The Boat Girls

Margaret Mayhew
4.21
1,082 ratings 68 reviews
It is 1943, and three very different girls are longing to do their bit for the war effort. For Frances, her life of seeming privilege has been a lonely one. Brave and strong, stifled by her traditional upbringing, she falls for a most unsuitable man. Prudence - timid and conventional, her horizons have never strayed beyond her job as a bank clerk in Croydon until the war brings her new experiences. Rosalind - a beautiful, flame-haired actress - catches the eye of Frances's stuffy elder brother, the heir to an ancestral mansion. The three become friends when they join the band of women working the canal boats, delivering goods and doing a man's job while the men are away fighting. A tough, unglamorous task - but one which brings them all unexpected rewards.
Genres: Historical FictionHistoricalWorld War IIFiction
432 Pages

Community Reviews:

5 star
511 (47%)
4 star
359 (33%)
3 star
157 (15%)
2 star
35 (3%)
1 star
20 (2%)

Readers also enjoyed

Other books by Margaret Mayhew

Lists with this book

The English Patient
The Bronze Horseman
Sarah's Key
World War II romance
172 books80 voters
The Book Thief
All the Light We Cannot See
The Nightingale
WWII Historic Fiction
1349 books1507 voters
Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - and Helped Save an American Town
The Iron Bridge: Symbol of the Industrial Revolution
The Jungle
Pride and Prejudice
Jane Eyre
Sense and Sensibility
Best British Books
324 books41 voters