SuitabookWork and collective action
Joanna encounters gruelling and dangerous textile-mill work alongside other women in the Lowell mill.
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Book details
Jane Claypool Miner - Author
This is a historical coming-of-age romance centred on a young woman entering Lowell’s mills. Its strongest interest appears to be the pressures of work, solidarity and self-determination, with romantic uncertainty running alongside them.
From her simple farm life in Vermont, Joanna bravely joins the growing number of girls working in the textile mills in 1836. With her she carries the painful memory of Jed, a young man who has left her, loving the sea more then he loves her. In the Lowell, Massachusetts, mill, Joanna is horrified to find the work both grueling and dangerous. Even a romance with the mill owner's roguish nephew, Theo, can't keep the daily work from becoming terrifying drudgery. To strike with the other mill women seems Joanna's only way out of a job that threatens her very existence. But defying the miller owner's will certainly mean losing her job and Theo. And if Jed ever returns from the sea, would he recognize -- could he love -- the new Joanna?
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Sign in for personalised guidanceThis is a historical coming-of-age romance centred on a young woman entering Lowell’s mills. Its strongest interest appears to be the pressures of work, solidarity and self-determination, with romantic uncertainty running alongside them.
Joanna encounters gruelling and dangerous textile-mill work alongside other women in the Lowell mill.
Joanna leaves home for mill work and confronts how the experience changes her sense of self.
Joanna’s relationships with Jed and Theo create an unresolved romantic dilemma.
Consider whether the book’s romantic choices complement or compete with Joanna’s developing independence. It may suit a reader interested in historical work and relationships, provided difficult labour conditions are comfortable to explore.
This is a grounded book brief while Suitabook strengthens the analysis: some draft conclusions still depend on unresolved evidence.
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