Chocolate Girls [Hardcover]

Annie Murray (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 2003

Set between 1939 and 1959, this is a story of love, war and chocolate! Three very different women work together at Cadbury's Bournville factory, and their lives become entwined by war and work - and a child called David. Edie, the main character, marries young to escape her unhappy family home. Widowed at 19 and, after losing her child from the marriage, she faces the war grieving and lonely. Then one night during the Blitz, an infant mysteriously abandoned during the bombing is handed into her care...Ruby, meanwhile, doesn't want to be left behind in the wedding stakes and settles for marriage with Frank. Finally there's Janet, kind-hearted and susceptible to male charm, who is hurt desperately by an affair with a married man. David, the child who steals Edie's heart as she brings him up through a time none of them will ever forget, is the love of all their lives. And when David is old enough to wonder who he really is, he leads Edle through struggle and heartache to a life and love she would never have dreamed of...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Annie Murray graduated from Oxford in 1983. Her most recent novel was the best-selling NARROWBOAT GIRLS. This is the seventh novel in her much-loved Birmingham series. She now lives in Reading with her husband and four children.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan,London (March 7, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333989465
• ISBN-13: 978-0333989463
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,142,520 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An okay read, October 28, 2006

By 

M. E. Newell (Georgia, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Chocolate Girls (Paperback)

Edie, Ruby and Janet all work at the Cadbury factory in Birmingham Engalnd. Right before the war breaks out the girls are each faced with a life changing event. Edie is getting married, Ruby is afraid of getting left behind and Janet finds herself having a baby. But the war does come and Edie finds her taking in a child that is an victim of airraid. The war ends, and the three women find themshelves going in different directions but the boy with no past, will bring changes to all of thier llive.

"Chocolate Girls" is the first book by Annie Murray that I have read and while I did find it an okay read, I have to admit that I didn't enjoy the time jumps that the writer used, overall it was an okay war-time read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Chocolate with all the taste ane no calories, April 27, 2008

By 

Avidreader - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chocolate Girls (Audio Cassette)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the wartime dramas of Edie, Ruby and Janet. Everyone seemed so real. Details of the time and the effects of war on England were "spot on". Excellent job of keeping the reader interested. Quite the relaxing and entertaining read. Wish it was easier getting hold of copies of her other books which I'd like to try after enjoying this one so much.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Life and love in war and peace, February 18, 2010

By 

wogan "the book reader" - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Chocolate Girls (Paperback)

The `Chocolate Girls' describes the lives of three young ladies and their family and friends starting in July 1939 to November 1954. It is a tale of love and hardship, but most of all - their friendship. It takes place mainly during the war years in Birmingham, England. They work at the Cadbury factory and the tale of Britain at war slowly surrounds them with its' terror, love and death. It's an interesting book and quite long at 518 pages.
Many of the hardships of war are described in the novel, but in many ways the worst of the privations of day to day living are glossed over; instead the focus is on the soap opera of the lives of the 3 girls. It is a shock to have the book jump from September 1944 to November 1954; but the story is carried through. It is certainly a surprise to have it end in Israel, but that does add a final appeal to the reading. Many will find this book a interesting one to read.