This is a book that talks about motherhood and female friendships. The story is based on a true story. It deals with some sensitive subjects. It is beautifully written.

I was drawn to this book as I'd never heard of the Great Stork Derby - a competition where the woman who gave birth to the most babies in a ten year period in the mid 1920s would win a large sum of money. Money that could change their lives forever. I've also read The Glass Woman by Caroline Lea and loved it so felt I'd be in good hands with this author.

The book focusses on two women Lily and Mae who find themselves thrown together as a result of circumstances and who form what looks to be a lifelong friendship until they end up competing against one another in the Derby. Each has an emotional tale to share and at times this was a sad read and depiction of the treatment of women at the hands of men both those known to them and those in power.

It's not an easy read but it is a fascinating one based on a bizarre historical event. And although set in the 1920s, it certainly resonates with events taking place now and the manipulation and loss of control that women face concerning their bodies.

I look forward to reading more by Caroline Lea.

An absolutely brilliant book. Caroline Lea just gets better and better! I was immersed from the very start and swept away to 1920s America. Brilliant characters. 5 stars

Upon his death in 1926, the will of Canadian lawyer, financier, and practical joker, Charles Vance Miller bequeathed the residue of his substantial estate to ‘the woman who could produce the most children within the next ten years’. Caroline Lea draws inspiration from what became known as The Great Stork Derby in her historical novel, Prize Women.

When an earthquake hits Chatsworth, New Brunswick, and it appears her abusive husband has been killed, Lily de Marco uses the opportunity to flee with her young son. Matteo. Arriving in Toronto, broke and homeless, Lily is fortuitously introduced to Mae Thebault, the wife of a wealthy steel factory owner, who agrees to let Lily stay with them in return for helping to take care of the Thebaults’ five children. Despite their differences in background and social status, Lily and Mae quickly become close friends but after the Wall Street Crash and the onset of the Great Depression, the two women unexpectedly find themselves rivals.

Exploring the lack of agency women too often had over their lives, particularly once tied to marriage and motherhood, the impact of the economic collapse, the desperation of poverty, as well as abuse, friendship, prejudice and racism, Prize Women paints a rich portrait of Canada’s social history over the 1920/30’s. The Author’s Note explains where Lea has diverged from historical accuracy for narrative purposes.

Curiosity about The Great Stork Derby is what drew me to this novel, and Lea explores its impact thoughtfully. With large family’s not exactly uncommon at the time, given the lack of contraception, I was surprised to learn the ‘baby race’ had only 11 entrants. Accounts suggest that most of them would have had large families even without the incentive of the competition, but I hadn’t given much thought to motive, or what ‘losing’ the ‘baby race’ might mean to participants.

The characters of Lily and Mae are loosely based on two of the real Derby competitors, and to them the money is of vital importance, though for very different reasons. Lea is sensitive to the women’s desires and hardships and portrays them with nuance. Lily is probably the more sympathetic of two, but Mae’s experience is also affecting. At the mercy of mens decisions in private and in public, both are afforded so little control over their lives it’s infuriating.

I found the pacing lagged a bit later in the story, in part I think because Prize Women is often quite bleak which weighs the narrative down, though the end brings light and hope. A moving and interesting novel.

The 'Stork Derby' of 1937 - a lawyer in Canada leaves a will that states whichever woman births the most children in the decade after his death, will receive his large inheritance.

This novel is based on historical fact, and I think the author did a great job of highlighting so many notions about motherhood, female rights and class in the 1930s. Terrifyingly there are lots of parallels with things happening now in terms of the economy and bodily autonomy.
This book is prettyyy depressing. There's lots of domestic violence and poverty. But I still enjoyed it and the characters, particularly Lily, were great; nuanced and believable.

I have enjoyed Lea's writing for some time and always find her historical fiction rich and multilayered; Prize Women is no exception.

This novel is moving, thrilling and full of interesting plot twists and turns. It is a gripping read which is visually vivid and keeps you on the edge of your seat.

It explores themes such as social mobility, the power of motherhood and the lack of agency women had and maybe still have, deftly and sensitively. A great read.

This honest review is given with thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this book.

Based on the real life great Stork Derby this is such an interesting look at 1930s Toronto and the way millionaires ever then held so much power over others.

