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Maidens' Trip
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?
Three girls abandon their middle-class comforts for an adventure of a lifetime during the Second World War. A classic and unforgettable tale.
Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, this hidden classic will wow a new generation of readers For anyone who loves Cider With Rosie, or wartime memoirs such as World's End Follow-up to the much-loved The Great Western Beach, published in 2008 to widepread critical acclaim
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Description
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‘Wonderfully written, humorous and humane, and beautifully evocative of the time' - Independent Summer Reads
‘Smith's writing exudes wisdom and humour, and her descriptions ... are vividly drawn' - Times Literary Supplement
‘Hope and energy radiate from every sentence of this lovely volume as it emerges into the light after its long sojourn in the cemetery of forgotten books' - Daily Mail
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A classic and unforgettable tale of three girls who abandon their middle-class comforts for an adventure of a lifetime during the Second World War
In 1943, Emma Smith joined the Grand Union Canal Carrying Company under their wartime scheme of employing women to replace the boaters. She set out with two friends on a big adventure: three eighteen-year-olds, freed from a middle-class background, precipitated into the boating fraternity.
They learn how to handle a pair of seventy-two foot-long canal boats, how to carry a cargo of steel north from London to Birmingham and coal from Coventry; how to splice ropes, bail out bilge water, keep the engine ticking over and steer through tunnels. They live off kedgeree and fried bread and jam, adopt a kitten, lose their bicycles, laugh and quarrel and get progressively dirtier and tougher as the weeks go by.
Maidens' Trip is a classic memoir of the growth to maturity of three young women in the exceptional circumstances of Britain at war.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Maidens' Trip by Emma Smith is celebrated for its vivid portrayal of young women working on canal barges during World War II. Reviewers commend the book's precise and humorous writing, capturing the era's spirit with evocative descriptions that bring the unique experiences and youthful adventures to life. The memoir is described as both joyous and deeply engaging, filled with hope, energy, and a wonderfully humane perspective.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781408801253
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 18 July 2011
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 16.0mm
Width: 128.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 180g
Pages: 240
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About the Author
Emma Smith was born Elspeth Hallsmith in 1923 in Newquay, Cornwall, where until the age of twelve, she lived with her mother and father, an elder brother and sister, and a younger brother. Her book, Maidens' Trip, was first published in 1948 and won the John Llewellyn Rhys Memorial Prize. Her second, The Far Cry, was published the following year and was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. In 1951 Emma Smith married Richard Stewart-Jones. After her husband's death in 1957 she went to live with her two young children in Wales, where she proceeded to write and have published four successful children's books, a number of short stories and, in 1978, her novel The Opportunity of a Lifetime. Since 1980 she has lived in the London district of Putney. In 2008 she published The Great Western Beach, her memoir of her Cornish childhood. Once again, it gained widespread critical acclaim.
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