"So you're good at shop work and good with people." Miss Patience looked at her sister. "That's not a bad start, and she's the right sort of age."
"The right age to train for office work?" Nancy asked.
"The right age for a surplus girl," said Miss Patience.
Nancy frowned. "Surplus girl?"
"The term refers to all the girls who now won't find husbands because so many men were killed in the war."
Christmas with Surplus Girls by Polly Heron is book 3 in the Surplus Girls saga. It reads as a standalone, but it makes sense to start with the first book, to appreciate the background and dynamics of relationships between the main characters.
Surplus Girls was the name given to the young women who were left single, or widowed, with a little chance of getting married as so many men perished during the WWI. To prepare them for the future of living as a single woman without a husband who would support them, they were trained for jobs.
Manchester, 1922.
Nancy Pike is a sweet girl, living with her parents and younger siblings above the tobacconist's shop. Her mother is ill, and her father doesn't earn much. Life is a constant struggle.
Nancy enjoys working in the pie shop and doesn't want to leave her job. On her father's insistence, she agrees to better herself by attending the local business school run by the Hesketh sisters. Everyone is pleased for Nancy, "You're going to mek summat of yourself, lass. You'll be a big help to your mam." She latched onto the thought, hugging it close. If she could help her family, in particular if she could make Mam's life easier, then it would be worthwhile".
Miss Hesketh and Miss Patience run their business school for surplus girls. They want to help girls from different backgrounds, not just middle-class girls or the ones who did better at school.
"We believe," said Miss Hesketh, "that it is the responsibility of every surplus girl to make the best of herself. Our pupils tend to be girls who became office juniors when they left school. They come to us to broaden their range of skills."
Nancy is terrified of going to the business school. "She had never shone at school and the thought of returning to the classroom made her heart tie itself in a knot, but Pa was determined". She is worried that the office job would be way above her station.
Her initial lessons are not auspicious for her future as the office employee. Nancy is shy and awkward, and very self-conscious. She also makes a mistake after mistake, some pretty serious. Her first placement doesn't go smoothly. Zachary Milner has started his own business, selling the fire extinguishers. He is determined to succeed, in memory of his late brother who perished in the war.
"Zachary Milner in business. He had dreamed of this for a long time and had worked hard for it, weighing every decision as he went along".
There is a personal connection between Zachary and Nancy, but when one of her costly mistakes puts his livelihood in jeopardy, she has to go.
Her second placement seems to go the same way too, when Nancy's given a chance to work in the local orphanage. She has to compete with another girl, Ginny, for the job, and she finds the office tasks challenging. "Ginny and Miss Pike would each have the chance to learn the clerical routines and prove themselves. Then, come Christmas, one of them would be awarded the permanent position and the other would have some valuable experience under her belt".
What Nancy loves the best, it's working with children, who love her in return. She realises that most likely she won't get the office job but she is determined to make Christmas as memorable as possible for the orphans.
Will Nancy be able to make the Christmas time extra special for the children in the orphanage? And will she find love along the way?
Nancy is naive and awkward to begin with. She is also kind, loyal and inquisitive, she just needs the right setting to blossom into a more confident person.
I am particularly fond of the Hesketh sisters, Patience and Prudence. I've watched their characters developing through the series. They have become old friends, whose company I enjoy. It was lovely to catch up with the lives of some of the other characters who took the central stage in the previous books.
The novel deals with several issues, among them the topic of the unmarried mothers, the disgrace of the position they found themselves in, and the emotional impact of giving up their child.
This is a fantastic series for fans of wartime sagas and historical fiction in general.
Polly Heron's female characters are strong, determined women who find their way in the patriarchal society.
Christmas with the Surplus Girls is a beautiful thought-provoking read, emotional and heart-warming. This is a captivating story of a young woman's struggle to overcome the prejudices of the society, her background, finding inner strength and discovering hidden talents. Full of drama and romance.
You can catch up with the reviews of the previous books in the series:
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