Home > Categories > Books > Fiction > My Story - Workhouse review

It's January 1871 when Edith, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy widow, pays her first eventful visit to the workhouse for the poor.
There she meets Rosie, a rebellious, quick-tempered orphan who is always getting into trouble. Edith soon finds herself drawn into Rosie's wild schemes and both their lives are never the same again.
My Story - War Nurse
My Story - Titanic
My Story - Viking Blood
My Story: War Stories for Girls
My Story - 1900 - A Brand New Century
My Royal Story - Cleopatra
My New Zealand Story - Earthquake! : Napier, 1930-31
My Story - Henry VIII's Wives
Gumdigger
My True Story: Give Us the Vote!
My New Zealand Story - Here Come the Marines
My Story - No Way Back
London Stories
My Story: Berlin Olympics
My Story: Titanic - Anniversary edition
My New Zealand Story: Cyclone Bola
My New Zealand Story: Cup Magic
My New Zealand Story: Lighthouse Family
My New Zealand Story - Canterbury Quake
My New Zealand Story - Harbour Bridge
My New Zealand Story: Bastion Point
My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid
My New Zealand Story: Chinatown Girl
My New Zealand Story: Pandemic
My New Zealand Story: Dawn Raid 2, The Apology
The Seven Kites of MatarikiProduct reviews...
Reading this book has made me really glad of a few things, one is that we have WINZ in New Zealand so in theory there is no need for this type of establishment.
The characters were well written, from Edith who just wants to help and make things better to Rosie who is struggling through life and the very deceitful workhouse master who is more than happy to steal from those who have nothing and make life a lot more unbearable . I did like the photos at the end of the book, it is a part of history even if the residents were treated disgraceful and most felt like they were less than worthy and a lot let pride stand in the way of asking for help.
The book is rather short and I managed to read it in a few hours. I would have liked to know what happened to some of the characters, did the kids manage to find a better life? Did Edith grow up and continue to support the workhouse and encourage the residents to find employment and education ? The book might be fiction but it is close to actual events. I am glad I took a chance and read it, makes me realise how much worse life can be.
Random listing from 'Books'...
Are you ready to dig, mix and lift?
Then grab yourself a hard hat and help Cat and Dog on the noisy building site! Come with us as we build an ice-cream parlour, using an excavator, a dump truck, a cement mixer, a forklift and finally a truck crane.
All trademarks, images and copyrights on this site are owned by their respective companies.
KIWIreviews is an independent entity, part of the Knock Out News Group. This is a free public forum presenting user opinions on selected products, and as such the views expressed do not necessarily reflect the opinion of kiwireviews.nz and are protected under New Zealand law by the "Honest Opinion" clause of the Defamation Act of 1992. KIWIreviews accepts no liability for statements made on this site, on the premise that they have been submitted as the true and honest opinions of the individual posters. In most cases, prices and dates stated are approximate and should be considered as only guidelines.
"Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they know there is not enough?"
unattributed