Cover of The Portion of Labor by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman Ebook The Portion of Labor
Ebook · Fractal Press

The Portion of Labor

Author
Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman
Language
English
Length
482 pages
ISBN
9781836101840
Published
18 February 2026
Imprint
Fractal Press
  • family conflict
  • poverty
  • childhood
  • resilience
  • domestic struggle
  • social class
  • identity
  • emotional turmoil
  • coming of age
  • independence

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Description

Ellen Brewster grows from neglected childhood into New England shoe-mill labour, where strike, class conflict, and a woman's need for dignity reshape her life. Freeman's industrial novel of work, endurance, and identity under hardship. The portion of labour is paid in more than wages.

Author

Mary E. Wilkins Freeman (1852–1930) grew up in Randolph, Massachusetts, and wrote the New England village as if every parlour were a theatre of will. A New England Nun is the famous short weather of a woman who will not be hurried into marriage; Pembroke is the same climate at novel length — pride, church, and a stubbornness that can freeze a town. She later took the Howells Medal. The regional is never small in her hands. Thrift has a pulse.

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