Meredith Ritchie’s “Poster Girls” Is a Story Inside Charlotte’s WWII Female Workforce
Podcast: Download (Duration: 38:52 — 35.6MB)
In this episode 291, we visit with Meredith Ritchie, author of “Poster Girls,” set in 1943, at Charlotte’s largest wartime employer––the massive and dangerous Shell Assembly Plant.
Told from two perspectives, Poster Girls is driven by the true but forgotten events and accomplishments of a diverse group of American women. Military wives and mothers, Maggie Slone and Kora Bell, one white and one black, work together to unify the plant’s workforce, support their families, and bring their husbands home.
Paula Martinac, author of “The Ada Decades” and “Testimony” says, “Poster Girls by Meredith Ritchie celebrates the resilience and camaraderie of female munitions workers in Charlotte, N.C., during World War II. You’ll root for these finely crafted characters as they confront the limits placed on women, white and black, and uncover their own hidden skills and ingenuity. A stirring historical novel.”
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About the Author:
As an MBA, Meredith Ritchie has made a career in business communications, mostly in banking. A native Charlottean, she wrote Poster Girls, her first novel, as a cure for acute “empty nest syndrome” after her triplets left for college. She lives in Charlotte with her husband of 27 years and two cats, who encourage her curiosity of the forgotten triumphs of the spirit, especially those in our own backyard.
Praise for the book:
“With historical accuracy, humor, and tenderness, Meredith Ritchie’s debut novel Poster Girls brings to life the story of Maggie, a stay-at-home mother who enters the workforce at an ammunitions plant in the South to provide for her family while her husband serves overseas during WWII. She deepens her friendship with Kora, a Black mother and employee at the plant who struggles against the racism of her time. Together, Maggie and Kora challenge the leadership structure at the plant in this moving story about friendship and loyalty against all odds.”
—Sarah Creech, author of “The Whole Way Home” and “Season of the Dragonflies”
“Poster Girls is a beautiful historical narrative. Friendship,loyalty, grief, and the tumult of war weave together to create a story that will stay with you long after you turn the final page. This is a book to be savored.”
–Lynn Hinton, author of “The Beekeeper’s Wife”
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