Title: Lyddie
Author: Katherine Paterson
Major Themes: Family, Textile Mills
Synopsis: With their farm in debt, Lyddie and her brother are sent off to work—but will their family ever be able to be together again?
One of my biggest spending weaknesses is buying books. I love going second-hand book shopping, and on one such foray, I found Lyddie in a box of books. It looked interesting, and Katherine Paterson’s name sounded familiar, so I picked it up. It took me a good 4-5 years to finally read it, but once I picked it up, I had a hard time stopping!
Publisher’s description:
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.
My thoughts:
Through Dickens’ eyes, we get a bit of a glimpse into factory workers’ lives and some of the things they have to deal with. What I don’t remember reading about before is what it was like to be a factory worker in New England, which is what this book covers.
I found this book’s perspective fascinating. It shows a bit of life on a run-down farm and how poverty looked for some people at the time. The family break-up was sad to experience, and of course, Lyddie’s time at the mill was the main portion of the book. I think I’ve only read two other books about textile mills—Turn Homeward, Hannalee starts in a mill, and These Tangled Threads shows a more creative side to textile manufacturing. This story was much more in the nitty-gritty of mill life. It was hot, dangerous work—and through Lyddie’s eyes, we get to experience the overwhelming nature of the work and the pride of accomplishment once the work became second-nature.
There were elements of the story I didn’t appreciate so much. A couple of times, a man tries to take advantage of different girls, and while that’s likely an accurate portrayal of what could happen in these settings, I still struggled with it, nonetheless. There’s a fairly strong feminist thread, and workers’ unions are also an element of the story.
While I was disappointed by some of the content in the book, I ended up enjoying Lyddie. Part of that is due to the unique setting and time—I feel like it helped round out my knowledge of what the pre-Civil War US looked like. I also enjoy Katherine Paterson’s writing style, and the way she brings her characters and the world they live in to life. It was a lot of fun to watch Lyddie learn and grow as she became literate, too—I enjoyed that! If you’re interested in learning about the mill girls and love stories that center around family and home, I think you’d probably enjoy this book.
WARNING: The book features a character with feminist leanings. Chapter 1: Family barely escapes a bear attack, superstition. Chapter 3: Mention of a girl’s anatomy changing (talked about two different places in the chapter). Chapter 4: Sure as hell. Chapter 9: Creation! (twice), heaven help her. Chapter 12: Sign the blooming petition, merciful heaven. Chapter 13: These cussed papists, girl hurt, the blasted shuttle. Chapter 14: That cussed shuttle, hang it all, that cussed petition. Chapter 15: What in heaven’s name, I swear (twice); oh, cuss it; oh, tarnation; your blooming work, she cursed her aunt and uncle. Chapter 16: Man grabs and tries to take advantage of a girl. Chapter 17: Merciful heavens, I swear. Chapter 19: I swear, the cussed petition, woman pregnant out of wedlock. Chapter 20: Man tries to take advantage of a girl. Chapter 22: The cussed word, tarnation.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 12 – 15, 15 and Above
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle | Library Binding | Audible Audiobook (unabridged)
AbeBooks: View Choices on AbeBooks.com
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