Penny a Shell

Finalist – 2025 Wishing Shelf Book Awards"e;A masterclass in suspense… haunting, beautiful, and breathtakingly tense."e; — 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.