Emmeline by judith rossner

They send letters and Emmeline's savings (which they pass off as her regular salary) to her parents. The mill expels her and the embarrassed boarding house landlady contacts Emmeline's aunt, who lives in the neighboring town of Lynn, Massachusetts, and evicts the girl.įearful of Emmeline's parents' reaction, Emmeline's aunt and uncle help her conceal the pregnancy. She becomes pregnant, although she is not immediately aware of her condition. Lonely, Emmeline is easily seduced by the Irish-born husband of the factory owner's daughter. However, she is unable to befriend any of the other girls, who look down on her due to her country ways and her relative youth.

When she arrives in Lowell, she is sent to live in a boarding house for young female mill-workers. Times are hard, so when Emmeline's paternal aunt suggests that she go to Lowell, Massachusetts to support her family by working in a textile mill, Emmeline dutifully leaves home.

In 1839, thirteen-year-old Emmeline Mosher lives on a farm with her family in Fayette, Maine.