The Watchman’s Widow (The Sheffield Sagas, 3)
Sheffield 1873. Capturing the essence of aspects of daily life when writing historical fiction is key to bringing some realism to the storyline an author has chosen to pursue. In this tale, Clague takes some inspiration for her main themes from the issues surrounding safety in the workplace for women and children, alongside the growing interest in the suffrage movement that was emerging throughout late-Victorian England.
Choosing Rosie Butterfield as her main character, a widow in her mid-twenties whose husband was killed seven years previously, while she was heavily pregnant with twin boys, we get an insight into the difficulties she faced and the limitations that existed for her to house, feed and clothe her three children while working under the constant threat of being laid off from poorly paid factory work. Befriended by Annie, the wife of a newspaper printer, Rosie enters the realms of political activism, which could further jeopardise her job prospects. When the factory manager approaches Rosie and some of her colleagues to tell them they are being let go, Rosie is angry. Demanding the address of the company owner, she sets off to confront him, but the meeting ends far from how she anticipated as she is engaged to give bed and board to a young Irish girl, Oonagh, who needs dental treatment in Sheffield. The mystery surrounding this teenager’s ill health emerges over time, referencing a condition which Charles Dickens first highlighted in the 1850s.
This is a well-researched story of the period, covering in accessible language the issues of the time within the background of some worthy characters; it is an enjoyable read.
