Customer Reviews

Life in the iron mills; or, The korl woman

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This text seems to be increasing in popularity among academics, and it does offer some interesting perspectives on the issue of mid-century (the 19th, that is) labor reform. You can view this text in its original format from Google books as well as on your kindle. (It is found in The Atlantic Monthly's 1861 collection, I think -- which Google has scanned.) I think it elicits a number of interpretive possibilities despite its short length, and is worth a read to those people who don't tire of conventional openings and a somewhat-tidy wrap-up. (Although I did read somewhere that Rebecca Harding Davis was forced by the AM publishers to alter some parts of her original text to make it more suitable for the audience.)

You will not, perhaps unfortunately, actually learn much about iron mills. This story is rather a type of conversion narrative that focuses on two characters' struggles in that particular "life." Those looking for a technical or otherwise informational book regarding mills/industry--or even working-class lifestyles--should look outside this one. But since this story is so short, it wouldn't hurt to look here *as well*.