Product Description
Real stories; real people; real lives. Working families in Victorian Lancashire had few choices. Work; starve; or face the workhouse and the break up of their family. "Narrow Windows, Narrow Lives" recreates everyday life for textile workers, canal boat families, coalminers, metal workers navvies and glassblowers using contemporary eyewitness accounts and interviews. It depicts the dire state of towns and the dreadful hazards workers faced on a daily basis. Who was the 'knocker-upper'? Why did families eat 'tommyrot'? Why couldn't 'Lump Lad' sleep soundly in his bed? Men, women and children endured incredibly long working hours in appalling conditions - but their toil helped make Britain 'Great.'
About the Author
Sue Wilkes was born in Lancashire. Her grandmother and great-grandmother worked in the textile industries; her grandfather and great-grandfather were colliers. Sue read Physics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is married, with two children, and lives in Cheshire.
