Michelle Rawlins

With their city under fire, can they find hope in each other?

In December 1940, the Blitz has reached Sheffield, but Steel Girl Hattie is more concerned about the war brewing at home between her parents. Desperate to help her mother in any way she can, will Hattie get through with the help of her factory sisters?

Betty is overjoyed to learn that her fiancé will be coming home to complete his RAF training. But when the Blitz begins, he may be in greater danger than ever.

Young Patty has never been prouder of her sweetheart, Archie, than in his role as an Air Raid Warden. But having seen the true cost of war, is he struggling more than Patty could ever imagine?

And as the bombs begin to fall, with heartbreak on the horizon, will the Steel Girls find shelter in each other?

A heartwarming and dramatic World War II saga, perfect for fans of Vicki Beeby, Kate Thompson and Pam Howes.

Summer 1940

The war is raging on but the Steel Girls are fighting their own battles closer to home. After patching things up with Archie, Patty is miffed when he appears to have forgotten all about her 18th birthday.

New girl Hattie has a lot to deal with as she trades the counter at Woolworths for the Vickers factory floor. But is she keeping a secret and are things tougher at home than she’s been letting on?

Meanwhile, Nancy is besides herself when she receives word that Bert is missing in action and is struggling to keep it together.

As the Steel Girls come together to be there in Nancy’s hour of need, will life ever be the same again?

Spring 1940

After getting through their first winter at war, including Christmas Day apart from loved ones, Nancy, Betty and Patty are determined to continue to support one another as well as finding new ways to contribute to the war effort. Everyone is trying to do their bit on the Home Front to help however they can.

Nancy is knitting for the armed forces to keep her from worrying about her husband Bert who is serving in France. Meanwhile Patty is fretting about a loved one closer to home as sweetheart and fellow steel worker Archive signs up as a local defence volunteer while Betty is rolling up her sleeves and digging for victory in the veg patch she’s started with her landlady.

The war might be raging on, but as long as the Steel Girls rally around each other, can there still be hope this spring?

Winter, 1939
As December draws nearer and with her family facing their first Christmas without Bert, Nancy is desperately trying to keep up her children’s spirits and her own.

Young Patty should be excited to be spending her first festive season with sweetheart Archie, but why does she worry he’s keeping something from her?

Betty is missing her beloved William as he continues his RAF training but she’s determined not to sit around wallowing. In the midst of the coldest winter on record and with the introduction of rationing, times are tougher than ever but Betty has an idea to make sure nobody goes without this winter.

And with our Steel Girls rallying around each other, can there still be hope this Christmas?

The second novel in the new heartwarming Steel Girls series following our feisty factory sister’s bravery and hope during wartime, perfect for fans of Nancy Revell and Elaine Everest.

When war breaks out, friendship will see them through.

Sheffield, 1939, and the women go to the steelworks to do their bit for the war effort.

Housewife Nancy never dreamed she would go to work in the steelworks factory. But when war is declared, husband Bert is called up to serve and she’s conscripted to go to Vickers to make parts for Spitfires and bomb castings.

For Betty, it’s a world away from her previous job as a legal secretary and her ambitions to study law at night school. And war means being separated from her sweetheart William who’s called up from the Reserves to join the RAF.

Eighteen-year-old Patty is relishing the excitement the war brings. But this shop-girl is going to have to grow up quickly, especially now she’s undertaking such back-breaking and dangerous work in the factory.

The Steel Girls start off as strangers but quickly forge an unbreakable bond of friendship as these feisty factory sisters vow to keep the foundry fires burning during wartime.

The Steel Girls was published by HQ in April 2021.

True stories of love and loss during WWII from a band of tough Northern women.

When war broke out, the young women of Sheffield had their carefree lives turned upside down. With their sweethearts being sent away to fight, they had no choice but to step into the men’s shoes and became the backbone of the city’s steel industry. Through hard toil and companionship in the gruelling world of factory work, they vowed to keep the foundry fires burning and ensured that soldiers had the weapons, planes and ships needed to secure victory over Hitler.

Women of Steel is the last chance to hear these unsung heroines’ voices, as they share first-hand how a group of plucky young women rallied together to win the war for Britain. When the men returned from the front in 1945, many of these women tragically found themselves discarded ‘like yesterday’s fish and chip wrappers’. But decades later, a grassroots campaign spearheaded by the elderly Women of Steel finally brought their remarkable story to light.

Women of Steel was published by Headline in June 2020.