice to make.

Gloria is thrilled that her sweetheart Jack is finally home after more than two years away. But his past is continuing to catch up with them both - creating untold heartache for Gloria and everyone she holds dear.

Meanwhile Helen must contend with the fall-out of a shocking family secret that has repercussions for all the Shipyard Girls, while holding out hope for her own happy ending...

Can a little festive magic help them win the day?

Book Links: Kindle or Paperback

Many thanks to Random House UK via NetGalley for my copy of Shipyard Girls Under the Mistletoe to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.

It’s hard to believe that this is the 11th book in the Shipyard Girls series by Nancy Revell as it feels like only yesterday I first became acquainted with the group of women welders who work in a boatyard in Sunderland. But in fact it was five years ago back in 2016 that this series first began and it has gone from strength to strength since then. Shipyard Girls Under the Mistletoe was another brilliant read but I would say if you are new to this series it would perhaps be best to start at the beginning so you get a real sense for the series as a whole. Yes, there is plenty of backstory that if you did really wish to read it as a standalone you could do so at a push. But in my opinion to appreciate the genius of all the little sub plots, clues and details that have been drip-fed to the reader over many books and are now coming to fruition then go back to the very beginning. 

As it’s June 1944 when this book begins we are heading towards the later end of the war and I got a sense whilst reading that things are starting to wind down and the conclusion of the series is not too far away. But I didn’t dwell on this for too long as there was lots here that as per usual kept me rapidly turning the pages to discover how things are going for all the characters that I have become deeply invested in. As I have come to realise with these books some characters feature very prominently in a book and then in the next they take more of a back seat. Rosie, the head welder, didn’t feature much here instead the focus was on Dorothy and her journey to discover who she really wants to be with and also Helen who is edging ever closer to certain secrets being exposed and if they do become well known that perhaps would be good for some but not for others. 

The book got off to quite a slow start, it almost seemed like the calm before the storm but then the pace picked up and I found the book to become really event driven pushing the overall narrative on in a big way. Lots of things happened which revealed the real personalities behind certain characters and what they had been hiding and plotting for so long. I refer here to Charles Havelock who has to be one of the most spiteful and evil characters that I have read about in a long time. He is the grandfather of Helen but he is at the root of so much upset and turmoil for so many of the women that feature. 

Charles rules with an iron fist and despite being well into his advancing years he shows no signs of any of his hatred and malic letting up. He is such a liar and a manipulator and hell bent on revenge and sets about achieving this at any cost. These qualities he possess really ratchet up several notches this time around and I find him to be so abhorrent and I fear if he gets his way what will happen to the girls and their family members whom they love so dearly? The plans he sets in motion are really meant to bring about the downfall of everyone and there seems to be no way for a happy ending if he has his way. He uses and abuses people especially his daughter Miriam. She is a character who I haven’t an ounce of sympathy for because she has treated both Helen and her ex-husband Jack so despicably. It’s like if Miriam can’t be happy than no one else can be either.

I never thought I would say this but for me the standout character has to be Helen. She started off as cold and aloof and not someone whom Rosie, Gloria, Angie, Dorothy, Polly, Martha or Hannah would want to be friends with but my god Helen is the one who has gone through such a transformation and done a complete 360 that in fact she in my mind has become the stalwart and centre of everything. Initially, you would think that Helen is caught between a rock and a hard place. Loyalty to her family, after all they are family, or being loyal to the group of women who over time have become her friends especially Gloria whom she can really confined in. But I’m glad Helen has seen the light and she has become exposed to certain secrets and she has shown such great courage, strength and determination. 

It sounds very cliché to say that she wants to see good triumph over evil but she really does. She knows the whole story involving her grandfather has such implications for those she cares deeply for and as the extent of what he is prepared to do becomes clear it makes her all the more determined to see many wrongs put right. I really loved the way Henrietta’s story, Helen’s grandmother, took precedence over other subplots that had been developed. My heart was in my mouth at one stage and I was desperately hoping for something not to occur that would be irreversible. This gave Helen the opportunity to show the reader what she was really made of. That she is able to play the game just as well as anybody and even if it means putting her own feelings regarding a certain someone aside she will do that. Regarding that and her love life, I’m still left wondering will she ever get the happy ending she truly deserves? She gave up her own contentment so others would be safe and this deserves nothing but admiration but should she always be made to suffer? Will she pluck up the courage to express how she really feels even though someone has her over a barrel and is hell bent on seeing Helen suffer and be sad?

Helen’s strand of the story ties in with so much else going on and Nancy Revell has been really clever about connecting everything together. I think it’s all building up to what will be a magnificent conclusion but I am not quite ready for that to happen yet. The other girl to feature prominently in this story was Dorothy. I find her to be so frustrating in that she seems to lead men around. She became engaged to Toby but you knew this wasn’t what she wanted and I felt she was just messing him around. Yes, she had wanted an engagement for months but when it came she wasn’t happy. Bobby, Gloria’s son, has returned injured from the war and she is really drawn to him. I wanted her to make up her mind who she wanted instead of leading poor Toby up the garden path. But Dorothy’s insecurities are highlighted and when she explains how she feels a bit more my opinion of her changed and I could see why she acted the way she did but still I just wanted to her to do the right thing.

Given the title and cover of the book Christmas does feature, although this is not an overly Christmassy book by any means. It didn’t need to be given the ongoing storylines are so strong and riveting. But Dorothy does show her good side in organising a Christmas extravaganza for the soldiers and the Christmas element of the story really does come into play towards the end and the ending is lovely. Although, there is still lots left to be sorted which only makes me even more eager to read the next instalment Three Cheers for the Shipyard Girls which is due to be published in March 2022. But in the meantime do yourself a favour and read this excellent story or if you haven’t discovered the Shipyard Girls until now, enjoy going back to the very beginning and being able to read one book after another.