A completely charming, bittersweet story that combines the lost histories of the women who played football just after WW1 with an incredibly-moving, queer love story. It’s a debut graphic novel from English teacher, cartoonist and illustrator Anna Trench – in her spare time she plays for Goal Diggers FC. It opens in the present where a woman is sorting through her recently-deceased great-aunt’s possessions. What she finds uncovers something totally unexpected about her great-aunt Florrie’s past. Trench’s story then shifts back in time to 1919 and Norfolk where Florrie lives with her younger brother and her widowed father an antiquarian bookseller. A chance encounter leads to Florrie becoming a member of a local, women’s football team, something she decides to keep a secret from her family.

Football takes Florrie to London and then to Paris where she meets and falls in love with V. - their relationship allows Trench to recreate Paris’s famous lesbian bar Le Monocle in Montparnasse. Florrie’s experiences highlight the once-flourishing women’s football teams that brought woman from vastly different backgrounds together, united by their excitement over the game. A world that came to an abrupt end in 1921 when the Football Association banned women from their pitches, on the grounds that football was far too dangerous and far too strenuous for women. Trench’s b/w illustrations and deceptively-simple style are remarkably effective, evocative and atmospheric. Shortlisted for more than one award, Trench’s book’s received glowing reviews from writers like Alison Bechdel and Seán Hewitt. Highly recommended – even for readers who, like me, aren’t even vaguely interested in football.

So the reason I wanted to read this is as you all know I love queer graphic novels and genuinely thought this sounded like such an interesting read. Friends, I'm so glad I was granted to read this book. This book INSTANTLY had me in tears. The story was so beautifully written and illustrated and I genuinely read this in less than an hours sitting. This had everything I wanted from a queer graphic novel, such as strong female relationships and powerful women. To see the history of women's football in England was so interesting to read about as I had no idea before this. I genuinely loved the correlation between what was happening to Florrie in real life in regards to her queerness and relationships as well as what was happening to her with her passion of football. This book was honestly very bittersweet and I would 100% recommend reading this with a pack of tissues. I will definitely be getting a copy of this when it's out, and would absolutely recommend this to anyone and everyone who just wants a good, bittersweet queer graphic novel.

Rooted in historical context, ‘Florrie’ is a story of one woman’s joy in life. Football, friendship, love, and laughter, alongside the more serious concerns and fears of women stepping out of line with their times. Memorable and moving.

Thank you to Random House UK, Vintage, Jonathan Cape, the author and NetGalley for a DRC in return for an honest review

What a wonderful joyous story. I love everything about this book. The heartfelt storyline was a joy to read! In fact I didn't want it to end. It left me wondering about the rest of Florrie's life and about what other adventures she may have had.

Anna Trench's literary debut is accompanied throughout by whimsical drawings of Florrie and the footballing adventures she had between 1921 and 1924. Trench intertwines her story around real life events such as the Football Association's 1921 ban on women’s football and how the female footballers of the time had to use their ingenuity in order to carry on playing the game they all loved. A very sweet love story also blossoms between Florrie and a French girl named Vivienne.

A book that will be loved by young and old alike. This would be an especially lovely gift for any young girls wanting to follow in the footsteps of their footballing heroes.

#Florrie #NetGalley

Unfortunately, this just wasn’t the book for me. I feel like this book set itself up as a kind of memoir, but I didn’t feel like I really got enough of Florrie through it to connect with her either in her present or as a past figure in the actual present. I did enjoy the historical sporty vibes and the trip through women’s football and the trials they faced to get to play the sport, but unfortunately the characters just didn’t hit home for me, so it wasn’t as impactful as it may have otherwise been.

Beautiful artwork and a really heartfelt tale. I know the area it was set in well enough to recognise the locations from their illustrations, and I thought it was beautifully told. My only real problem was the question of class, which did come up a few times but felt politely swept under the carpet. This story from the perspective of one of her teammates who had no choice but to marry a man she didn’t love and work a job she hated - tragic! But this story - not quite as emotional. And to be fair, that’s not the story it was telling. But I did feel towards the end like I was being asked to feel more than the story really warranted, I suppose.

As a genre I am really enjoying the non fiction graphic works coming out at the moment, I find them a clear cut way to explain events and feelings without dumbing down or getting bogged down in loads of research.

Being interested in WW1 history, women's history, and women's sport, this book appealed to me on so many levels even before there was the great Norfolk setting.

I loved this book so much and have already been recommending it to my football fan friends as well as any one who loves Norfolk.

I really liked the format of this book as it makes it more reader friendly for a range of audiences. It tells the story of Florrie as she becomes a footballer in secret at a time when people were turning against the idea of women playing football. There is some suggestion of why, e.g. jealousy of the big crowds the female game were getting. Florrie manages to go to France, giving her father a different reason, and while she is there she meets and begins to fall in love with a French lady. I liked that the main messages of the book were integrated throughout rather than flagged up in a very dramatic way. The story just quietly progresses after Florrie's nephew finds artefacts in the loft and realises how little he knew of her story.

It was nice to read about women’s football in 1920s.
Florrie’s interesting life story is discovered by her great-great niece in this empowering graphic novel.
A cool graphic novel with good messages and an engaging storyline.

Florrie is a soulful and timeless tale of women, love, and women in love. This story offers a glimpse into our older relatives' youth, revealing that they were more like us than we might think. It teaches us that as we grow up, we are less alone than we may ever know.