The prize goes to the woman who bears the most children in the ten years after his death. This is not an easy read at times, particularly being based on a true story, as this covers baby loss, tragedy, suicide, domestic abuse and coercion. 3.5 stars for me.

I had heard about the Stork Derby previously, a bizarre contest with a huge prize for the woman who had the most children in a ten year period. This is a novel based on that fact. The characters are all fictional but based on tales of poor women in Toronto in the 1930s. In fact the premise and most of teh tale is quite good. What didn't ring true to me was the 'relationship' between Mae and Lily, it felt forced and almost as though there was another agenda at play here.

In November 1926, a supremely wealthy lawyer leaves a will offering the majority of his fortune to the woman, or women, bearing the most children in the ten years following his death. For many who read about it in the press, it is unconscionable. For a few families, it’s an opportunity.

Lily and her son, Matteo, take on a perilous journey following an earthquake that destroys their rural town and fatally wounds her abusive husband. Helped by another family making the journey to Toronto, she finds herself employed as a nanny to a wealthy family and forms a close bond with Mae, the children’s mother. Soon, economic turmoil threatens Mae’s world, impacting upon Lily. The papers are full of news about ‘the Stork Derby’. They both need the money, but who will win?

This remarkable novel had me gripped from beginning to end. There is a lot going on in the story but it is told in such a compelling style, it doesn’t seem overwhelming. I found myself rooting for both Lily and Mae – sometimes together, sometimes separately – as they navigate the highs and lows of their lives between 1926 and 1938. And the lows are very low indeed. I imagine that for some this could be an extremely challenging read; it features child loss, domestic abuse and abject poverty, plus mentions of suicide.

The issues of class and cultural identity are also explored and, at the end of the book, the author shares a thought-provoking note about the real events that inspired the book. Not just a remarkable read, ‘Prize Women’ leaves the reader wondering just how far we feel we’ve come regarding the roles of women, and the matters of body autonomy, motherhood and choice.

Superbly done, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Five stars.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy I received in return for this review.

1920s Canada prior to Wall Street crash. A country on the brink of one of the worst periods of poverty, deprivation and extreme hardship. An accepted male dominated society where women had little or no say in any part of their lives other than as inferior partners in marriage, chained to the demands of men and through lack of contraception, numerous children. Two very different women meet in extreme circumstances continuing to find their paths cross during catastrophic events reflected in women’s ever degrading role in the economic disintegration of the world around them. Well researched with acute characterisation brings the harsh reality of two women losing every vestige of themselves in daily fight to feed and keep their children alive in harrowing detail. Love in its many forms struggling to survive the indignities of a male focused society . Men blind to the harsh realities of the daily existence of women, reflected in the lives of the chief protagonists, two charismatic wives and mothers forced by circumstances to become mortal enemies. Many thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

This book has a brilliant premise, based on the real life case of the Great Stork Derby, when a wealthy and childless Canadian businessman left the bulk of his fortune to which Toronto woman had the most children in the 10 years following his death.

We follow Lily, a poor Italian immigrant, and Mae, the wife of a wealthy industrialist, through that 10 year period. Their fortunes rise and fall, through child births and losses, the Great Depression, and finally the court case that will decide the winner of the fortune.

The premise made me think this book would be a sort of fun caper, but actually it beautifully written but sometimes very bleak. It doesn’t shy away from the central cruelty of the Great Stork Derby, or the lack of freedom and autonomy women had over their own bodies in a whole myriad of ways. It’s unflinching it looking at the hungry realities of poverty, of cycles of abuse, of anti-immigrant sentiment and violence. I did feel that the end tied things up in a little too neat a bow, but having followed these women through so much I was also willing a happy ending for them.

I loved this book! Such a n interesting read, darkly disturbing at times, full of great characters - there was nothing i could pinpoint that i didn’t like about this. I haven’t read any works by Caroline Lea before, but I certainly will be now. A book i will be thinking about for a long time

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for review.

From the moment I learned the inspiration behind this book I was so excited to read it. Lea always finds such interesting periods in history to focus on.
I’m feeling a bit mixed about this book as I stopped reading it for a week which is pretty unheard of for me. But I did enjoy the story and the exploration of motherhood and the pressures on women at the time and the difficult choices women were forced to make to survive.

