The Linen Queen

4 out of 5 stars

Shelia McGee–abandoned by her shallow father and neglected by her bipolar mother–knows there’s life beyond her Northern Ireland mill village and dreams of fleeing to England. She enters and wins the 1941 Linen Queen beauty competition and all her hopes of escape rest on the prize money of £200. What she wasn’t planning on, however, is the Belfast Blitz which brings the realities of WWII to her village.

Soon travel restrictions, along with her mother’s fear of being left alone, put a halt to Shelia’s plans. But when the American troops arrive, Shelia sees a way out. Despite objections from Gavin, a childhood friend who pines for our heroine, Shelia sets her eyes on a Jewish-American soldier named Joel Solomon. show more Trials follow and our heroine goes through a journey which proves to herself that she is strong and not near as self-centered as she thought herself to be.

Falvey is an outstanding and evocative storyteller; would recommend this to anyone who loves historical fiction. I even believe she’s giving Maeve Binchy a run for her money for my favorite Irish author.

http://www.read-all-over.net/fiction/historical/book-review-the-linen-queen-by-p... show less

I agree with a prior poster that this book did drag a bit for me; Sheila is not an entirely likeable person, although I am not sure if she is meant to be. It is interesting to hear about the role of the Linen Queen itself, but aside from that, there is nothing really new here in terms of WWII historical fiction set in Ireland. There is also nothing new in terms of plotlines regarding helpless females relying on men and such.

It feels kind of strange, but this book reminded me quite a bit of two classics - Emma by Jane Austen and Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. So what do all these books have in common, you might ask? Well... I don't know about you, but Emma, Scarlett and Sheila are not very easy characters to like ... at first.

In The Linen Queen, Sheila struggles with some pretty hard knocks. Her dad is gone, her mom is crazy, her aunt super pious and her uncle a pervert. She works hard, yet sees no real benefit to all the work and she really, really wants to leave Ireland.

But Sheila is living and working toward leaving Ireland in 1941, and war is on the horizon. And, much like Scarlett in Gone with the Wind, war has a way of bringing out the grit show more in a pretty girl - and so it was with Sheila.

I really, really enjoyed The Linen Queen. I found Sheila to be petty and self-centered, but as I read, as I really thought about the choices she was making and watched her growth I came to love her and wish her well.

In addition to getting to know Sheila, I also got to know a part of WWII geography I really hadn't been familiar with. Belfast and the northern part of Ireland was involved in the war at a time the southern area was not. I think Patricia Falway did a fantastic job of capturing the tension not only between the two factions of the Irish people, but also by adding the "Yanks" into the mix, and even a Jewish one at that.

For WWII novel fans, this book is a must read. Just.. be patient, give Sheila a little time and remember, all those that are young need time to grow. show less

This review is from: The Linen Queen: A Novel (Hardcover)
Before reading this book, you should be prepared to get swept away into the story. I didn't realize that this was going to happen before reading so I was totally unprepared for the majestic story that awaited me through these pages. You'll travel to Ireland and meet a young woman named Sheila who works in a factory right before the breakout of World War II. She wins a beauty competition and receives the title of The Linen Queen. This sets off several years of adventures in her life starting with her winning this title.

I started off the story not really like Sheila but as the book progressed I became more sympathetic towards her. Her life is rough and she's pretty much in a dead show more end situation. Sheila's relationship with her mother is severely dysfunctional and it's very sad that she has to put up with it the way she does. There are some women that are just not cut out to be mothers and hers is one of them. What makes it sad is that there are so many people today who have suffered because of relationships like this. Sheila is able to break out of this cycle and move on but sadly there are many others that cannot break away and disastrous results happen because of this. There were times when I wanted to slap that woman as well as her other relatives. What they did to the young girl who lived with them was disgusting and absolutely despicable.

The romantic relationships in her life are rather hopeful and sad at the same time. I really enjoyed reading about her relationship with the young American Joel as well as her long time friendship with Gavin. It's not really about picking sides but I enjoyed reading how different the two men are and what Sheila does for both of them.

I found the view of what was happening to the Jews to be very interesting. I never really thought about it much but it's brought up that most people did not know why exactly their country was fighting against Germany. When it's mentioned about what's going on with the Holocaust and what Hitler is doing, there are people that don't seem that concerned or figure that it's not their problem. It feels a little shocking to hear people talking so flippantly about the Holocaust but at the same time, they weren't getting the news like we do now so they really had very little info about what was happening.

While I really liked the story, there was one small detail that I did not enjoy. I usually have no problems reading profanity in books. While I don't like excessive swearing, I honestly don't pay much attention to it in books especially if it plays a part in the story. What I do draw the line at is seeing Jesus's name used in vain. Since I am a Christian, I just do not prefer seeing his name constantly being used as a swear word. This was used several times in the book and it was a bit jarring especially since the characters are supposed to be practicing Catholics. This might be my faith getting in the way of my objectiveness but I really found it distressing to keep seeing it used over and over again.

