The Boat Girls by Margaret Mayhew

The book was centered on the Inland Waterways better known as the canals. These canals during the war were appropriated primarily to transport goods for the war supply effort. I learned a lot from this book because the author was so detailed with the information on the locks and what transpired for those who worked on them.

However, I have to say that I was confused about some of the dynamics of the interpersonal relationships of the couples.

The Boat Girls were recruited by the government because so many men were drafted to other positions and hauling supplies up the canal was not considered to be the best use of soldiers assets.
There were regular boat people who either had not been drafted for whatever reason and remained working the canals because “ boats are their homes, born in them, live & die in them.” Some raise 12 kids in these tiny canal boats!”

The author centers on three young women who volunteer to train for service during the wartime! They are trained by Philippa Rowan “Pip” who has been doing the canals for a long time and boats in general for a long time.

Francis Carlyon comes from a society family that has fallen on hard times. Her father came back from WWI with PTSD, but her mother still married him and tried to help him overcome the mental health issues. The mother died at a young age and the father turned to working with Orchids and lost touch with reality. The son,Vere pretty much took over raising his little sister Francis which as she got older she resented his trying to control her. Vere was very rigid and came across bossy. He was a fighter pilot and with the undercover operations for the RAF.
Francis had an Aunt Gertrude who moved in when the war became more intense who was enamored with the Roaring 20’s and she dresses according to the period and everything. She encouraged her to join the Boat Girls crew.

Prudence Dobbs was a ledger teller at a local bank with her father who was a chief clerk. She was an only child and felt stifled not only at home, but at work as well. She just knew she could not stay at this bank the rest of her life and end up with someone within the bank or even someone who was just as regimented as her parents were! She also had an Aunt that helped to convince her parents to allow Prudence to join the Boat Girls.

The final girl to join the Boat girls is Rosalind Flynn a actress. She is a daughter of nomadic parents who followed the theatrical scene since she was a little girl. Her childhood was extremely difficult because she practically raised herself and her parents. She was used by her parents and by her costars in the stage productions not only in sexual relationships, but also as a slave to do the odd jobs around the theatre. She also knew that she needed to have a fresh start.

Francis falls in love with a canal guy, Jack, his brother Freddy, and Grandmother live on one of the canal boats and have done so for generations. Hugh a friend of Francis brother is in love with Francis.

Prudence falls in love with a military soldier from Canada.

Rosalind falls in love with Francis brother Vere.

The book is actually quite good, but it is confusing because it only lightly touches on the relationship between the couples. It’s almost as if you are figuring it out between the lines and imagining what you think happened or should happen. The author concentrated more on what goes on the canal and with the boaters. I personally found it all quite informative and it made me actually go and seek out more information about the canals and whether they are still operational today. They are still being used in certain circumstances as holiday cruises. I hope that others will give this book a chance, but the relationship dynamics should have been expounded upon and the book would have had a more rounded plot.
I received a copy from netgally and I have given my words and opinions willingly.

