The Quality Street Girls

The Quality Street Girls
Penny Thorpe

Inspired by the true story of the Quality Street factory and its loyal workers, this is a nostalgic and compelling novel and the perfect Christmas treat.At sixteen years old, Irene ‘Reenie’ Calder is leaving school with little in the way of qualifications. She is delighted to land a seasonal job at Mackintosh’s Quality Street factory. Reenie feels like a kid let loose in a sweet shop, 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. Beautiful and smart, the other girls in the factory are in awe of her, 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 has a chance to prove herself. The shops are full of Quality Street lovers who have saved up all year for their must-have Christmas treat. Reenie and Diana know that everything rests on them, if they are to give everyone a Christmas to remember…

Copyright (#ua99d1feb-5903-5249-a8ee-8159066b0299)

Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

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

Copyright © Penny Thorpe 2018

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

The ‘Quality Street’ name and image is reproduced with the kind permission of Société des Produits Nestlé S.A.

Jacket design by Claire Ward © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2018

Jacket photographs @ Ildiko Neer / Arcangel Images (figures)

© Robert Lambert / Arcangel Images (terraced houses)

Shutterstock.com (http://www.Shutterstock.com) (window frame)

Penny Thorpe 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: 9780008307769

Ebook Edition © November 2018 ISBN: 9780008307776

Version: 2018-10-30

Dedication (#ua99d1feb-5903-5249-a8ee-8159066b0299)

In loving memory of Mary Lowes Walker, who made even more friends than Reenie.

Table of Contents

Cover (#uc901845d-5bc6-5738-93d5-e34121a08678)

Title Page (#u765dbb12-c736-528e-85eb-c36a64e2cd46)

Copyright (#u1ff7919d-8fdd-54a1-8a81-34e68879e2b1)

Dedication (#u63157930-36de-53fc-be24-8c28727f8067)

Chapter One (#u8785a685-4dbb-5451-a107-9b938d62aef4)

Chapter Two (#ua1ec0cf0-56bc-5927-b584-efeca1708b0c)

Chapter Three (#u6e4ab527-f1a2-557f-ad8b-71f5d4771d3b)

Chapter Four (#u9559a2c8-3415-5ec8-87b0-1dff9fa19b9d)

Chapter Five (#u6bd0b18b-4371-525e-836e-3f23eeed4f0f)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eighteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nineteen (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-One (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Twenty-Two (#litres_trial_promo)