"She's a lucky girl, especially at her age," Mum would agree. "There are plenty of girls left on't shelf these days."
Aye, there were. Surplus girls, they were called. Molly had read about them in Mum's Vera's Voice... They hadn't been woe-is-me articles, but cheerful, encouraging pieces about how surplus girls should plan for the future and get themselves trained up to do the most highly qualified work they were capable of, to give themselves a chance of a reasonable salary in a world where women earned less than men simply because they were women".
Molly Watson, the main character of The Surplus Girls' Orphans is considered to be lucky. In her late 20s, she has "a fiancѐ with a decent job and good prospects. Good-looking too..." "And when they got married, he was going to buy her a bar of Cadbury's Dairy Milk every Saturday."
Molly's family and friends think Molly is a lucky girl indeed. It is 1922, and for many young women their dreams of marriage have perished in the Great War. Millions of young men died in the war, and the gender gap has increased dramatically.
Norris is a penny-pincher and a pedant, who enjoys teasing Molly, but somewhat you can see why he would be considered a catch. Theirs is a long engagement, as Norris is saving money to provide a house for her with all the modern cons. He talks about a future house with the electricity and indoor plumbing, and such a fancy gadget as a vacuum cleaner. In his own way, he loves Molly and wants the best for her. If only he were not so miserly, avoiding to pay for drinks at the pub, or dances. He can be very convincing, and Molly tries to persuade herself that "her future had been all mapped out by Norris - by Norris? With Norris. Her future was mapped out with Norris".
Her mother and grandmother are thrilled with Norris, "it's what yoy want for your daughters and your grandaughters: marriage to a good provider. It was a weight off all our minds".
If you've read the previous book in the series, The Surplus Girls, or any other historical sagas set in the 1920s, you would know how back-breaking the house tasks were in those times for women, and how many men spent all the earnings on the drink, and other "hobbies" rather than their own families.
However, Molly has reservations about her long engagement. Yes, Norris was "safe harbour and she was lucky he wanted her. What a relief it had been to have this opportunity to build a happy and prosperous new life". After three years of watching Norris's penny-pinching and small, needless economies, and being patronised and kept in her place, she's had enough.
As time passes, Molly feels stronger in herself, and decides that she would rather be a surplus girl than marry someone she doesn't respect or love. She knows the chances of her finding someone else to marry are almost non-existent, and she will stay single and will need to support herself all her life.
After meeting a lady who works for the new Board of Health, Molly wants to get a job where she can help those less fortunate. She knows she is capable to do more than working in the sweet shop. She applies to the business school run by Miss Hesketh and Miss Patience.
"The future. That was what this was about. Choices. Opportunities. Self-sufficiency."
It was wonderful to revisit the Hesketh school, and see what progress they made since we first met the ladies in the first book of the series. "Their business school: this was how they had rescued their house - yes, their house, whatever Pa's will said - from Lawrence's grasping fingers. Using Prudence's years of office experience and Patience's social skills, they had set themselves up to train girls to be office workers; and not just any girls, but surplus girls, that blighted generation whose chances of matrimony had perished in the fields of Flanders".
The sisters make a delightful duo of supporting characters, and their own sub-story is moving, sad yet positive and productive.
As a student at the business school, Molly is offered an opportunity to do a voluntary job at St Anthony's Orphanage. There she befriends caretaker Aaron Abrams. Before the war he used to be a carpenter, and he could have returned to his old job and earned more, but it was no longer enough for him.
"Some might see his role as caretaker of St Anthony's as a step backwards for a skilled craftsman, but he didn't view it like that. To his mind, it was a way to contribute to the well-being of the next generation, especially here, in this environment, where the children had already lost so much".
Will Aaron and Molly's friendship blossom into something more meaningful, or will jealous Norris ruin it by revealing Molly's big secret of what has happened to her during the war?
The Surplus Girls' Orphans is a delightful read, which tells a moving story with confidence and realism.
Molly is a sweet character, she is gentle, caring, thoughtful and a little bit impulsive.
Mrs Wardle, a snobbish lady who "does charity"and who takes great pleasure in interfering into the Board of Health' decisions makes a brilliant baddie, whom you would love to hate.
I love the theme of the surplus girls, and the way Polly Heron recreates Manchester in the 1920s as an evocative, authentic and dynamic setting.
P.S. At the time of writing this paperback is available from Amazon at £4.49. I bought it at The Works (3 for £5 deal).
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