Marsden, and against the oppressive, exhausting, and dangerous conditions of her work environment. Lyddie battles against the unwanted attentions of an overseer, Mr. Throughout her time at Concord Corporation, she develops relationships with strong, independent young women like herself: Diana, the labor activist who mentors Lyddie and teaches her to become a proficient loom operator Betsy, the hopeful college student who ignites Lyddie’s passion for reading but succumbs to lung disease as a result of 10 years in the factory and Brigid, the gentle but plucky Irish immigrant who struggles at first but soon thrives in the factory environment as she works to support her family.

She devotes herself utterly to her work, saving as much as she can in the hopes that she and her family can return to their farm and regain a sense of prosperity. Lyddie settles in at the boardinghouse known as Number Five and begins her career as a weaver for Concord Corporation. When Lyddie is dismissed from her position at Cutler’s Tavern due to a misunderstanding, she is inspired to travel to the growing industrial city of Lowell, Massachusetts, where she heard she can find work in a factory and make an amount of money she can barely imagine. When her mother moves in with relatives and leases out their family farm, Lyddie and her brother Charlie are separated and sent into servitude while their mother collects the profits of their labors. Struggling against poverty since her father left the family four years ago, ostensibly to find work that would benefit his wife and four children, Lyddie has worked tirelessly to ensure the family’s survival.

In rural Vermont in 1843, Lyddie Worthen’s life is irrevocably changed when she is ousted from her family home by her emotionally unstable mother.

It is an account of child labor that includes themes of corporate exploitation of underage workers, as well as discussions of the enslavement of human beings, a teenage pregnancy, a character’s confinement in a psychiatric hospital, and continued attempts by a factory supervisor to sexually assault the underage female employees he oversees. This guide is based upon the Puffin Books Trade Paperback Edition published in 2015.Ĭontent Warning: This novel contains depictions of children experiencing hunger, poverty, neglect, and financial abuse at the hands of their family.

Lyddie book cover