A compelling story of a young family of ten children from the Blackstone Valley, Massachusetts... orphaned and coping with life in the 1820s.
The Blackstone Canal project brings Irish workers to the area; families head for the West; farm workers become factory workers in the textile mills.
Fascinating and accurately-researched historical fiction, told through the words of Betsey Carpenter, a twenty-year-old who finds herself responsible for the welfare of her nine younger siblings. Should she, as a Baptist, allow herself to fall for the handsome Irish Catholic canal worker?
This story includes themes about Industrial Revolution, the transition of workers from farm-to-factory, and discusses family values.
