Winner of the 2021 Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award Winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist for the 2021 New England Society Book Award Finalist for the 2021 New England Independent Booksellers Association Award A New York Times Editors’ Choice and Chicago Tribune top book for 2020 “Mill Town is the book of a lifetime; a deep-drilling, quick-moving, heartbreaking story. Scathing and tender, it lifts often into poetry, but comes down hard when it must. Through it all runs the river: sluggish, ancient, dangerous, freighted with America’s sins.” —Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small, rural town of Mexico, Maine, where for over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that provided jobs for nearly everyone in town, including three generations of her family. Kerri had a happy childhood, but years after she moved away, she realized the price she paid for that childhood. The price everyone paid. The mill, while providing the social and economic cohesion for the community, also contributed to its demise. Mill Town is a book of narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism that illuminates the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease with the central question; Who or what are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?

Can she give her baby a better life? After the tragic death of her parents, Caroline Shrigley is left with the responsibility of bringing up her younger sister, Jane, as well as running the family business at the Temperance Hotel. Carrie is beginning to think her care-free days are gone forever when Patrick Kennedy, a wild, handsome and passionate Irishman, turns her world upside down. The life she’s dreamed of is finally within reach – until a devastating betrayal changes everything. Left with a newborn baby to care for, Carrie has some difficult choices to make. What must she sacrifice to protect her baby?

"Nell is one of the strongest, most honorable, and dearest heroines to grace the pages of an amateur sleuth novel.... P.B. Ryan knows how to write a tale that will grip and keep readers' interest throughout the novel." -Midwest Book Reviews Nell Sweeney, a young Irish-born governess in post-Civil War Boston, may not have much, but she does possess both a keen mind and a brave heart. As governess to the wealthy Hewitt family, she finds plenty of opportunities to use both-especially when the seamy side of society shows itself... The lowborn Fallons come to Viola Hewitt with a desperate plea for help. Their wayward daughter, Bridget, a pretty young employee of Hewitt Mills and Dye Works, hasn't been seen for days. Mrs. Fallon, unwilling to believe that Bridget would just run off without a word, fears that she's come to a bad end-possibly at the hands of her ex-con lover. Viola, confined to a wheelchair, enlists Nell to locate the missing mill girl. Working with Viola's black sheep son, Will, Nell uncovers a web of schemes and greed and dark obsession... and what she knows may just be the death of her. Originally published by Berkley Prime Crime, Murder in a Mill Town was nominated for the prestigious Mary Higgins Clark Award. 68K words. "Ryan creates characters you care about and a plot that holds your interest as you try to unmask the killer. Lively and intriguing, this is a fast-paced, wonderful read. -RT BookReviews "I love this series. After finishing the book, I had to go back and re-read scenes and I even pulled out the first book to re-read much of Nell and Will's many conversations again." -Babbling Book Reviews "The saga style of Catherine Cookson meets the 'Victorian vices' world of Anne Perry in this popular whodunit. Much thought and research has gone into making the two faces of mid-19th century Boston come to life, whether the gilded world of the Hewitts or the grubby back streets of the underworld." -MyShelf.com "Ms. Ryan excels in her ability to show her characters' complexities. Most are neither good nor bad, but living lives enmeshed with many shades of gray. Add the rich historical detail and readers have an excellent historical mystery with an intriguing heroine." -The Best Reviews "Nell is an interesting and unique character....The mystery itself is done quite well, with clues pointing to various suspects, and an unexpected resolution....I hope to see much more of Nell in future books." -The Romance Reader's Connection "1868 Boston is well portrayed in this series...an enjoyable story...There is no trace of Colonnade Row in what is now Boston's downtown shopping area, and Charlestown is but a shell of the prosperous city that existed there in the nineteenth century, but this book brings them back into existence. -Reviewing the Evidence

“Alice is cast in the mold of a character created by an earlier Alcott, the passionate and spunky Jo March. A refreshingly old-fashioned heroine, she makes THE DARING LADIES OF LOWELL appealing” --The New York Times Book Review “Offers up a compelling slice of both feminist and Industrial Age history”--Christian Science Monitor From the New York Times bestselling author of THE DRESSMAKER comes a moving historical novel about a bold young woman drawn to the looms of Lowell, Massachusetts--and to the one man with whom she has no business falling in love. Eager to escape life on her family’s farm, Alice Barrow moves to Lowell in 1832 and throws herself into the hard work demanded of “the mill girls.” In spite of the long hours, she discovers a vibrant new life and a true friend—a saucy, strong-willed girl name Lovey Cornell. But conditions at the factory become increasingly dangerous, and Alice finds the courage to represent the workers and their grievances. Although mill owner, Hiram Fiske, pays no heed, Alice attracts the attention of his eldest son, the handsome and reserved Samuel Fiske. Their mutual attraction is intense, tempting Alice to dream of a different future for herself. This dream is shattered when Lovey is found strangled to death. A sensational trial follows, bringing all the unrest that’s brewing to the surface. Alice finds herself torn between her commitment to the girls in the mill and her blossoming relationship with Samuel. Based on the actual murder of a mill girl and the subsequent trial in 1833, THE DARING LADIES OF LOWELL brilliantly captures a transitional moment in America’s history while also exploring the complex nature of love, loyalty, and the enduring power of friendship.

Milbank and Mitchell, dissimilar in size and separated by more than two hundred miles, have more in common than might appear at first glance. In the first half of the twentieth century towns such as Milbank and Mitchell formed hubs for commerce, social activities, and culture. Eric Fowler and Sheila Delaney looked at their communities from different viewpoints, but their childhood and young adult memories of South Dakota share common themes.

A ten-year-old bobbin girl working in a textile mill in Lowell, Massachusetts, in the 1830s, must make a difficult decision--will she participate in the first workers' strike in Lowell?

At the dingy, overcrowded Acme Garment Factory, Emily Watson stands for eleven hours a day clipping threads from blouses. Every time the boss passes, he shouts at her to snip faster. But if Emily snips too fast, she could ruin the garment and be docked pay. If she works too slowly, she will be fired. She desperately needs this job. Without the four dollars a week it brings, her family will starve. When a reporter arrives, determined to expose the terrible conditions in the factory, Emily finds herself caught between the desperate immigrant girls with whom she works and the hope of change. Then tragedy strikes, and Emily must decide where her loyalties lie. Emily's fictional experiences are interwoven with non-fiction sections describing family life in a slum, the fight to improve social conditions, the plight of working children then and now, and much more. Rarely seen archival photos accompany this story of the past as only Barbara Greenwood can tell it.