The Windmill Girls

The Windmill Girls
Kay Brellend

A compelling wartime drama from the author of The Street, perfect for fans of Pam Weaver and Kitty Neale.The Windmill Theatre was one of the most famous clubs of the 20th century. Its heyday was during WWII when it famously ‘never closed’ and it became famous for its ‘tasteful’ nude performances. Dawn is a pretty and feisty blonde. Losing her job as a chambermaid, she goes to work as a dancer at The Windmill Theatre. Despite refusing to appear on stage naked, Dawn is taken on and soon gets a glimpse of London’s dark and seductive underbelly. She meets Olive, Renee and Rosie, women all with their own secrets to bear. Each of them will be have to draw on their courage to survive, not just Hitler and his bombs, but by the life they have chosen and the men that they cannot escape…

Copyright (#uc64c4289-e7d3-561b-b450-7ba6caccba8f)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London, SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by Harper 2015

Copyright © Kay Brellend 2015

Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015

Photography by Henry Steadman; Background scene © Imperial War Museum (D 5597)

Windmill Theatre photographs © Getty Images; three girls in their dressing room © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/Corbis

Kay Brellend asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780007575282

Ebook Edition © January 2015 ISBN: 9780007575299

Version: 2014-11-22

Dedication (#uc64c4289-e7d3-561b-b450-7ba6caccba8f)

For Mum, who worked as a telephonist at Holborn Exchange during the height of the Blitz and went fire-fighting after shifts.

For Dad, who served in the RAF as a Leading Aircraftman, keeping the planes flying.

For all those people who didn’t see active service, but helped to win the war, working behind the scenes.

Contents

Cover (#u4797807f-2423-593e-8f06-5eb1f71fda3a)

Title Page (#u6264f3c2-90eb-5cef-bbcf-8f285f38c1d9)

Copyright

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two