Summary
A poignant portrait of resilience etched against the tumultuous backdrop of the Great War, "The Winning Girl" unfurls the saga of Jamesina, affectionately known as Jemmy. Born to Major Milligan, a man of noble intentions yet crippling idleness, Jemmy’s unconventional naming foreshadows a life less ordinary. The untimely demise of her mother ushers in a new matriarch and a trio of step-siblings, swiftly plunging the household into an abyss of escalating debt. It is Jemmy, barely an adult, who emerges as the family’s unlikely anchor, securing arduous factory work and igniting a spark of industry even within her indolent father and step-siblings. Amidst this crucible of responsibility, her heart finds solace in Stanley Templeton, a dashing aviator on furlough. Their burgeoning romance, however, clashes head-on with the rigid class prejudices embodied by Stanley’s disdainful mother, compelling Jemmy to a heartbreaking refusal of his hand. As Stanley returns to the perilous skies of war, Jemmy’s unwavering patriotism takes an unexpected turn: she unmasks a German saboteur within the textile plant, a nefarious agent engaged in weakening airplane fabric with acid. Her valorous act not only garners a substantial reward, liberating her family from the vise of foreclosure, but also melts the icy reserve of Mrs. Templeton, paving the way for a joyous reunion and a truly earned engagement upon Stanley’s heroic return.
Synopsis
Because he had previously picked the name James for his first-born, when a female arrives, Major Milligan, a well-meaning but lazy dreamer, calls his daughter Jamesina, or Jemmy for short. With the birth of her second child, Mrs. Milligan dies, and several years later, when Jemmy is about eighteen, the Major marries a widow with three children. Soon the family is deeply in debt. Jemmy gets work at a textile factory, gets jobs for the other children, and even inspires the Major to work. She falls in love with Stanley Templeton, an aviator on furlough, but because his mother disapproves, Jemmy refuses to marry him. After Stanley returns to the war, Jemmy captures a German spy in the plant who was soaking cloth for airplanes in acid. She receives a reward which allows the Milligans to pay off their mortgage. Mrs. Templeton apologizes, and when Stanley returns, she warmly approves of their engagement.
