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. Anny 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!

I sat down to read the first few chapters of The Daughters of Ironbridge and didn't actually put the book down until I had read over half of it, then finished it as soon as I had the time to read the following day. I was quickly drawn into the story and loved the range of voices within it, particularly that it was largely structured to bring in an opposing or darker character's point of view at moments when Anny and Margaret believed that they had matters all planned out, whether short or long-term, to expose the wider picture that neither of them can see completely. It's a swiftly engaging read, for both Anny and Margaret are endearing in their own ways, making it easy to care for them, and even those characters who are not sympathetic or painted as good people are intriguing in a manner that makes it difficult not to invest in where their narratives are going too.

The Daughters of Ironbridge is an atmospheric novel that transports the reader to 1830s Shropshire with ease and eloquence, and I believe that this is one of the elements of the book that draws the reader in so quickly. The little details are excellent, as are the individual voices of the characters, all largely respective of their backgrounds without becoming simple stereotypes. I love that Anny is appreciated by many for her intelligence and doesn't look down on those who haven't had the opportunities that she does, her journey more about expanding her world than 'escaping' the one she's been born into. Margaret is perhaps slightly less sympathetic as the novel progresses, yet, ultimately, she too tries to do right by the people she cares about in a world that would have her be quiet and obedient, and it is not her fault that there are some things she simply cannot fix. Not one of the Kings is an outright villain, their choices driven by a history and legacy that they can't seem to escape - or are too willing to embrace.

A highly recommended read!

What a beautiful and memorable story. The totally different lives of the very poor and the very rich are portrayed exceptionally in this story. 
But riches don't necessarily bring happiness. Honesty and hard work are the mainstay of the workers at the steel works owned by the King family from the big house.
But tragedy strikes. 
I loved this story and would highly recommend it. 
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read it.