Penny Thorpe – författare

A delicious and heartwarming novel featuring the girls working at the nation’s favourite wrapped chocolate factory. At sixteen years old, Irene ‘Reenie’ Calder is delighted to land a seasonal job at Mackintosh’s Quality Street factory but trouble seems to follow her around and it isn’t long before she falls foul of the strict rules.Diana Moore runs the Toffee Penny line and has worked hard to secure her position, but Diana has a dark secret which if exposed, could cost her not only her job at the factory but her reputation as well.When a terrible accident puts supply of Quality Street at risk, Reenie and Diana know that everything rests on them, if they are to give everyone a Christmas to remember…

The ups and down of three plucky factory girls, set in Britain’s best loved wrapped chocolate factory. The Quality Street Factory is fizzing with the news that the King and Queen and the two young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, are going to visit the Mackintosh Factory where the country’s favourite wrapped chocolate is made. The factory floor is heady with excitement but plans are dealt a blow when a much loved staff member is the victim of a poisoning incident.Everyone is under suspicion, which only adds to Reenie Calder’s woes, anxious that her new promotion has only made her stick out even more like a sore thumb. Can she and her friends, Mary and Diana, get their heads together and find the malicious troublemaker before something unthinkable happens?

The plucky heroines at the Quality Street factory must be ready for anything as war looms. Rumours about a war with Germany have been whispered around the Quality Street factory for months. It’s hard for everyone to get their heads around air raids, rationing and the threat of bombings, so to distract themselves, they girls are betting on who is most likely to announce wedding bells.Reenie and Peter adore each other, but as a married woman, Reenie would never be allowed to keep the job that means so much to her. Mary has fallen for her manager at the factory despite this being strictly against the company rules. Even spiteful Dolly has got a new fella in her sights.The threat of war has given everyone a sense of urgency and this time there is so much more at stake than a box of chocolates – can the Quality Street girls keep calm and be ready for anything – even a wedding?

Everything is changing at the Quality Street factory, can the plucky girls in the line make this a Christmas to remember?The Quality Street girls are gearing up for Christmas, but with the factory now making gas masks, as well as the nation’s favourite chocolate sweets, it’s anything but normal.They’re having to make other adjustments too. Reenie is in the doldrums after being demoted at work, while Mary has got her hands full getting used to married life and a ready-made family. New girl, Ada, isn’t sure she fits into factory life at all.Then, just as the Christmas party season gets into full swing, Toffee town gets a shock, and soon it isn’t just Christmas cheer that’s in short supply.Can the Quality Street girls save Christmas once again?