All the Nice Girls
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Review
A poignant and pleasurable novel'. SUNDAY TIMES Penny Perrick (‘Bakewell delivers a warm, good humoured story of wartime relationships and a thrilling account of life and death on the convoys’ GUARDIAN Rachel Hore )
Marvellously exciting, heartbreaking, gruelling and an unexpectedly muscular and masculine treat in the middle of what is essentially a wistful romance . . . the outcome is poignant, romantic, deeply satisfying' DAILY EXPRESS Jennifer Selway (‘A beautifully evocative novel, full of romance, tragedy and the pull of family bonds’. SUNDAY EXPRESS Jane Clinton 4 stars )
A strong, romantic plot and believable well-realised characters . . . Bakewell for the Booker' READERS (DIGEST A N Wilson )
Bakewell conjures up a cracking wartime atmosphere' DAILY MAIL Helen Brown (‘It is formidably researched and evokes real atmosphere’ SAGA magazine Emma Soames )
Marvellously exciting, heartbreaking, gruelling and an unexpectedly muscular and masculine treat in the middle of what is essentially a wistful romance . . . the outcome is poignant, romantic, deeply satisfying' DAILY EXPRESS Jennifer Selway (‘A beautifully evocative novel, full of romance, tragedy and the pull of family bonds’. SUNDAY EXPRESS Jane Clinton 4 stars )
A strong, romantic plot and believable well-realised characters . . . Bakewell for the Booker' READERS (DIGEST A N Wilson )
Bakewell conjures up a cracking wartime atmosphere' DAILY MAIL Helen Brown (‘It is formidably researched and evokes real atmosphere’ SAGA magazine Emma Soames )
Review
`Bakewell conjures up a cracking wartime atmosphere'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is not my normal sort of book but the title intrigued me. From the start I could imagine the head-mistress of this well-to-do girls school. Joan Bakewell's accounts of what Liverpool docks and the fictitious Stockport were fabulous - you can almost smell the air there. I am only 40 and therefore was not alive during this time but I felt that throughout this book I could hear my grandmother as she used to tell me what life was like for women during the second world war. The book has a lovely just-in-time finish and although it's not all roses it is as it should be and left me feeling evermore grateful for what I have.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Not my usual kind of book, either - but as Stockport is my hometown, I was attracted by its northern setting. (Stockport is loosely fictionalised as Staveley, and Joan Bakewell dredges up a few details that I'd quite forgotten like the old Essoldo cinema ... long gone I imagine?)
Unfortunately, like many journalists who turn to fiction, Bakewell is a competent writer - but that's as far as it goes and this novel is lacking in any real spark. This is fiction-by-numbers, no better than an old-fashioned women's magazine serial. She throws in all the ingredients as if she's following a recipe; mix 4oz of illegitimate birth, 5oz of kidney transplant sub-plot ... and what do you get, a trite and unconvincing ending!
On the historical side, she has done her homework - but lacks the skill to infuse it with life.
It isn't a dreadful book. It's a quick, easy read - just a bit plodding.
A girls' grammar school 'adopts' a merchant ship during WW2, the serious-minded headmistress falls for the ship's master ... and lives are tangled down to the present generation. It passed an evening, but was very forgettable.
Unfortunately, like many journalists who turn to fiction, Bakewell is a competent writer - but that's as far as it goes and this novel is lacking in any real spark. This is fiction-by-numbers, no better than an old-fashioned women's magazine serial. She throws in all the ingredients as if she's following a recipe; mix 4oz of illegitimate birth, 5oz of kidney transplant sub-plot ... and what do you get, a trite and unconvincing ending!
On the historical side, she has done her homework - but lacks the skill to infuse it with life.
It isn't a dreadful book. It's a quick, easy read - just a bit plodding.
