The Sugar Girls by Duncan Barrett

Author:Duncan Barrett
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Harper Collins, Inc.
Published: 2012-03-28T23:00:00+00:00

With the new Blue Room came a number of new workers. While Gladys’s friend Betty had an uncle and a sister at the factory, fresh recruit Eva Browning seemed to have her entire family there. When Eva joined the Blue Room she became the fifth Browning to work at Plaistow Wharf – her father was in the offices, her younger sister Rosie in syrup-filling, another younger sister Jean in can-making and her brother Danny on the lorry bank.

Eva had tried her best to avoid the family firm. Determined to go into dressmaking, she had been excited to land a job as a machinist in an Oxford Street workshop. When she brought home her first pitiful week’s pay, however, she realised she had made a mistake.

‘No more arguments,’ said her mother. ‘Your dad’s got you a job down Tate & Lyle paying twice that, plus bonuses. You start at six a.m. tomorrow.’

Like thousands before her, Eva had to admit that Tate & Lyle was the best-paying employer around, and duly donned her dungarees.

Unlike Gladys, Eva immediately felt at home in the so-called Beauty Shop. At the end of each shift she would whisk off her turban and shake out her bouffant blonde hair, which, combined with her sparkling blue eyes, ensured that she caused quite a stir among the reel boys. Her status in the department was further enhanced by the fact that her family lived in East Ham, and were therefore considered rather posh.

Maisie, however, was none too pleased to find herself with a rival for the unofficial title of Blue Room beauty queen. Although Eva was naturally shy, the reel boys were soon looking for excuses to stop by her machine for a chat, and in response Maisie began flirting more and more outrageously with Alex by the waste paper.

‘Maisie hates me like the devil hates holy water,’ Eva complained to Gladys in the café one morning.

‘Nah, she don’t really,’ Gladys assured her. ‘She’s just never met anyone with hair as big as yours.’

After a while, Eva decided to play Maisie at her own game. For every button that Maisie undid on her blouse, Eva would ensure that one of her own came magically undone. Half an hour later, Maisie would respond by showing a little bit more cleavage herself, and, sure as anything, Eva would soon follow suit.

‘What’s the matter, beauty queens? Is it too hot in here for you?’ Gladys asked one day, prompting a contemptuous flick of the hair from Maisie, and a giggle from Eva.

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