Member Reviews
A wonderful story of the Great War of which I didn't realise there was a first book. But I must say this didn't have any affect on the reading of this book for me. It was a book that went straight to the heart and I really enjoyed reading it.
I loved Martha and her strength and attitude. She is inspiring to anyone one of us. This is just a good, heart-warming read and I found it very easy to read as well. I really enjoyed this different slant on a war novel and I look forward to reading what comes next.
Thank you NetGalley and Hera Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.
A lovely, sweet story. I enjoyed this one as it was a little bit different . The story was interesting and the characters were very likeable. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.
This is the second book in the WW! Paradise Pottery series. Although I didn't read the first book, this hasn't taken anything away from this very well written and interesting novel. I enjoyed reading this and will certainly be looking for more work by this author. 5 stars.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC
Another great read from the series, a great family saga. I found the first book quite slow to get into but this book draws you in from the first page. Looking forward to another in the series.
I cannot believe this was a first novel. It hooked you in from the start. A real page turner that I personally found hard to put down.
The believable characters and storyline were well crafted and knowledgeable information shone out of every page. Excellent!
Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.
I enjoyed reading this book.
The story is mainly about Martha, she does her best to stay away from her father, who rules the house and can be violent too.
She has two brothers, Daniel and Peter who also help her and take a stand against their father. Things change when he goes to fight for his country.
We see a change in Martha and her mother with help from her sister Issy.
Martha has always wanted to be a paintress at the pottery, and her dream looks set to come true when she meets Jonas, a modeller. He makes her see that she can do what’s she wants to.
She receives another boost in her job when Mr John begins to run the pottery, and also when Usula sticks up for her after listening in to a conversation.
I recommend this book.
In the latest installment in The Pottery Girls series, readers meet young Martha Owen, a laborer at Jackson’s pottery manufacturer in one of a group of English towns known as The Potteries near Stoke-on-Trent. Not content to merely transfer the designs onto the ware, Martha aspires to become a paintress and apply the painted designs by hand. Shortly before the tumult and tragedy of World War 1, a paintress position opens up at a nearby rival company. Will this be Martha’s chance? Take a trip back in time to the world of pottery and fine china manufacturers as Martha balances her ambitions with relationships in this engaging tale with many interesting period details.
Another great book in the series, loveable characters and a great storyline. I really enjoyed this book and the authors previous books
Thank you for the chance to read this ARC in return for my honest opinion.
I had not read any books by this author before and had not realised that this was part of a series. However, in my opinion, it is possible to read this book as a standalone, it doesn't matter if one hasn't the context from the previous books.
Essentially it is a novel about the changing roles of women in the Potteries in WW1 - when much of the work was male dominated but times had to change when war was declared and the men were increasingly called up to arms.
it is the tale of a single minded young lady who matures over the book and achieves her aim of attending art school, becoming firstly a paintress and then a ceramicist.
Along the way she finds love she never expected and heartache for her friends.
The carnage of WW1 was mentioned and the effects of Spanish Flu though these were secondary to the story of the pottery.
There was one or two typographical errors that should have been picked up in proofreading but this is not unusual in any book I have found.
It is a well researched book and well written, it is possible to be annoyed with Martha's entrenched beliefs and prejudices but this is easy to see in the 21st century but would have been the norm, I imagine, in the 1910s.
I found the vernacular and dialect difficult at times mainly because I don’t know many people from Stoke on Trent to know how they would talk and imagine that trying to put dialect into text is not an easy process. However this added enrichment to the book in my view rather than detracting from it. ‘Yer’ seems a common term in many parts of the country I was brought up in Somerset and it’s often used there.
All in all a lovely book great for those that love historical fiction
A New Day at Paradise Pottery by Lynn Johnson
Martha Owen has not had an easy start in life. Her abusive father dominates the family and she has lost her only friend after a painful falling-out.
Her father’s reliance on the bottle, and his increasingly violent temper, brings turmoil for Martha, her mother and her three siblings and with World War One causing more strain on the home front, her prospects look bleak.
With no money or qualifications to speak of, starting a job at the Potteries feels like a lifeline, but Martha finds herself wanting more than the production line job she works on.
I loved this book a real insight into women working in harsh industries during Ww1 .
Poor Martha is going to work to help sustain herself her mother and her 3 siblings but with the wrath of her often drunk , abusive and violent father .
We follow the family as they try to survive and how Martha tries to better herself and have a better life than those around her .
Great story , heartbraking at times , but a joy to read.
When I began Lynn Johnson's A New Day at Paradise Pottery, I didn't know that it was a later book in a series. It doesn't really matter in terms of the reading experience, but I do think this installment was perhaps meant for people who already knew and loved the series. As for me, I found this book to be a somewhat frustrating read. I enjoyed the plot, the feminist approach to a romance in a way that might(?) have been possible during the World War I years. I do, however, have some quibbles. I think it would have been unrealistic for so many of Martha's relatives and friends to survive the war--it would have been extremely lucky. This was a war that left a generation of women unmarried; that was the death toll. Johnson's treatment of the Spanish Flu was similarly underdeveloped. One would imagine that the Flu hit the working class areas around the Potteries with great force and it would have merited more than the couple of sentences it gets in the text. My final issue was with the dialect, or rather the persistent substitution of "yer" and some abbreviating apostrophes for dialect. It just wasn't necessary and it made Martha sound like a pirate captain. Basically, I enjoyed the experience of this book, but it could have used an editor.
Another sweet installment of The Pottery Girls, this time with a girl who actually enjoyed being a Pottery Girl and used the momentum of WWI to live her dream of being an artist.
What an informative saga, makes you really think about how difficult it was for women to try to establish themselves in business!
The story concentrates on Martha Owen as she tries to keep clear of her domineering father who rules the roost at home, and is known to lift his hands. Her two brothers Daniel and Peter help by standing up to father. Things improve when he’s called to fight for his country. Not only does Martha blossom so does her mother with the assistance of other daughter Issy.
Martha has always dreamed of being a paintress at the pottery which is helped when she meets Jonas who is a modeller. He gives Martha the confidence to see she can do it. Will she get closer to Jonas? Her career is helped by the fact that the son Mr John takes over the running of the pottery, also when Usula adorn overhear a conversation and speaks up for her.
It’s a really engaging story with many threads to keep you engrossed. Recommend.