Opal Plumstead - Softcover

"Her ability to create interesting, lovable characters who navigate 9 to 12-year-olds through key moments in history is unmatched" The Times "Oh my goodness! Opal Plumstead is Jacqueline Wilson's 100th book! That's prolific, right? I first discovered her work when I read The Illustrated Mum. It made me laugh. It made me cry. And, more than anything else, it felt truthful. I've been a fan ever since. So I'm proud to be reviewing her centenary story ... [Opal is] a fabulous central character - bright and sparky and an original thinker ... You can't help but root for her as she beats her own path through a rapidly changing world with real heart and determination ... Oh, and it reads like a breeze. Of course. What else would you expect?" -- Jill Murphy The Bookbag

Opal Plumstead might be plain, but she has always been fiercely intelligent. Yet her scholarship and dreams of university are snatched away when her father is sent to prison, and fourteen-year-old Opal must start work at the Fairy Glen sweet factory to support her family. Opal struggles to get along with the other workers, who think her snobby and stuck-up. But Opal idolises Mrs Roberts, the factory's beautiful, dignified owner, who introduces Opal to the legendary Mrs Pankhurst and her fellow Suffragettes. And when Opal meets Morgan - Mrs Roberts' handsome son, and the heir to Fairy Glen - she believes she has found her soulmate. But the First World War is about to begin, and will change Opal's life for ever. It is the brilliantly gripping new story from the bestselling, award-winning Jacqueline Wilson.