Nippy - Elizabeth Waite

Another book which I have read and will share with you.

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This is one of several books written by Elizabeth Waite, her others include "Skinny Lizzie", "Cockney Waif", "Trouble and Strife" and others.

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This book is categorised under General Fiction, and retails at £5.99, but I picked it up for £2.99, and is a paperback and consists of 34 chapters in all.

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The story unfolds around the summer of 1920, and focus's on two girls, Rebecca Russell and Eleanor James, who are almost inseparable since early childhood.
They like to be called Becky and Ella.
They leave school and both cannot wait to get a job, and they both get hired at the local Wellington laundry house, where one of them gets sent off to the pressing room and the other to the wash room. The story centre's around the two of them, what they get up to in there free time, dances, shopping, sewing, and boys.

Ella meets up with Pete who is a van driver at the laundry, and they strike up a relationship, and before you know it Ella falls pregnant. Pete stands by her and decide that they should get married, and live temporarily with Ella's parents until they can save enough to rent somewhere of there own. The wedding goes off in true London style, with everyone rallying round, baking, sewing, organising and chipping in.
We hear how they struggle financially but get through, and then they are offered a house to rent, so set out on setting up there family home.

Meanwhile Becky wants more than just working at the Laundry and applies for a job with J Lyons & Co, working in a tea shop.
She is successful, and starts her training with them and has to stay in London to do so, with free board and lodgings, her training would take 3 weeks

Just before Becky leaves for London Ella gives birth to a girl and call her Margaret after Ella's mum.

Becky meets May whilst they are both training and strike up a good lasting relationship, in fact so well that they both move in with May's aunt Lil, and again goes on to tell of the girlie things that they get up to, the places they visit, theatre trips, picnics, and various men who would catch there eye in the tea shops, and the friendships they strike up.

Pete and Ella continue to struggle and Ella finds it tough coping with motherhood and the lack of monies, but to earn extra money Pete takes to mending shoes in the shed at the bottom of the garden biding time until something came along.
With the help of Becky and her dad, and Becky's savings that she gathered since working as a "Nippy", they find Pete premises to take up his shoe repairing on Tooting.
Becky's life goes on to tell of a disastrous relationship that she falls into and how she comes out the other side of it, but still keeps strong ties with her family and close friends.

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I'll let you read the rest to find out how everything works out, I am sure you will find it a very easy read as I did.

I found the book light cheerful and easy to read, quite hard to put down, but I must admit not one that I would read again, not for any specific reason, it would probably be what I would call a holiday read, whilst led on the sunbed.