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Factory Girls

A bold snapshot of working young women during the tumultuous Troubles

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Factory Girls

By: Michelle Gallen
Narrated by: Amy Molloy
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'Vital, bang-on, and seriously funny' Roddy Doyle

The second novel from the Costa Prize shortlisted author of Big Girl, Small Town.

Smart-mouthed and filthy-minded, Maeve Murray has always felt like an outsider in the shitty wee town in Northern Ireland that she calls home. She hopes her exam results will be her ticket to a new life in London; a life where no one knows her business, or cares about her dead sister. But first she's got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign as brutal as her relationship with her mam, iron 800 shirts a day to keep her summer job in the local factory, and dodge the attentions of Handy Andy Strawbridge, her dubious English boss.

Maeve and her two best friends try to squeeze in as much fun as possible into their last summer at home. But as marching season raises tensions between the Catholic and Protestant workforce, Maeve realises something is going on behind the scenes at the factory, forcing her to make a choice that will impact her life - and the lives of others - forever.

(P)2022 Hodder & Stoughton Limited©2022 Michelle Gallen Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Small Town & Rural Women's Fiction Funny Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Witty
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Critic reviews

Highly entertaining . . . crackles with good one-liners . . . yet this earthy comedy also has telling things to say about violence and division (Martin Chilton)
A cracking follow-up - at times savagely funny, but with a loamy undertow of complex feeling . . . Fans of the contemporary Irish authors Lisa McInerney and Louise Kennedy should enjoy it too. (Patricia Nicol)
This brash and lively novel is a black comedy of great skill and wit . . . Raucous, in your face, sexually frank and (often hilariously) politically incorrect . . . it's intoxicating, defiant, bitter laughter in the dark, knowing comedy at its blackest pitch
Full of the stuff that we're starting to expect of Michelle Gallen; wild, hilariously angry characters, and language that is vital, bang-on, and seriously funny
A wee novel with an enormous, furious heart . . . Honest, hilarious and such a recognisable portrait of 90s Northern Ireland, Factory Girls is an essential read
Majella O'Neill was no flash-in-the-pan - Factory Girls is a powerful second novel. It has all of Gallen's flair for character, her ear for dialogue and her unparalleled sense of comic timing. And this novel cuts deeper, throbs with pent-up fury, a palpable sense of real and urgent despair. Viciously funny
Brilliantly observed and full of heart, Factory Girls will be up there on my list of best books for this year
A gorgeous, gritty and hilarious love letter to working class Northern Ireland in the 1990s. Gallen's protagonist, Maeve Murray . . . is a compelling creation who crackles brilliantly from the first pages
A riot of a read. A masterclass in voice, the North and the 90s
One of the most moving and hilarious novels I have ever read . . . Factory Girls is one of the best books ever written about the Troubles, and one of the best books I've read in a very long time
Provocative in more ways than one!
A much-awaited second triumph of dark humour - fabulous, dirty dancing words, that lift the soul. Gallen knows how to move us and make us roar at the same time. Jumping out with hysteria, Maeve is the hilarious queen of truth we all want to be (Helen Lederer)
Some writers make you think; some writers make you laugh till you cry. Michelle Gallen belongs to that rare, rare group of writers who make you think even as the tears are tripping you. Factory Girls is a seriously funny novel - that manages at the same time to be deadly serious - about work, about friendship, about Northern Ireland in the months leading up to the 1994 ceasefire, and about being a teenager, any time, anywhere (Glenn Patterson)
The perfect pick for those missing their dose of Derry Girls
All stars
Most relevant
This book is so entertaining, sad that it’s finished. Very Well written and the narration was perfect.

Brilliant

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5 stars all round. The characters really came to life with the fantastic narration. Some very funny one-liners, but also real pathos. Would definitely recommend.

Brilliant! The narrator really made it!

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Good story and the local sayings very funny. The narrator was brilliant and the great that it was in local accent Some serious issues raised

Humour among some serious issues

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A great book and an equally marvellous narrator. A grown up Derry Girls with edge. If you liked 'Big Girl, Small Town', you're going to adore this. Gallen shows every sign of becoming one of our most important authors.

Brilliant

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This is a must listen.....Read perfectly....leaves you wanting to hear more...five stars all around

Absolutely fabulous

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