This book tells of an oft-forgotten group of people doing essential war work – the women who delivered essential supplies on the canals and waterways of Britain, mostly transporting goods between the London docks with the industrial Midlands. Unlike the Land Girls, there were never huge numbers of waterways women, but those who did this work were invaluable. Somewhat unfortunately they were nicknamed the "Idle Women" because of the IW, Inland Waterways, insignia they wore, though everyone agreed that the nickname was intended to be ironic not insulting as they were far from idle doing incredibly physical work!
The story is set in 1943 and follows three very different young women who are thrown together by this work. Frances comes from a privileged background but is keen to do something different away from her slightly overpowering older brother who has rigid ideas about what women in her position should & shouldn’t do – she is encouraged by her well-connected Aunt; Rosalind is an actress who has had a colourful life - as well as being beautiful, she is feisty, streetwise & cunning; Prudence is a timid girl from a family aspiring to become true middle class – she works as a clerk at the bank that her father works at and is not only bored but desperate to escape from one of the lecherous men that work there who seems to have his mind set to marry her.
After minimal training, the three girls are issued with their own pair of boats (the motor & the motorless butty that is towed behind) and set off moving up to 50 tonnes of cargo at a time. It was not a glamorous world at all, with the cargo often dusty (cement, coal etc), the living conditions cramped, sanitation primitive & fresh water in very limited supply. They soon learn how to operate the locks, how to avoid getting grounded and how to clear the engine of the inevitable weeds. They operated in all weathers, unable to use torches or lamps after dark due to the blackout regulations & there is a poignant section when they get “frozen in” due to the severe freeze.
The story is not sensationalised or glamorised, it is gritty at times as it explores the practicalities and hardships of living on the water as well as how the young women were treated by the families who had lived on the water for many years. It was not a glamorous world at all, with the cargo often dusty (cement, coal etc), the living conditions cramped, sanitation primitive & fresh water in very limited supply.
We see a more human side of life too with true friendships made with some of the boat people, and of course there is an element of love as Frances falls for an unsuitable man, whilst an unsuitable man falls for Rosalind! As the war comes to an end the girls have to decide what they will do next – I did feel that the ending was a little weak & really needs a follow up book! The epilogue from “today” was an interesting touch – we have a youngish chap on a narrowboating holiday struggling with a lock before listening to the old lady who somehow knows what to do – when she tells him that she worked the canals during the war he has no idea that women did this sort of work.
Overall the book is well written, engaging and shows a great depth of research. I really appreciated the use of technical terms and “boat language” and the repetitive descriptions of some of the tasks add to the understanding of how repetitive the work was.
Disclosure: I received an advance reader copy of this book free via Netgalley. Whilst I am grateful to the author & publisher for the gift, all opinions are my own. #TheBoatGirls #NetGalley

A new author for me I love the books that describe how women worked in world war 2 this is not the first book about the idle women I've read I love that fact it's not told through rose tinted glasses and it explains all that went on and how the trainees were treated by the proper boatmen.
The sad bit about this book is right at the end when the tourist didnt no anything about these women and how they with the other boaters kept the country going.
We need to start teaching about what people did in this country during both world wars.
Brilliant book.
5*
Thank you Margaret mayhew for this little look back in time

New to me Author Margaret Mayhew did not disappoint in the novel " The Boat Girls"
once i started i could not stop reading!
It is based in 1943 and the story is based around 3 very different characters. Frances, Prudence and Rosalind.
Frances comes from a privileged background, Prudence is the timid one and Rosalind is beautiful and feisty .
The 3 girls become firm friends when they join the women who are working the canal boats while the men are away at war. it opened my eyes to the work that was done on the canals.
i had heard of the land girls, the waifs but not heard of the boat girls. Thoroughly enjoyable light read.

thanks to #NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for a review
#TheBoatGirls

A well written, engrossing and interesting unusual story set during WWII.
I appreciated the strong female character, the vivid historical background and the plot that flow.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

An interesting and unusual wartime story,where I learned a while new language. I had no idea of the work done during the war on the canals. The characters were interesting and diverse.

I love reading books of the strong women and girls who took on mens jobs during ww2 this book has the story of three girls working the canal boats a fabulous book 5*

I'd heard of the WW2 Land Girls, WAAFs, WACs and of course Rosie the Riveter. The Boat Girls tells another unknown story of the girls (as young at 18) that took on the incredibly hard jobs of running the narrow boats hauling necessary war supply cargo in the canals linking London docks with the industrial midlands of England. This book tells the intertwining stories of 2 young women. They come from very different backgrounds. Rosamund is an actress, the child of two actors and she's always been around the theater and theater people. Frances is the daughter of an impoverished minor aristocratic family. She has an older brother that is a Wing Commander in the RAF and her father has never been the same since returning from WW1 a shell shocked husk of a man, he spends all his time cultivating orchids and has little time for his daughter. They live in a beautiful, but falling apart manor house. Prudence is an only child of parents aspiring to a better social standing, she grew up in the London suburb of Croydon, she works as a clerk at the bank that her father works at and is bored silly by the tedious repetitiveness of her work days. They all see an advertisement for volunteers to help in the war effort by being Boat Girls, replacing the water men that have left to serve in the armed forces.

