Most of the books I read come from my own tall stack of novels in my office that await my interest, but sometimes they come to me in other ways that open new topics for me. This is one of those book. The author had come into the library I work out, shortly before I started working there, to let the staff know that her debut novel had just been published and that she would be interested in coming in to do a talk. As our library did not have a copy, I requested one and it took some time for it to arrive. Once it did, I dove in and absolutely loved it, and happy to report the author will be coming in do that talk after all.
(SparkPress, 2019)
I went into this historical novel having never heard of Industrial Schools and being completely unaware of this practice. Now, having read it, I've been educating myself on this shameful piece of history where women were punished for having out-of-wedlock children, and even worse, the children were meant to suffer for it as well. AND this is in post World War II western Europe!
It would have been easy for Heidi Daniele to write about the well-documented horrors associated with the Industrial Schools, but she chose to tell a different story. Through her careful use of prose, she has crafted an absolutely beautiful story that deals with the emotional turmoil associated with the practice, but also examines the aspects of compassion that existed within the terrible setting as she tells the story of a young girl named Peg growing up in this world.
Through Peg (whose name was changed from Mary Margaret upon entering becoming a "house child"), we see the unfairness of it all. A childish confusion settles in as it concerns her real mother and the difficult relationship they share. The author handles this difficult situation with such tenderness and care that we are able to feel both character's pain, even when they are not quite able to understand each other's actions.
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