My enormous thanks to Caitlin Raynor for sending me a surprise copy of The Toffee Factory Girls by Glenda Young in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share that review today. 

The Toffee Factory Girls is published by Headline on 23rd May 2024 and is available for purchase through the links here. 

The Toffee Factory Girls

Discover the engaging new trilogy from the author of The Sixpenny Orphan, about three women working in a WWI toffee factory in the North-East!

In 1915 three women start work at a toffee factory in the market town of Chester-le-Street, Durham.

Anne works for the enigmatic owner Mr Jack. She is highly efficient and whips Mr Jack’s disorganised office – and Mr Jack himself – into shape. However, behind her business-like façade, Anne hides a heart-breaking secret.

Elsie is feisty, fun and enjoys a good time. However, her gadabout ways get her into trouble when she falls for the wrong man in the sugar-boiling room. 

And there’s dependable Hetty, who’s set to marry her boyfriend when he returns from the war. But when Hetty is sent on an errand by the toffee factory boss, her life changes in ways she could never imagine and a whole new world opens up.

The toffee factory girls begin as strangers before forging a close bond of friendship and trust. And, as the war rages on, they help each other cope through the difficult times ahead.

My Review of The Toffee Factory Girls

The first book in a brand new trilogy. 

The Toffee Factory Girls is a total smasher of a book. Set in the early days of WW1 there’s a sense of history underpinning the narrative, especially with the Belgian village of Elisabethville, but it doesn’t over dominate. Rather, Glenda Young allows her characters to tell their own stories. 

The plot is wonderful. Three very different woman, Anne, Elsie and Hetty forge a friendship that is ripe for further adventure by the end of the book. Their lives are very different as Anne hides a terrible secret, Elsie finds her flirtatious personality leads to all kinds of trouble and Hetty struggles with a difficult family life with her unloving mother and wayward brother. As Jack’s toffee factory needs to adapt to the challenges of rival toffee makers and the constraints of a global conflict, the story is entertaining and absorbing. I loved learning about the process of toffee making as I got to know the people working in the factory.

I also loved meeting Anne, Hetty and Elsie because they are actually quite ordinary which makes them hugely relatable. The events that befall them ensure the reader cares for them and is completely invested in the story. By the end of The Toffee Factory Girls, their personalities and friendships are brilliantly established, leaving the reader desperate to find out more. 

It’s quite hard to review The Toffee Factory Girls because Glenda Young is setting up what promises to be a fantastic trilogy and I don’t want to spoil the story for others. Let’s just say there are themes of war and industry, family, marriage and friendship, romance and prejudice that create a layered, varied and totally absorbing read. 

I really enjoyed The Toffee Factory Girls because it’s filled with charm, realism and huge potential for the following books. It’s a perfect example of its genre and deserves to be a huge success. 

About Glenda Young

Glenda Young credits her local library in the village of Ryhope, where she grew up, for giving her a love of books. She still lives close by in Sunderland and often gets her ideas for her stories on long bike rides along the coast. A life-long fan of Coronation Street, she runs two hugely popular fan websites.

For further inf0ormation about Glenda visit her website, find her on Instagram and Facebook or follow Glenda on Twitter/X @flaming_nora.