I thought of all the other women like me here and abroad who waited for news of loved ones. We were the women who were not mothers and wives to whom official information would be delivered by telegram or by uniformed offers. We were the women hidden in the corners and crevices, behind doors and curtains, the women who must wait for scraps of information, for hearsay and rumor. And yet for us, the waiting was just as painful.

Queensbrook, County Armagh, Ireland 1941. Abandoned by her father and neglected by her self-centered, unstable mother, Sheila McGee cannot wait to escape the drudgery of her mill village life in Northern Ireland. Her classic Irish beauty helps her win the 1941 Linen Queen competition, and the prize money that goes with it finally gives her the opportunity she’s been dreaming of. But Sheila does not count on the impact of the Belfast blitz which brings World War II to her doorstep. Now even her good looks are useless in the face of travel restrictions, and her earlier resolve is eroded by her ma’s fear of being left alone.

When American troops set up base in her village, some see them as occupiers but Sheila sees them as saviors – one of them may be her ticket out. Despite objections from her childhood friend, Gavin O’Rourke, she sets her sights on an attractive Jewish-American army officer named Joel Solomon, but her plans are interrupted by the arrival of Grainne Malloy, a street-wise young evacuee from Belfast.

Frustrated, Sheila fights to hold on to her dream but slowly her priorities change as the people of Northern Ireland put old divisions aside and bond together in a common purpose to fight the Germans. As Sheila’s affection for Joel grows she and Gavin are driven farther apart, but in the end Joel’s quiet wisdom influences not only Sheila, but Gavin as well.

By war’s end, Sheila’s journey from Linen Queen to a woman of strength and compassion is complete. She has faced loss and sorrow, but she has found something far more profound than a beauty title.

 

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Maintaining the Northern Ireland setting and nationalistic themes of her debut novel, The Yellow House, Falvey jumps from WWI to WWII. The full scope of the war unfolds through the eyes of Sheila McGee, a mill girl who’s grown up with a mercurial mother and an absent father. Now 18, Sheila is the loveliest girl at the mill, a shoo-in to win the annual Linen Queen beauty pageant. She plans to use her winnings to leave her small town, and her mother, forever, but the outbreak of war complicates her plans, as do the two men she finds herself torn between: Joel Solomon, a melancholy Jewish-American army officer, and the moody and possessive Gavin O’Rourke, her best friend. Sheila’s pendulum swing from a mildly unlikable self-centered girl with a “beauty is power” guiding philosophy into an idealistic young woman driven into action by the plight of child war evacuees is less than convincing, and extreme characterizations and lapses into melodrama reduce the impact of a novel that otherwise deftly rides the line between a fervently romantic love story and a heartfelt love letter to Northern Ireland. (Mar.)
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From Booklist

Abandoned by her father and neglected by her self-absorbed mother, Sheila McGee longs to escape from her small Irish village, where her destiny seems already to be written: forever consigned to working at the mill, forced to hand over her paycheck to her mother. When she gets the opportunity to compete for the title of 1941 Linen Queen, she finally sees a way out, for the prize money will fund her dream of escaping to England. But WWII intervenes, bringing with it travel restrictions and a base set up for American soldiers. She intends to snag American officer Joel Solomon, much to the distress of her childhood friend, Gavin O’Rourke. Joel turns out to be a Jewish soldier of conscience and schools her in the deeper meaning of the fight against Hitler. Falvey well captures the frustrations of a small-town girl with big ambitions, making rueful comedy out of Sheila’s rivalries with her fellow millworkers. She also smoothly traces Sheila’s transformation from self-interested party girl to concerned citizen. A lively read for fans of historical fiction. –Joanne Wilkinson

Reviews

“Sheila McGee, the feisty young ‘Linen Queen,’ will touch your heart as she grows from a girl who values herself only for her good looks into a compassionate woman who discovers inner reserves of strength. A dramatic story told against the backdrop of World War II in Northern Ireland.” (Mary Pat Kelly, author of the bestselling novel Home Away from Home – The Yanks in Ireland and Galway Bay)

“The Linen Queen is an emotionally powerful book, and a joy to read. Falvey has a gift for creating realistic and very believable characters. By saying it`s a gift, I don`t mean it`s easy to do this. It is the result of much hard work.” (Irish American News Frank West)