I just collected this book from Canada Water Library, one of 18 copies that I've been given to distribute on World Book Night, 23rd April 2015. It is set in nearby Bermondsey. I've not read it yet - hope it's good!

I gave this to a French friend who has been staying. We've been taking buses and cycling in Bermondsey so hopefully the story will be a good reminder of his trip here!

Logged at last but yet to be read...

There is one thing wrong about this book and it is the title, which does not do justice to it. From such a title, I was afraid of reading a nostalgic romance in old Bermondsey, but what did I find instead ? A real page turner, about life in and around factories and docks in South East London between 1911 and 1919. It is full of political, historical, sociological insights. It is about the fight for better rights in pre World War I London, and it is also about how complex political fights can be, how good causes can be fought for by bad persons or for bad reasons.
The author has a very kind concern about his characters and they all are very vivid. Thus the rendition of poor working people lives is very realistic and touching. The war part is also very good, thanks to the "ordinary lives during extraordinary times" angle.
Of course, it's even better thanks to my friend Eli, a.k.a. ETMadrid, who took us for a ride along Bermondsey and Rotherhithe some years ago when she gave me this book. Hopefully one day I can read the second novel of Mary Gibson, titled "Jam & Roses", but now I am sure it will be much more than recipes and scents...

Factory girls across the ocean.