They are given minimal training and quickly learn that what they thought would be fun and freeing experience is REALLY HARD WORK! They are traveling in long, narrow boats, one with a motor and one that's towed behind, loaded with heavy cargo in canals that were built 100-200 years ago. The hardest thing is opening and closing the lock gates to go up or down (like a staircase) to change elevation. The other big challenge are the River People, that have for generations lived and work running the boats. They are basically river gypsys and are very unfriendly toward these "Idle Women" (called that because of the IW, Inland Waterways, patch they wore). The three women develop a close friendship and learn to work together and overcome challenges and breakdowns while helping to get critical supplies to help the war effort. Their families don't offer much support, except Frances's, but her big brother thinks she should not be doing a mans job and find something more ladylike and less demanding.

As the war comes to an end the girls have to decide what they will do when they leave the boats and return to civilian life. They've all met interesting men and 2 of them become romantically attached, but the path of love has many obstacles and doesn't always end with a happy ending.

The sometimes repetitive descriptions of all the things that have to be done to navigate the boats and deal with the locks gets a bit boring, but at the same time reinforces the exhausting repetitive work to get the cargo from one place to another. The description of the depressing and ugly industrial areas, and the contrasting beauty of the countryside really help bring the story to life. The experiences of the girls mature them and give them a lot of self confidence. I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys learning about unknown parts of the war experience and how the roles of women changed the perceptions of society.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest opinion.

I gues s I read this book too close to a similar book. So I started comparing them. not a good idea to compare books. What I liked about this book it was a part of the ww2 i knew nothing about. I liked the Main characters. They were strong women . What I did not like Too much technical terms and the language or dialect was a little bit hard to understand. But Glad I read this book. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

Thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest review
First time reading this Author and thoroughly enjoyed this book
Was quite a fascinating experience learning what actually had to be done to get the long boats to work was a really good read.

This is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed this book. I will be reading more of her books.


While I knew that women took over so called men's job during WWII. I hadn’t realised they also handled the boats. It was really interesting to read about this periode and you could tell the author did a lot of research into the workings of the boats. I learned a lot while reading this book.


The characters were interesting. each of the girls had her reason to want to work as a boatgirl.


I recommend this book.

Loved this book the characters come alive the families the relationships.The setting drew me right in.A wonderful English saga an author I will be following.#netgalley#randomhouseuk

The second book I've read by this author, and will not be my last. The first one I read was set in the aftermath of WWII in Berlin, this one is set in England during the war, and revolves around 3 women. One thing I like about her books is that they give a perspective I had not thought about. I do not feel they are didactic, but make me think a bit, and I like that. Always good to be open minded. Would highly recommend this book and author.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture and Margaret Mayhew for allowing me to read this Arc.
A beautiful story based during World War 2. It tells of the essential role played by women during the war, running the canal narrow boats carrying cargo.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I had never heard of this role women played.
Highly recommend.

This was an enjoyable book to read. The three main characters were interesting and complemented each other .They came from three different backgrounds to work on the canals during the war. It was easy to read and I recommend that you read this book.

Omg this book was everything and more than i expected. My ideal book as i love family saga books. Three girls all from different backgrounds all join forces to work together. Highs and lows fo everyday life. Loved,loved ,loved it

I started reading this book last night and I absolutely devoured it, to the point I didn't go to bed until 6am. I could not put it down. It was so unbelievably good. Historical Fiction is one of my favorite Genres and especially in the WWII era and this did not disappoint in that regard at all. I felt connections with all the characters and there were moments I felt I was really there with them as they went through everything. I would recommend this title to anyone who loves historical fiction, strong women or even the WWII era. I feel honored to have been able to read this book and will be getting copies for my friends for their birthdays/holidays.