'Real sagas with female characters right at the heart' Jane Garvey, Woman's Hour 'Heart-warming, emotional and simply wonderful . . . If you think family sagas aren't for you, you've never read Glenda Young's books - pick one up today and you'll be converted' 5 * reader review If you love Dilly Court and Rosie Goodwin, you'll LOVE Glenda Young's 'amazing novels!' (ITV's This Morning presenter Sharon Marshall) 'A super saga with a sparky heroine' People's Friend 'Definitely an author not to be missed when it comes to family sagas' The Book Magnet 'Writes superb historical fiction that bring the era alive. Her books are unbeatable and unputdownable' Ginger Book Geek 'The perfectly imperfect, human nature of Glenda Young's characters are what keeps her readership hooked' Clyde's Corner 'Gritty, compelling and full of heart . . . an exceptional saga' Bookish Jottings .......................................................................................... 'She's just a paper mill girl.' Seventeen-year-old Ruth Hardy works long hours at Grange Paper Works, with her younger sister Bea, and spends her free time caring for their ailing parents. Their meagre income barely covers their needs, so when Bea reveals that she is pregnant out of wedlock, Ruth knows even tougher times are ahead. Ruth's hard work at the mill does not go unnoticed and it looks as though luck might turn when she's promoted. But when the arrival of Bea's baby girl ends in tragedy, Ruth is left with no choice but to bring up her niece herself. However, news of Ruth's plan brings a threatening menace close. Although Ruth's friendship with the girls at the mill, and the company of charming railway man, Mick Carson, sustain her, ultimately Ruth bears the responsibility for keeping her family safe. Will she ever find happiness of her own? .......................................................................................... Look out for all of Glenda's compelling sagas - Belle of the Back Streets, The Tuppenny Child, Pearl of Pit Lane, The Girl with the Scarlet Ribbon, The Paper Mill Girl and The Miner's Lass - out now! Plus, Glenda has launched a brand-new cosy-crime mystery series - don't miss Murder at the Seaview Hotel - out now! What readers are saying about Glenda's heartwrenching sagas: 'Better than a Catherine Cookson' 5* reader review 'Wonderful read, full of rich characters, evocative description and a touch of romance' 5* reader review 'Just wanted it to go on forever and read more about the characters and their lives' 5* reader review 'In the world of historical saga writers, there's a brand new voice' My Weekly

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?

This book studies the representations of working-class women in canonical and popular American fiction between 1820 and 1870. These representations have been invisible in nineteenth century American literary and cultural studies due to the general view that antebellum writers did not engage with their society's economic and social relaities. Against this view and to highlight the cultural importance of working-class women, this study argues that, in responding to industrialization, middle class writers such as Melville, Hawthorne, Fern, Davies, and Phelps used the figures of the factory worker and the seamstress to express their anxieties about unstable gender and class identitites. These fictional representations were influenced by, and contributed to, an important but understudied cultural debate about wage labor, working women, and class.

From two-time Newbery award-winning author Katherine Paterson. When Lyddie and her younger brother are hired out as servants to help pay off their family farm's debts, Lyddie is determined to find a way to reunite her family once again. Hearing about all the money a girl can make working in the textile mills in Lowell, Massachusetts, she makes her way there, only to find that her dreams of returning home may never come true. Includes an all-new common core aligned educator's guide. "Rich in historical detail...a superb story of grit, determination, and personal growth." —The Horn Book, starred review "Lyddie is full of life, full of lives, full of reality." —The New York Times Book Review An ALA Notable Book An ALA Best Book for Young Adults A Booklist Editor's Choice American Bookseller "Pick of the Lists" School Library Journal Best Book Parents magazine Best Book

In Women of the Silk Gail Tsukiyama takes her readers back to rural China in 1926, where a group of women forge a sisterhood amidst the reeling machines that reverberate and clamor in a vast silk factory from dawn to dusk. Leading the first strike the village has ever seen, the young women use the strength of their ambition, dreams, and friendship to achieve the freedom they could never have hoped for on their own. Tsukiyama's graceful prose weaves the details of "the silk work" and Chinese village life into a story of courage and strength.