‘Over My Shoulder’
(HARRY WOODS)
Ruby sings this to the girls in the kitchen of number thirteen before they set off to see well-known actress and songstress Jessie Matthews in a film at Erith Odeon. The song comes from the film Evergreen (1934), and Jessie was known for her high kicks, which Ruby tries to copy, much to the amusement of Maisie and Freda.
‘By a Waterfall’
(SAMMY FAIN and IRVING KAHAL)
Betty Billington plays this tune on the piano at the 1938 Woolworths Christmas party for old soldiers and tells Sarah that she likes the tune. ‘By a Waterfall’ comes from the extravagantly choreographed Busby Berkeley film Footlight Parade (1933) and it pleased me to think that the rather straight-laced Betty had a slightly risqué side to her character. I like to think that Betty would have visited the cinema on her day off and enjoyed the Busby Berkeley films.
‘The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo’
(FRED GILBERT)
Alfie, the old soldier at the Christmas party in 1938, sings a rather long drawn-out version of this song. A popular music-hall number from 1892, it can be found on YouTube in both French and English.
I added this song to the book as I have my own memories of it as a child, in the early 1960s. I recall my granddad, in his armchair one Boxing Day, pint pot of brown ale in his hand and paper hat on his head, singing the full lyrics. Dad’s Christmas box from Mum was a reel-to-reel tape recorder and the microphone was set on the arm of the chair so Granddad’s words could be picked up clearly. I have to hang my head in shame and confess that I taped over this when I borrowed the machine and recorded over Granddad with Julie Andrews singing ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.
‘Hello, Hello, Who’s Your Lady Friend?’
(HARRY FRAGSON, WORTON DAVID and BERT LEE, 1914),
‘Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty’
(ARTHUR J. MILLS, FRED GODFREY
and BENNETT SCOTT, 1916),
‘Bless ’Em All!’
(FRED GODFREY, 1917)and
‘Down at the Old Bull and Bush’
(RUSSELL HUNTING, PERCY KRONE, ANDREW B. STIRLING
and HENRY VON TILZER, 1903)
Four well-remembered songs from the past that seem to appear on old-time music-hall shows. Our Woolies girls would have sung these on many occasions around a piano at home, at the pub and family parties.
‘I’ll See You In My Dreams’
(ISHAM JONES and GUS KAHN, 1924)
I just knew that when Maisie headed to the Prince of Wales pub, mourning the loss of her soldier husband, Joe, in 1940, that standing by the piano, the music would have made her melancholy. This is one of the scenes in The Woolworths Girls that made me cry as I wrote it. I knew Maisie so well by this time that I felt her pain and her loss. The lyrics would have cut to the quick as she fell to her knees and sobbed. For a real treat, listen to the version of this song performed by Joe Brown for the concert in memory of George Harrison.
‘I Found a Million-Dollar Baby
(In a Five-and-Ten-Cent Store)’
(HARRY WARREN, MORT DIXON and BILLY ROSE, 1931)
This song was first sung by Fanny Brice in the Broadway musical Billy Rose’s Crazy Quilt. The five-and-ten-cent store is the American name for F. W. Woolworth. What could be more fitting to be sung by Maureen for Maisie when she married her David? ‘I found a million-dollar baby in a five-and-ten-cent store . . .’
‘Goodnight, Sweetheart’
RAY NOBLE, JIMMY CAMPBELL and REG CONNOLLY, 1931)
Such a romantic song and for me, it was the perfect song for Alan and Sarah to dance to at the Woolworths Christmas party in 1938. Their romance was just starting and Sarah wasn’t sure if Alan cared for her as much as she cared for him. This song was pivotal to their romance and furthermore brought them back together in the final scene of The Woolworths Girls.
Reading Group Questions
1) Why did you decide to read The Woolworths Girls, and what appealed to you most about the cover and packaging?
2) Who was your favourite character in The Woolworths Girls?
3) Did you like the setting of The Woolworths Girls?
4) Discuss the author’s writing style.
5) What did you enjoy most about The Woolworths Girls?
6) How did the ending of the book make you feel?
7) Have you read any comparable books to The Woolworths Girls?
8) What are your own memories of Woolworths?
9) If you could ask the author one question about the novel, what would it be?
10) Would you read the author’s next novel, The Butlins Girls?
Elaine Everest was born and brought up in North West Kent, where The Woolworths Girls is set, and was once a Woolworths girl herself.
Elaine has written widely for women’s magazines, penning both short stories and features before turning her hand to writing novels. When she isn’t writing, Elaine runs The Write Place creative writing school in Dartford, Kent, and the blog for the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
Elaine lives with her husband, Michael, and their Polish Lowland Sheepdog, Henry, in Swanley, Kent.
You can say hello to Elaine on Twitter @ElaineEverest or Facebook www.facebook.com/elaine.everest
First published 2016 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-9549-5
Copyright © Elaine Everest 2016
Design © www.blacksheep-uk.com
Models © Colin Thomas
Woolworths shop © woolworthsmuseum.co.uk
The right of Elaine Everest to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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