Errand Lass

Tomlinson’s Time Slip books bring her central characters and readers into contact with the workers of the industries of the 19th century. Here Maddy, teased and bullied at school because of her dyslexia, learns to stand up for herself when she is somehow transported back through time to spend a day working as an errand lass for the Buffer Girls – the women who shined the newly produced cutlery in the Sheffield steel works. Buffer Girls had a hard and dirty job and Tomlinson creates a strong sense of the clatter and turmoil of the factory floor, packing detail into her succinct description. She also captures the camaraderie of the Girls and the liberating nature of earning a wage.

Back in the 21st century Maddy uses what she’s learned to quiet the bullies, ‘I’ll sit where I want and I will not be called stupid or mad’ and you can hear the Buffer Girls cheering.