Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis

Life in the Iron Mills by Rebecca Harding Davis

Deb Wolfe's days at the cotton mill are long and hard, often leaving her with little to eat or time to rest. At home she looks after her uncle and her cousin, Hugh, whom she loves without hope, thinking her hunchback prevents anyone from loving her. Hugh strains daily over flames in an iron mill, a hellish landscape. He has the soul of an artist and an overwhelming urge to create beauty. Together, Deb and Hugh face an impossible choice when an opportunity arises.

This Inwood Commons Modern Edition updates Rebecca Harding Davis's classic so that it's as easy to read and as relevant as if she had written it today. The book also includes an essay from a modern scholar and the original unedited version in an appendix.

Rebecca Harding Davis (1831-1910) was an American author, journalist, and a pioneer of literary realism in American literature. Her seminal work Life in the Iron Mills originally published in The Atlantic Monthly in 1861, gaining her immediate acclaim. Lauded as a brave new voice by both Louisa May Alcott and Ralph Walph Emerson, Davis held a prolific career with over 500 published works, including Waiting for the Verdict, John Andross, and Silhouettes of American Life, and worked as an editor for the New York Tribune. Though she fell out of public knowledge by her death, Davis was reintroduced to the literary circles in the 1970s by feminist writer Tillie Olsen, re-emphasizing her heavy significance to American literature.

Tillie Olsen (1912-2007) was an American writer, activist, editor, and part of the first generation of American feminists. Her most notable works include Tell Me a Riddle, Yonondio: From the Thirties, and Silences. She was awarded nine honorary degrees, National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Guggenheim Fellowship.