a Penny Shell

Finalist - 2025 Wishing Shelf Book Awards"A masterclass in suspense... haunting, beautiful, and breathtakingly tense." - Hugh Van EsYorkshire, 1916.At the Barnbow munitions factory near Leeds, women are paid a penny for every shell they fill.Speed means money.Speed means survival.But in a factory thick with explosive TNT dust, speed also means death.A Penny a Shell follows one day in the lives of three working-class women-Eliza, Sarah, and Lucy-whose paths converge on the factory floor of Room 42. As pressure mounts and danger closes in, their stories build toward the real explosion that killed thirty-five women on 5 December 1916.Inspired by true events, factory records, and family history, this is a powerful World War 1 historical novel of resilience, friendship, and the hidden cost of war on the women of the British home front.Perfect for readers of The Nightingale and The Alice Network.