Other than this, I really did enjoy the story. I honestly felt like I was in 1940s Ireland during the war. Falvey really makes the scenery and characters come alive through her words. I haven't read her previous book, The Yellow House, yet but after finishing this one, I know I need to add it to my TBR pile. show less

“The real prize was my discovery of the raw power of beauty.” So states Sheila McGee after being crowned The Linen Queen of a small Irish mill town in the shadow of World War II.

Appropriately told in the first person from self-centered Sheila’s viewpoint, The Linen Queen takes us through the trials and tribulations of Sheila’s thwarted attempts to use her prize money to escape from Ireland in search of a grander lifestyle. Her inability to decide between two men, childhood friend, Gavin O’Rourke and dashing American officer, Joel Solomon, further complicates her situation. The lives of all the characters change when the German’s bomb Belfast and the Yanks arrive to provide protection. Ireland learns that England’s war show more with Hitler has become its own. A review requires little plot description because oddly, the book jacket description covers it all.

Born and raised in Ireland, author, Patricia Falvey, put her dream of being a writer on the back burner when she pursued a successful business career. Because of persistent internal promptings she gave up her chosen profession to pursue writing. Her love of Ireland spills over the pages in The Linen Queen.

Is Sheila a heroine, a protagonist, or simply the main female character with a propensity to annoy us? The author has a knack for creating strong-willed female characters that make a statement even though our sympathy toward them vacillates. Sheila begins to cultivate a conscience toward the end of the novel, but the reader is left to doubt that her transformation is genuine. Her protection of Grainne, a waif who lives under her roof, however, is both touching and believable. Well-drawn and realistic is the rivalry among the mill girls.
The book clearly illustrates how the provincial social mores of the time discriminated against women.

The gusto and rollicking momentum of Ms. Falvey’s first book, The Yellow House, are curiously absent from this second novel. The action in the plot wanes as the book progresses and the characters seem dispassionate and uninteresting. Patricia Falvey is clearly a talented author. The Linen Queen, however, pales in contrast to The Yellow House. Perhaps a deadline kept her from fulfilling her potential in this novel. Look for more from this author.

I thank Center Street for this review copy. The opinions expressed in my review are unbiased and wholly my own.

Reviewed by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont show less

I won this book in a contest and had it siting in my bookcase until I decided to purge all the books had print too small to read. But this one had big enough print to read, so I put it in my current stack.

The Linen Queen is a well researched tale starting at the beginning of WW II in Northern, Ireland. Sheila McGee lived in County Armagh,she worked in a linen where there are very long days and the girls sing at work to fight the boredom on Monday through Friday, with Friday being more of a celebtration. My eye caught on the fact that it is set in County Armagh because some of my ancestors lived there. Sheila lives with her mother, who is bi-polar, her aunt and the aunt's husband. Her mother is extremely self-centered and selfish, her show more aunt is not pleasant to be around and uncle is always trying to corner her to satisfy his animal instints.

Sheila has a plan to leave. She wants to leave and the Linen Queen contest would be her tickett out. because of a pof of money that goes with the honor. Young and innocent at the time, Sheila has learned about her true self yet. Like her mother, she is self centered and selfish but it takes some changes for her discover that she has a much kinder soul inside.

She has friend since childhood, Gavin, who she admires but cannot see herself marrying and after she had chosen Linen Queen, she meets Joel, very handsome too, with dark hair and she later finds out that he is Jewish. He is the catalyst for Sheila finding her true self. Sheila has a lot to learn about herself, like she does have a conscience. But she will learn much more as tragedies unfold.

Part of my attraction to this book is the Irish language. The author uses "craic" over and over again. I like to determine the meaning of words that I don't know for seeing how it is used in context, Well that became difficult because like the word Aloha, there are many meanings! It is pronounced like a crack in a wall. That is easy, but the meaning is more difficult. It can mean the newsm what's happening, the entertainment and more. Many Irish say that you cannot understand craic unless you are Irish.

The other term is da. Irish children call their fathers: da, dad and dadai (DAH dee) Da is a very informal name for your father, too informal for newspapers, it is Irish slang. There is a world of Irish slang, I am learning. show less

I have read many books about WWII but none that ever gave the Irish perspective. Sheila is awarded the title of Linen Queen and the prize money. This is her opportunity to flee her poor and miserable existence. But, Belfast is bombed and the American Soldiers come to her village.

It wasn’t the best book I ever read but it was interesting. One knows what to expect but is happy about reading on in spite of it. The story is fairly predictable but the writer has a way of engaging the reader.