Writing a Blurb

The blurb on the back of the book has a job to do. It has to sell the book. It has to make your story sound so appealing that the person who has picked up your book will want to read it. The blurbs on my Railway Girls books (written as Maisie Thomas) and those on my Home Front Girls books are written by the respective editors. But when I wrote my original four stand-alone sagas for Allison & Busby, and again when I wrote the Surplus Girls series for Corvus, I was asked to write the initial blurb.

I should make it clear that this wasn't with the intention of putting my blurb on the back. It was to give the editor some ideas to use as a starting point.

Here, I'd to share the three blurbs I wrote for A Respectable Woman.

Why three blurbs? Well, once I'd got started, I just enjoyed writing them!

The first blurb was almost all about Nell, the heroine; the second introduced other characters and story elements; and the third concentrated on Nell and Jim, the hero.

I have put them all here. What do you think of them?

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A Respectable Woman - blurb 1

After losing her beloved family in the Great War, Nell is grateful to marry Stan Hibbert, believing that with him, she can recapture the loving family feeling she has lost. Five years on, she is just another back-street housewife, making every penny do the work of tuppence and performing miracles with scrag-end. When she discovers Stan's secret, she runs away to make a fresh start elsewhere.

Two years later, in 1924, Nell has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself and her young children in Manchester, where her neighbours believe she is a respectable widow, as do her fellow-workers in the garment factory where she is a talented machinist.

When a figure from the past turns up, Nell has to face a court case. Will the respectable life she has fought for be enough to guarantee her freedom or will her lies mean she must lose everything?

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A Respectable Woman - blurb 2

Manchester, 1924. Nell Hibbert has a secret. Over the past two years, she has carved out a fulfilling new life for herself and her young children and believes her shameful past is behind her.

Nell's dear friend, Leonie Brent, has a secret. Her overbearing son-in-law is making her life a misery, but she can't speak out because she can't bear to upset her daughter. Besides, what would the neighbours think?

Leonie's young granddaughter Posy also has a secret. Her charming father is really a cruel bully and her mother pretends not to know.

Jim Franks has no secrets. Everyone knows he is a former solicitor who has worked as a window cleaner since the War while coming to terms with deep-rooted feelings of loss. He is in love with Nell, but what can he do to make her notice him?

When a figure emerges from Nell's past, she and her friends face fresh challenges as hidden truths emerge, relationships are strained and Nell is threatened with losing everything she holds dear.

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A Respectable Woman - blurb 3

1924, Chorlton, Manchester. Life is looking up for young widow Nell Hibbert. She and her two small children live with a loving elderly couple and Nell's skill with the sewing machine enables her to get a desirable job as a sewing machine demonstrator in a department store. Discovering a flair for teaching inspires her to think of working for herself. Could a lass from the back-streets really do that? Nell devotes her life to her children and her work, while trying not to fall in love with Jim Franks. He may be the perfect man for her, but Nell Hibbert has a secret.

Jim Franks has no secrets. Everyone knows he was a well-to-do solicitor before the War. Now he works as a window cleaner while coming to terms with deep-rooted feelings of loss. He can't get Nell to notice him. His former fiancée, the elegant Roberta, on the other hand, is eager to get back together.

When Nell learns that the past is hard to hide from, what chance do she and Jim have of finding happiness? 

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So there they are, my three attempts at writing a blurb for A Respectable Woman. Which do you think is best?

Link to A Respectable Woman on Amazon UK, Amazon US, Amazon Canada and Amazon Australia