Welcome to my stop on Rachel’s Random Resources Book Tour for Dark Times for the Clarks Factory Girls (The Clarks Factory Girls, Book 3) by May Ellis – a brand new instalment in the wartime saga series. 

354 pages, Kindle Edition

Publication Date January 9, 2025

Publisher Boldwood Books 

About the Book:

1916: As fighting in Europe continues, the Clarks Factory Girls find themselves caught in a divided community…

With the country in the grips of conscription, the pacifism at the heart of Street village comes under scrutiny, and when Kate befriends Gerald, a young Quaker arrested for refusing to fight, she starts to understand the true dilemma the community finds itself in.

Still grieving the loss of her sweetheart Mattie, Louisa finds herself at odds with her parents, who refused them the chance to marry. As her mother’s attempts to find Louisa a husband show no signs of abating, Louisa takes solace in her friendship with Jeannie’s brother Lucas, but could an unexpected opportunity offer a solution to both their problems?

Meanwhile, Jeannie finds herself torn between her heart and her faith. With each other’s help, can the girls hold true to what they believe in, even as the village enters its darkest days yet?

My Review:

I am so lucky to have discovered yet another historical fiction series published by Boldwood Books that I just loved. While this is book three in the Clark Factory Girls, this is the first I’ve read and I had no issues following the storyline. Although I’m sure readers can guess what I did as soon as I finished book three? Yes, that’s right, I added books one and two to my TBR because I needed to know the rest of the stories.  

In this latest entry, Jeannie, Louisa, and Kate are in the midst of a war in 1916, and I was simply swept away in the stories of their lives at this point in the war. I honestly haven’t read as much fiction set around WWI so I found that particularly interesting. I also didn’t know much about the lives of Quakers during the war. This novel felt well researched without reading like a textbook. The vivid details of the time period and the emotions of our main characters brought the story to life. There’s heartbreak and hardship throughout the story, but it’s also full of hope and love and I felt invested from the very start to the very end. 

About the Author:

May Ellis has been a legal executive, registered childminder, professional fundraiser and a teacher. She has travelled the world, including trekking in mountains, deserts and the Great Wall of China, as well as helping build a house in Thailand. She went to university in her forties and gained a first class degree and an MA while still working full – time. Her first book, a contemporary romance, was published in 2014. Since then she has had five more novels published, including another romance and a YA time travel adventure. The last three are gritty dramas set in the 1960s/70s published by Darkstroke Books. She lives in Somerset, within sight of Glastonbury Tor, volunteering at her local library and for the Alfred Gillett Trust (custodians of the Clark’s archives). Her current series, based on the factory workers at Clark’s Shoes, was inspired by her move to the area and her love of social history.

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TOUR PARTICIPANTS: Stop by the rest of the tour!