Call the Darkness Light [Hardcover]

Nancy Zaroulis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A vivid and sweeping novel about the life of a female mill worker in industrial Lowell, Mass., in the mid-19th century.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Set in mid-19th-century New England, this 1979 novel follows the woes of protagonist Sabra Palfrey who, through the course of the action, goes from a minister's daughter to a factory worker, an abolitionist's aide, a utopian wife, a beggar, a thief, a prostitute, and a suicide. This "engaging potboiler" ( LJ 10/15/79) remains recommended.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Littlehampton Book Services Ltd (October 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0600200531
• ISBN-13: 978-0600200536
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,028,832 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call the Darkness Light, March 6, 2003

By 

generalsquarters "generalsquarters" (Uxbridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Call the Darkness Light (Hardcover)

I read this book a couple of years ago and have recommended it to a number of people. It is a well written account of a young woman's experiences in a Lowell mill. Not only does it cover the mill aspect but a good part of her life. It gave me a better outlook on what life must have been like for my grandparents who came to work in the mills of Rhode Island. Because of their exposure to the mill atmosphere, they suffered from the ailments associated with that type of work (grandfather died at 34/grandmother had "white lung"). I had no idea until I read this book, just what the working conditions were at the time. A must-read for those people interested in the industrial revolution and its effect on the people who worked in that system. Also provides a reason for the union movement in later years.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgettable, November 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Call the Darkness Light (The Hera Series) (Paperback)

I read this book twenty years ago, and have never forgotten it. This must be the mark of true quality. Set in Lowell, Massachusetts, it tells of young textile workers plight more poingnantly than anything else I have ever come across.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, April 3, 2000

By 

Maureen McGann (Providence, Rhode Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Call the Darkness Light (The Hera Series) (Paperback)

The author was way ahead of her time with the popularity of Angela's Ashes. Of course this book was written without the humor but the plight of the Irish was far more intense.

Today the book stores are filled with novels not more than 300 pages. This book left me emotionally fatigued. Now I must wait a week before I even try a new one because I cannot forget Zaroulis' writing.