Best-selling Jacqueline Wilson’s 100th book is a cracking story set just before the First World War with one of Wilson’s feistiest girls yet at its heart. Opal Plumstead is a clever, bookish girl with a Scholarship place at a posh girl’s school. When her father commits a very foolish crime (to cover his disappointment at having his book rejected by a publisher) he is sent to prison and Opal’s life is turned upside down. Now she must work at the Fairy Glen sweet factory rather than study. The future looks bleak but in fact it is the beginning of a new chapter for Opal. Meeting Emmeline Pankhurst and the suffragettes shows her the new opportunities for women that are on the horizon. And she falls in love…When everything is thrown into turmoil by the war, Opal has her share of grief but finds there are new horizons waiting for her afterwards.
This wonderful new wartime story will be published to coincide with the one hundred year anniversary of the start of the First World War. And like one of Roald Dahl's most timeless and beloved novels, much of the action takes place at a sweet factory!
Opal Plumstead might be plain, but she has always been fiercely intelligent. Yet her scholarship and dreams of university are snatched away when her father is sent to prison, and fourteen-year-old Opal must start work at the Fairy Glen sweet factory to support her family. Opal struggles to get along with the other workers, who think her snobby and stuck-up. But Opal idolises Mrs Roberts, the factory's beautiful, dignified owner, who introduces Opal to the legendary Mrs Pankhurst and her fellow Suffragettes. And when Opal meets Morgan - Mrs Roberts' handsome son, and the heir to Fairy Glen - she believes she has found her soulmate. But the First World War is about to begin, and will change Opal's life for ever.
A brilliant writer of wit and subtlety. -- The Times
She should be prescribed for all cases of reading reluctance. -- Independent on Sunday
Has a rare gift for writing lightly and amusingly about emotional issues. -- Bookseller
Author
About Jacqueline Wilson
Jacqueline Wilson wrote her first novel when she was nine years old, and she has been writing ever since. She is now one of Britain’s bestselling and most beloved children’s authors. She has written over 100 books and is the creator of characters such as Tracy Beaker and Hetty Feather. More than forty million copies of her books have been sold. As well as winning many awards for her books, including the Children’s Book of the Year, Jacqueline is a former Children’s Laureate, and in 2008 she was appointed a Dame. Jacqueline is also a great reader, and has amassed over 20,000 books, along with her famous collection of silver rings.
Jacqueline Wilson was our Guest Editor in February 2012. Click here to download an interview with Jacqueline.
