Ashes of Roses [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Jane Auch (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 10, 2004

Sixteen-year-old Margaret Rose Nolan, newly arrived from Ireland, finds work at New York City’s Triangle Shirtwaist Factory shortly before the 1911 fire in which 146 employees died.

Sixteen-year-old Rose Nolan and her family are grateful to have finally reached America, the great land of opportunity. Their happiness is shattered when part of their family is forced to return to Ireland. Rose wants to succeed and stays in New York with her younger sister Maureen. The sisters struggle to survive and barely do so by working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Then, just as Rose is forming friendships and settling in, a devastating fire forces her, Maureen, and their friends to fight for their lives. Surrounded by pain, tragedy, and ashes, Rose wonders if there’s anything left for her in this great land of America.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Auch (Journey to Nowhere) combines a classic immigration tale with the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in this spirited novel. The narrator, 16-year-old Rose Nolan, arrives at Ellis Island with her family, but right away they are beset by obstacles. Her baby brother is diagnosed with trachoma, and her father must take him back to Ireland; her uncle's family, while taking them in, makes it clear they are unwelcome. Rose finds work in a sweatshop and, after her mother, too, gives up on America, Rose rents a tiny room with her 12-year-old sister from the father of a union organizer, a girl named Gussie. High-minded Gussie helps Rose deal with her dishonest boss and finagle a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. There, Rose makes friends and begins to enjoy New York, but when the infamous fire breaks out, she finds herself trapped, along with all of her fellow employees (management locked the girls in each day); Rose's friends, including Gussie, are among the 146 fatalities. Fast pacing sweeps readers from the initial confusion of Ellis Island to the horrific fire, while Auch supplies vivid period detail and strong female characters to build toward a hopeful conclusion ("I was goin' to reach out and grab this new life in America with all my strength, because I was brought here for a purpose," says Rose). Dear America graduates will be hooked. Ages 12-15.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-The Nolan family's dreams of prosperity in a new country are shattered when baby Joseph fails the medical exam at Ellis Island and must be taken back to Cork by his father. Though Da promises a quick return, Ma is miserable. Frustrated by her dependence on the unwilling hospitality of prosperous relatives, she gladly accepts money from her brother-in-law for herself and her three daughters to return home. Having few opportunities in Ireland, 16-year-old Rose rebels and she and 12-year-old Maureen are allowed to remain in New York to seek work and schooling. Rose finds them a room with a kindly Jewish family, and the landlord's labor unionist daughter, Gussie, gets her a position at the Triangle Waist Company. The teen feels especially happy one morning, wearing a dress in a new color called "ashes of roses" in anticipation of a nickelodeon outing with friends after work. Within hours, her clothing choice takes on a macabre appropriateness as she, Gussie, and Maureen, who also works there, fight for their lives in a fire still recalled as one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history. Fast-paced, populated by distinctive characters, and anchored in Auch's convincing sense of time and place, this title is a good choice for readers who like historical fiction.
Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (February 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044023851X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440238515
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.7 x 7.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #28 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Other

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb book., April 22, 2002

By 

Roger Jestel (Rochester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ashes of Roses (Hardcover)

The book was obtained for our daughter. However my wife and I ended up reading it before our daughter ever saw it. Not only reading it but fighting over whose turn it was to read.
Mrs. Auch recreates the trials of the immigrants who built our country. It is difficult to imagine what it would be like to move to another country and start all over. But this book gives some insight into the difficulties of finding work. The ease with which young immigrants were taken advantage of; in many ways. The importance of finding friends who could guide the newcomers. The reader feels they are a part of life at the turn of the century with all its tribulations and triumphs. Although directed at juvenile readers it is a great adult read and one that would make for good discussions with children or grand children.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible!, April 17, 2002

By 

Vivian L. Vandevelde (Rochester, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ashes of Roses (Hardcover)

Breathtaking in its intensity, the vivid details of time and place put you right in the scene--from the opening with 16-year-old Rose and the other hopeful Irish immigrants crowding the side of the boat for their first glimpse of New York, through the disappointments and triumphs of an exuberant young working-class girl in New York in 1911, to the horrific fire that claims the lives of so many. Rose Nolan is a likable narrator: determined, impatient, and sometimes cranky. Her adventures range from amusing (trying, more or less, to fit in with the family's German in-laws) to heartbreaking--all told in a memorable voice whose realness will shake you, particularly during the scenes of the fire and its aftermath.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ashes of Roses, April 21, 2002

By 

Kathaleen Bartlett, School Librarian (El Paso, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ashes of Roses (Hardcover)

Ashes of Roses is a work of historical fiction that tells of Margaret Rose, a newly-arrived 16 year-old Irish immigrant who desperately desires and struggles to 'become American'. Rose's journey begins in 1911 with her arrival at Ellis Island. Her first job, working in a sweat shop making paper flowers, marks her first step towards self-reliance, but she soon encounters trouble. The owner takes advantage of her innocence and of her need for money, and late one evening physically assaults her. Rose escapes without her pay and only winter coat. The daughter of the Jewish man she rents a tenement room from, Gussie, is a union worker that gives Rose the courage to go back to the sweatshop the next day, get her coat, and demand her pay. Gussie is then able to get Rose a job at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company, which pays better. Rose is able to worry a little less and enjoy her youth. She makes friends at the factory, sees a nickelodeon for the first time, and reads her first dime novel. But the real-life tragedy of the factory fire painfully jars her back to the harsh reality of the immigrant's life. (Of the 146 people that die in the fire, many of them are young girls who either jump to their deaths or are trapped in the burning building because of locked doors) Still, Rose finds within herself the strength to hope once again that she'd find America's streets paved with gold, and make a life for herself. "...I was a grown woman now, not somebody's little girl. The fire had changed me. Like a piece of iron in a blacksmith's forge, I had come out reshaped, stronger." Ashes of Roses tackles tough issues of the period like child labor, women's rights, worker's rights, discrimination, racial diversity, and class distinction. But never does one feel like she is reading a history book. Rather, the reader comes to care deeply for Rose, struggling along with her, and wanting desperately for her to succeed. The reader, and Rose, learn much along the way. This book stands alone as a compelling story, as does the author's other highly-praised works of historical fiction, i.e. her pioneer trilogy, Journey to Nowhere, Frozen Summer, and The Road to Home. Ashes of Roses is also a boon to history teachers wanting the past to come alive for their students. Furthermore, the author details the research that went into the making of Rose's story in the Author's Note, so teachers, librarians, and parents alike can feel secure in the knowledge that the people, places, events, and lifestyles portrayed in the novel are historically accurate. This book deserves a place on every library's shelf.