The Yellow Lantern Spotlight – Factory Life

Posted by abakersp in Spotlights / 6 Comments

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Welcome to The Yellow Lantern Summer Blog Series!! I am excited to have author Angie Dicken here today to give us a look at factory life. You can really tell that she put a lot of thought, effort, and research into writing this book. BTW – the book releases August 1st!! Pre-order your copy now before it’s too late.

First, let’s learn a little bit more about the story. And, make sure you follow Angie’s blog schedule because there is a different giveaway each month! Check out more about the tour at Angie’s website.

About the Book

AN AMERICAN TRUE CRIME ROMANCE

In Massachusetts in 1824, Josephine Clayton awakes on the table of the doctor she’s assisted all these months. She was presumed dead by all and has become the doctor’s next corpse for his medical research. Frightened, the doctor tries to kill her, but Josephine begs to be spared. A deal is struck—Josie will leave her village and work at a distant cotton mill. All the while, she’ll await her true mission—posing as a mourner to help his body snatcher procure her replacement. At the mill though, Josie is praised for her medical remedies among the mill girls, gaining attention from the handsome factory manager Braham Taylor. Yet, when Braham’s own loved one becomes the prey for the next grave robbing, Josie must make a choice that could put her dark past behind her or steal away the promise of any future at all.

What price will Josie pay for love when her secrets begin to unravel?

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Guest Post

Factory Life: TYL Summer Blog Series

“These girls, as I have said, were all well-dressed: and that phrase necessarily includes extreme cleanliness. They have serviceable bonnets, good warm cloaks, and shawls…Moreover, there were places in the mill in which they could deposit these things without injury…[They] had the manners and deportment of young women: not of degraded brutes of burden.” –Charles Dickens, American Notes.

About a year before I began research for The Yellow Lantern, I was writing a different kind of story, set about twenty years later. Charles Dickens’ first visit to America was a vital piece of research, and I devoured his observations. Although my story at the time had little to do with the mill girls, I was intrigued by his thoughts and comparisons of the women to factory life in England. It didn’t take me long to incorporate a cotton mill in The Yellow Lantern when I discovered that it was a new industry of 1820’s Massachusetts.

Imagine if…

You are the oldest sister of two brothers, and your family’s small working farm has been your entire world for eighteen years. With no husband, your parents insist you leave to work in a new cotton mill to provide money for your brothers’ education. Leaving the only home you’ve ever known for work you’ve never done, would be a frightening venture indeed.

“My life is a tool for my brother’s success,” you might think as you pack up your belongings to take with you on a lonely carriage ride. Might you have resentment? Probably not. You’ve been taught your submissive place in your family from the time you could speak.

However, once you arrive at the large buildings and the orderly boardinghouse, freedom is sparked by the different ideas and voices you come across. A new friend is ecstatic to get away from her family and become an independent woman. Another friend dives into the education opportunities provided by the mill—enjoying books and study that she never received in her rural life at home.

Your day begins before the sun is up, and you’ve worked a couple hours before the first meal. The work is not too difficult, but it is loud, and twelve hours of standing amidst machinery and cotton dust is tiring. Another operative, Josie Clay (the heroine of The Yellow Lantern) observes the work like this:

“The ruckus of knocking parts and spinning spindles vibrated through her body, as if she were not just a woman in the mill but a part of the machinery. The overseer explained to her the parts of the machine she was to manage. It was powered by steam, chomping down on the cotton with its lathes’ steady blows. Josie was certain that she was, indeed, a part of a whole.”

Imagine if you find yourself a part of a community of women, who discover within the bounds of strict moral code and dutiful work, a chance to flourish apart from family and farm life—would this adventure be worth giving up the wages for someone else?

History would say yes. The Mill Girls became influential to Charles Dickens, American workforce reform, and women’s rights throughout the 19th century…and they set the stage for a certain American Crime novel in 2019. 😉

More info on The Yellow Lantern: angiedicken.com/tyl-summer-series

Images and articles about the Mill Girls: https://www.pinterest.com/agdicken/the-tyl-summer-blog-series/

Giveaway

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6 responses to “The Yellow Lantern Spotlight – Factory Life

  1. Rosie

    Wow, now this is so different than the usual, and in a really good way!!!

  2. I’m glad you are part of the summer tour for The Yellow Lantern! This is quite the page-turning story and a surprise ending that will keep readers guessing.