I was delighted to see A Penny a Shell reviewed this week by Laura Adkins at Talking About History. https://fortheloveofhistory.home.blog/
Laura is a historian and author in her own right, including Kateryn Parr: Henry VIII’s Sixth Queen, published by Pen & Sword Books.
Laura had previously invited me to write a guest post for the blog about the story behind the novel, the Barnbow munitions factory and my great-grandmother, Sarah Ann Jennings, who was one of the 35 women killed in the explosion on 5 December 1916.
It was therefore particularly lovely to read Laura’s thoughts on the book itself.
What struck me most about her review was that she understood what I had hoped to achieve with A Penny a Shell: not simply to recount what happened at Barnbow, but to make the women at the centre of the story feel like people rather than names on a memorial.
As Laura writes:
“A Penny a Shell tells the tragic events of the Barnbow explosion and makes it human and real. The reader cannot help but be drawn to these women and even feeling like you knew them.”
She also touches on something that has fascinated me throughout researching and writing about the First World War — how much of our understanding of the war naturally centres on the men who went away to fight, while the dangers faced by those supporting the war effort at home can be forgotten.
Laura finishes her review by describing A Penny a Shell as “a must” for anyone wanting to learn about the Barnbow explosion “with a human element.”
Thank You Laura
My thanks to Laura, both for taking the time to read and review A Penny a Shell, and for previously giving me the opportunity to tell Sarah Ann’s story in my guest post for Talking About History.
You can read Laura’s full review of A Penny a Shell on Talking About History, along with my earlier guest post about Sarah Ann Jennings and the women of Barnbow.
