SLCL and the Novel Neighbor Present Bestselling Historical Novelist Jennifer Chiaverini

The St. Louis County Library Foundation and the Novel Neighbor are pleased to host an event with bestselling historical novelist Jennifer Chiaverini, author of “Canary Girls.”

The event will take place on Thursday, August 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Grant’s View Branch of the St. Louis County Library, 9700 Musick Rd., St. Louis MO, 63123.

The program is free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at the event from The Novel Neighbor.

Rosie the Riveter meets “A League of Their Own” in New York Times bestselling novelist Jennifer Chiaverini’s lively and illuminating novel about the “munitionettes” who built bombs in Britain’s arsenals during World War I, risking their lives for the war effort and discovering camaraderie and courage on the soccer pitch.

Early in the Great War, men left Britain’s factories in droves to enlist. Struggling to keep up production, arsenals hired women to build the weapons the military urgently needed. Thousands of women—cooks, maids, shopgirls, and housewives—answered their nation’s call.Among them is nineteen-year-old former housemaid April Tipton. Impressed by her friend Marjorie’s descriptions of higher wages, plentiful meals, and comfortable lodgings, she takes a job at Thornshire Arsenal near London, filling shells in the Danger Building—difficult, dangerous, and absolutely essential work.

Joining them is Lucy Dempsey, wife of Daniel Dempsey, Olympic gold medalist and star forward of Tottenham Hotspur. With Daniel away serving in the Footballers’ Battalion, Lucy resolves to do her bit to hasten the end of the war. When her coworkers learn she is a footballer’s wife, they invite her to join the arsenal ladies’ football club, the Thornshire Canaries.

The football pitch is the one place where class distinctions and fears for their men fall away. As the war grinds on and tragedy takes its toll, the Canary Girls persist despite the dangers, proud to serve, determined to outlive the war and rejoice in victory and peace.

 Jennifer Chiaverini is the New York Times bestselling author of dozens of novels, including critically acclaimed historical fiction and the beloved Elm Creek Quilts series. Her works of nonfiction include seven collections of quilt patterns and original quilt designs featured in “Country Woman”, “Quiltmaker, Quilt”, and other magazines. In 2020, she was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award from the Wisconsin Library Association for her novel “Resistance Women.” 

Program sites are accessible. With at least two weeks' notice, accommodations will be made for persons with disabilities. Call 314-994-3300 or contact us.