A girls' grammar school 'adopts' a merchant ship during WW2, the serious-minded headmistress falls for the ship's master ... and lives are tangled down to the present generation. It passed an evening, but was very forgettable.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
They say that everyone has a novel in them - and fair play to Joan Bakewell for publishing her first at the age of 74. Cards on the table - I really admire her as a broadcaster; cultural and ethical commentator; and as a woman. I have recently read her excellent autobiography `The Centre of the Bed', and enjoyed it immensely. I have enormous respect for her.
So I wanted to really enjoy this Second World War romance - and I did enjoy it. I read it in a couple of days - eager to find out what happened. But it would not be honest of me to say that I found it without fault. Maybe because I was so recently acquainted with some of the details of her own wartime story, the parallels with her own experiences were a bit obvious for me. The imaginary town of Staveley, positioned between Manchester and Liverpool , is a device which seems to be a bit clunky here.
The novel tells the story of a girls' grammar school adopting a ship during the war, and of the relationships which develop between both the school as a whole, and in particular the romances that blossom between two of the pupils; their head mistress and three of the crew. There are some very touching moments in these stories, and Bakewell does bring to life the morals and values of the time, and how they stifled both women and girls, especially those who openly challenged social mores. She deals with real issues such as pregnancy outside marriage; adultery and adolescent sexuality well before the sexual revolution that was to follow in the 60's.
The parallel modern day story she tells of the daughter of one of these women, who gradually uncovers hitherto secret elements of her own personal history, does not work quite so well. Bakewell also seems to be packing a lot of social history into the tale - almost making it feel like a visit to the Imperial War Museum.
But it is a good story, told with feeling and with honesty, and I did maintain an eagerness to find out what happened to the main characters. It might have been better to stick to the telling of these tales via a more detailed autobiography. Bakewell has written her novel. It is good - but not great. But she is still a great role model for any young girl.
So I wanted to really enjoy this Second World War romance - and I did enjoy it. I read it in a couple of days - eager to find out what happened. But it would not be honest of me to say that I found it without fault. Maybe because I was so recently acquainted with some of the details of her own wartime story, the parallels with her own experiences were a bit obvious for me. The imaginary town of Staveley, positioned between Manchester and Liverpool , is a device which seems to be a bit clunky here.
The novel tells the story of a girls' grammar school adopting a ship during the war, and of the relationships which develop between both the school as a whole, and in particular the romances that blossom between two of the pupils; their head mistress and three of the crew. There are some very touching moments in these stories, and Bakewell does bring to life the morals and values of the time, and how they stifled both women and girls, especially those who openly challenged social mores. She deals with real issues such as pregnancy outside marriage; adultery and adolescent sexuality well before the sexual revolution that was to follow in the 60's.
The parallel modern day story she tells of the daughter of one of these women, who gradually uncovers hitherto secret elements of her own personal history, does not work quite so well. Bakewell also seems to be packing a lot of social history into the tale - almost making it feel like a visit to the Imperial War Museum.
But it is a good story, told with feeling and with honesty, and I did maintain an eagerness to find out what happened to the main characters. It might have been better to stick to the telling of these tales via a more detailed autobiography. Bakewell has written her novel. It is good - but not great. But she is still a great role model for any young girl.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
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My book collection would not be complete without this one, fabulous read and lucky i saw it for sale on Amazon
Published 4 months ago by glen
An Unusual Take on Wartime
`All The Nice Girls' is set in part during 1942 when WWII is not going well for the British. As part of the war effort an all girl's grammar school in Stockport becomes one of the... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Simon Savidge Reads
A DEBUT NOVEL
Difficult to give an opinion on this novel.Joan Bakewell is well known for her views, the programes that she has done over the years, and the epithet that was applied to her... Read more
Published 20 months ago by bibliophile
Bewitched by the author!
I have the greatest respect for Joan Bakewell and was totally seduced by the fact that this was her first attempt at a novel. It was a must buy for me but I was very disappointed. Read more
Published on 7 May 2010 by Valerie Thame
Joan Bakewell - Jolly Hockey Sticks
Setting a great example, Britain's offical voice of the elderly publishes her first novel in her seventies. Read more
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