Caroline Lea chooses such interesting subjects for her novels. Her first, The Glass Woman, was a Gothic novel set in 17th century Iceland, and her second, The Metal Heart, explored the building of a chapel in the Orkney Islands by Italian prisoners of war. In her latest novel, Prize Women, she takes us to Canada in the early 20th century and introduces us to two women who are taking part in a very unusual contest: the Great Stork Derby.

When Canadian millionaire Charles Vance Millar dies in 1926, he leaves behind a very controversial will. He bequeaths shares in a brewery to a group of teetotal ministers, a house in Jamaica to three men who hate each other, jockey club stocks to anti-horse racing campaigners – and in the strangest bequest of all, he leaves a large sum of money to the Toronto woman who gives birth to the most children in a ten year period.

Lily di Marco is trapped in an unhappy marriage so when her town is hit by an earthquake, she sees a chance to escape and flees to Toronto with her young son. Arriving in the city tired and homeless, Lily meets Mae Thebault, the wife of a wealthy factory owner, who agrees to let Lily stay with them in return for helping to take care of the Thebaults’ five children. Despite their differences in background and social status, Lily and Mae quickly become close friends – but then comes the Wall Street Crash and the start of the Great Depression.

By this point Lily already has several babies who will count towards the Great Stork Derby and decides to enter the contest in the hope of winning the money and improving the lives of herself and her children. But the Thebaults’ financial situation has also changed and Mae finds herself in desperate need of money too. Soon the former best friends are competing against each other, but with the outcome due to be decided by a jury, which of the women – if either – will be declared the winner?

Lily’s story is very moving and often heartbreaking. It’s so sad to see the way she is treated by her violent, alcoholic husband, the racism and discrimination she faces due to her Italian background, the squalid, impoverished surroundings she lives in and the impact all of this has on the health and wellbeing of her children. I was in tears several times, so be prepared – this is not exactly a cheerful, uplifting read! Mae also has obstacles to overcome and suffers some personal traumas, but her story didn’t affect me the way Lily’s did and the way she behaved during the later stages of the contest annoyed me, even while I understood her reasons. Maybe because the two women end up in direct competition with each other, it makes it difficult to side with both of them at the same time.

The Great Stork Derby itself – something that really happened, by the way – is a cruel and irresponsible concept in many ways, but even more cruel were the modifications made to the will by the courts, stating that children who were stillborn or born outside of wedlock wouldn’t count. Also, there was no consideration given to the effect on women’s bodies of so many pregnancies in a short space of time, or how poor families would afford to feed so many children if they didn’t win the prize money. Naturally, the contest received a lot of media attention at the time and also caused a lot of debate around contraception and women’s rights.

I enjoyed this book, despite the sadness, and I enjoyed getting to know Lily and Mae. However, there was one aspect of their storyline that I found unconvincing and slightly contrived; it wasn’t enough to spoil the book for me, but it was the only thing I didn’t like in this otherwise excellent novel.

I’ll read more books by the author in the future after reading this one. This author writes with such verve and positivity and emotional intelligence.

The Metal Heart was a brilliant novel, this one is complex and thought provoking. A well plotted historical fiction that i liked and found disturbing at time.
Vivid historical background, great characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I was so intrigued by the premise of this book and it honestly was so much better than I expected it to be it is an incredible read.
There wasn't anything I disliked about this book. the writing style and format was good and engaged me the whole way along, the storyline was absolutely riveting and thought provoking. I couldn't put it down and I can't stop thinking about it. I will never stop recommending this book.

AMAZING AMAZING book. I have already recommended this to many friends because it was so thought provoking, particularly after reading the author’s note at the end and talking to friends about how controlled birthing/contraceptive decisions are for so many women all around the world.
The story was incredible- I felt utterly drawn into the descriptions of Toronto at that bleak time and the little glimmer of hope these women had from the competition in a time where they had almost no control over their lives. The love story contained within the novel was beautiful, all the more so for how long they had to wait. Genuinely wonderful, thank you.

This book dazzles! I loved it!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

A really interesting fictional imagining of two women affected by a bizarre, real-life contest. In 1926, wealthy Toronto businessman Charles Millar died, and left the bulk of his estate to whatever Toronto woman bore the most children in the ten years following his death. The novel focuses on two women, Lily and Mae, who are friends and are impacted when the Great Depression hits, making "the Great Stork Derby" a possible way to survive. The novel focuses on their friendship and the plight of women in the early 20th century. It's an interesting, well-written story.