Create a free Bookclubs account to organize your book club, get reading recommendations, view hundreds of discussion guides, and more!
Factory Girls
It’s the summer of 1994, and all Maeve Murray wants are good final exam results so she can earn her ticket out of the wee Northern Irish town she has grown up in during the Troubles—away from her crowded home, the silence and sadness surrounding her sister’s death, and most of all, away from the simmering violence of her divided community. And as a first step, Maeve’s taken a summer job in a local shirt factory working alongside Protestants with her best friends, kind, innocent Caroline Jackson and privileged and clever Aoife O’Neill. But getting the right exam results is only part of Maeve’s problem—she’s got to survive a tit-for-tat paramilitary campaign, iron 100 shirts an hour all day every day, and deal with the attentions of Andy Strawbridge, her slick and untrustworthy English boss. What seems to be a great opportunity to earn money before starting university turns out to be a crucible in which Maeve is tested in ways she may not be equipped to handle. Seeking justice for herself and her fellow workers may just be Maeve’s one-way ticket out of town.
Bitingly hilarious, perceptive, and steeped in the vernacular of its time and place, Factory Girls is perfect for fans of voice-driven stories with bite, humor, and realism, such as the Netflix series Derry Girls and novels by Douglas Stuart, Roddy Doyle, and Anna Burns.
This discussion guide was shared and sponsored in partnership with Alqonquin Books.
Book club questions for Factory Girls by Michelle Gallen
Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.
This is a novel about, in part, growing up in a town where Catholics and Protestants have been at war and live segregated lives. What are some of the ways those divisions show up and affect Maeve’s actions? What are some signs of the divisions being smoothed over?
The novel is set in the summer leading up to the IRA ceasefire, yet the girls do not seem to have much faith in a peace process and prefer to focus on their exam results and earning money to get out of town. Do you think that the ceasefire might change their view of their hometown from a place to leave to a place to stay?
The novel is set in the summer leading up to the IRA ceasefire, yet the girls do not seem to have much faith in a peace process and prefer to focus on their exam results and earning money to get out of town. Do you think that the ceasefire might change their view of their hometown from a place to leave to a place to stay?
What do you think is the personal and social cost of the community pact of “whatever you say, say nothing” on characters like Aoife, Maeve, Fidelma and Deirdre? What are the advantages to those who hold power?
What do you think is the personal and social cost of the community pact of “whatever you say, say nothing” on characters like Aoife, Maeve, Fidelma and Deirdre? What are the advantages to those who hold power?
How do Maeve’s upbringing and circumstances differ from Aoife’s? Does this fuel tensions between the two girls? Does it impact their experiences during the Troubles?
How do Maeve’s upbringing and circumstances differ from Aoife’s? Does this fuel tensions between the two girls? Does it impact their experiences during the Troubles?
The name Aoife means “pleasant radiance”, and Maeve means “she who intoxicates”. In what ways are the names fitting─or not─to the characters?
The name Aoife means “pleasant radiance”, and Maeve means “she who intoxicates”. In what ways are the names fitting─or not─to the characters?
Maeve is heavily reliant on excellent exam results winning her a place at university in order to escape poverty and civil disorder. But her performance is compromised by her family background and circumstances. Do you think exams can be changed in order to improve access to higher education for all? How?
Maeve is heavily reliant on excellent exam results winning her a place at university in order to escape poverty and civil disorder. But her performance is compromised by her family background and circumstances. Do you think exams can be changed in order to improve access to higher education for all? How?
Why do you think Deirdre felt that the rest of her life wasn’t worth living? How does this impact Maeve and her family?
Why do you think Deirdre felt that the rest of her life wasn’t worth living? How does this impact Maeve and her family?
Given that factory boss Andy exploits his near monopoly on local employment— setting low wages for workers who have no other options, abusing his position both financially and morally, and doing little to smooth over the tensions between the Catholic and Protestant workforce—why do the paramilitaries collaborate with him?
Given that factory boss Andy exploits his near monopoly on local employment— setting low wages for workers who have no other options, abusing his position both financially and morally, and doing little to smooth over the tensions between the Catholic and Protestant workforce—why do the paramilitaries collaborate with him?
Why do you think that various characters in the book express reservations about Maeve’s ambition to study journalism?
Why do you think that various characters in the book express reservations about Maeve’s ambition to study journalism?
When Scott tells Maeve that his grandmother read medicine in UCL, the narrator notes, “What in hell could Maeve say to that? That her Granny Walsh’d left school at thirteen? That her mam’d dropped out of uni? That her da’d even failed at the pig factory?” How does generational privilege play out in the novel? Has it affected you or anyone in your life?
When Scott tells Maeve that his grandmother read medicine in UCL, the narrator notes, “What in hell could Maeve say to that? That her Granny Walsh’d left school at thirteen? That her mam’d dropped out of uni? That her da’d even failed at the pig factory?” How does generational privilege play out in the novel? Has it affected you or anyone in your life?
Maeve reflects on where her firebrand female heroes had ended up: “Joan of Arc, burnt at the stake. Emily Wilding Davison, trampled under the hooves of the king’s horse. Bernadette Devlin, shot nine times as she bathed her weans.” Which other female heroes do you think Maeve needs to learn about?
Maeve reflects on where her firebrand female heroes had ended up: “Joan of Arc, burnt at the stake. Emily Wilding Davison, trampled under the hooves of the king’s horse. Bernadette Devlin, shot nine times as she bathed her weans.” Which other female heroes do you think Maeve needs to learn about?
Which character do you think ends up happiest? If you had to live the rest of one character’s life, who would you choose to be? Why?
Which character do you think ends up happiest? If you had to live the rest of one character’s life, who would you choose to be? Why?
Maeve despises the English. Yet she's choosing to live in England. Why do you think this has happened? What might the psychological cost be to Maeve later in life? What might the financial and cultural benefits be?
What do you think will happen next for Maeve in London? Do you think she will ever return back to her hometown?
What does Maeve take away from her time at the factory? Have you had a summer job that changed the course of your life or left a deep impression?
Factory Girls Book Club Questions PDF
Click here for a printable PDF of the Factory Girls discussion questions