“Factory Girls” by Michelle Gallen

Factory Girls, by Michelle Gallen, takes ages to get moving — the beginning is bleak, swear-heavy poverty p0rn. This is the textbook answer in case someone ever asks you, what does gritty mean on a book blurb?  Too many characters are introduced at once, which felt realistic but also limited getting to know the characters. It took ages for Maeve’s friends to separate into two different people, not just Friend and Posh Friend. Once it gets moving, the story is unfolds in a web of flashbacks, slow descriptions of daily life, and huge shocks.

In the beginning of Factory Girls, Maeve’s just finished school and is waiting for her exam results to come back and tell her whether she’s placed into university in the fall. Worrying about exam results and waiting to move on and start a new life is such a key part of coming-of-age stories. But the book’s tension isn’t from wondering if she’ll get out of town, it’s about who she’s going to become when she gets out. Is she going to hide her background or not? Is she going to succeed or is the gap too wide? This summer in the factory is meant to be just marking time and trying to save up some cash before her real life starts. There are some really engaging coming-of-age realizations here, both for Maeve and her friends.

Maeve convinces her two best friends to get factory jobs with her over the summer, and then convinces her friend Caroline to rent an apartment with her. The factory is mixed which means she and her Catholic friends have to interact with Protestants without anyone blowing up the other side. Aoife, the posh friend, agrees to work with them for the experience, but she doesn’t go in with them on the apartment, because her home life is already much nicer and because her parents have already taught her that rent is throwing money away. Meanwhile, there’s one telling line about how Maeve doesn’t have any useful career connections because no one in her family actually has a job.

There’s a small scene when Aoife and James, her brother, cook spaghetti and bolognese sauce, and although Maeve likes it, she also realizes that her usual spag bol packet made with vodka instead of red wine isn’t really how that’s supposed to taste. (It’s not a gritty novel if the characters aren’t constantly eating the most unappetizing foods, is it?)  Spaghetti night is ruined for her, because now she knows the better kind exists.

The overall mood of this novel is just… dreary and depressing. Some of this is intentional, the descriptions of generational poverty and constant violence between Catholics and Protestants should be depressing. But for me, even when the plot turns very dramatic towards the end, the overall feeling is a downer. Even if some characters make it out, the Troubles are still overwhelming the town.

I thought it took ages for the main story to go anywhere, and I was also frustrated when some of the tantalizing hints about minor characters and subplots were never really explored. As a I read, I had a strange feeling that I was reading the unfinished notes to a truly moving novel, with a coming-of-age story, secrets in the factory, and wider implications for the time of the Irish Troubles. But it wasn’t quite there.

I received a copy of this novel to review as part of the blog tour. Thanks for including me! All opinions are my own, as always.