My Story: Workhouse by Pamela Oldfield (author) (UK edition)

“I was shown the laundry – a vast noisy sunless room full of steam and the sharp smell of soapsuds. I counted seven women slaving over the large tubs where the clothes are washed, their reddened faces shiny with sweat… No doubt Rosie takes her turn in here. Just to think of it filled my eyes with tears. What a terrible existence.”

England, 1871. Edith Lorrimer, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy widow, visits a workhouse for the destitute – and meets Rosie, a quick-tempered orphan who is always in trouble. But it’s not long before Edith is drawn into Rosie’s wild schemes, and both their lives will never be the same again…