Saga set in Shropshire- The Daughters of Ironbridge by Mollie Walton

Submitted: 17th April 2019

A novel set in Ironbridge, by Rebecca Mascull

Saga set in Shropshire- The Daughters of Ironbridge by Mollie Walton. This author is the new Queen of Saga novels. She’s actually already a brilliant novelist by the name of Rebecca Mascull who has changed her name to start writing sagas. And there’s a lot of family saga in this book! The first of a series with more to come of course, and there’s a lot of history and family stories to really get your teeth into.

IF you haven’t read a saga before and think they’re for older readers, think again – this really has a great story written to immerse you in a different time and place and you get to see it all through some very interesting characters…

BookTrail Travel to the locations in The Daughters of Ironbridge

Setting: The iron industry in Ironbridge

#Bookreview

A lovely start to what I’m sure is going to be an interesting saga. This is the first book of a trilogy and I love books which look deep into the heritage and culture of a place. Here, a place on the map, Ironbridge gets a nice mention and its history and heritage jump from the page. It’s not somewhere I’d heard off much so to get a book set in the heart of its history was a real thrill.

I do love these saga novels. Sometimes they get a bad rep as books for older readers, and the covers aren’t always great, but the contents are really quite something. Fascinating stories and the history of people and places, working class people with real issues and struggles. Brilliantly written too in this case. Easy to read and fascinating with it.

You can tell the author has taken great pains to get the history right. She does mention a few museums in the credits which are on TheBookTrail map, but it’s the people behind them, the character of the working iron factory etc, the daily noise and smells that really where this novel shines. Each characters is as carefully modelled as that iron – no set moulds but people with real flaws and real lives. Amy in particular was a favourite of mine – she might not have had the best start in life, but she saw her future as improving herself rather than completely escaping her past.

The industry and life depicted in the novel is one I knew little about but I feel that I’ve stepped back in time and got a real sense of that time period and got to understand people then and their motivations. In keeping with the time and setting, I would say that this is a meat and two veg kind of novel – lots to chew over but ultimately satisfying. Can’t wait for the next course!