The Mill of Lost Dreams: A Novel

(Paperback)

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Description

Between 1870 and 1900, twelve million people immigrated to America. Hundreds of thousands of them came to work in the textile mills of Fall River, Massachusetts. The Mill of Lost Dreams is a story of love, friendship and sacrifice that provides an inside view into the world of textile mills and the daily life of seven courageous souls who leave home and risk everything for their shared dream of a better life: Angelina and Guido Wallabee, who have left their family's failed farm in Italy; eleven-year-old Miranda Alysworth and her fifteen-year-old brother, Francois, who have escaped from indentured service in Canada; twins Phoebe and Charlie Dougherty, the children of Irish immigrant parents, who, though not yet thirteen, are forced to work in Troy Mill to support their family after their father's untimely death; and eleven-year-old, Anne Kenny, an orphan who's never known where she came from. All but one take jobs in Troy Mill in Fall River. Over the course of seven decades, there are marriages, births, secrets exposed, friendships tested, and innocence lost. Some succeed in making a new life away from harm but pay a terrible price. Many cannot build the life they dreamed of and the consequences impact and shape the lives of their children-and their children's children.

Reviews

...richly told historical tale.
Kirkus Reviews

...I was really impressed with how perfectly paced the book was and found myself hooked from beginning to end, racing through it relatively quickly, always keen to read on.
Diary of a Bookish Mumma

Author Bio

Lori Rohda is a former Assistant Dean of Students at Boston University and management consultant to Fortune 500 companies. Since retiring in 1998, she has divided her time between Boston, Massachusetts, and Whistler, British Columbia. She loves skiing, hiking, landscape design, reading, and traveling.