The Garment Maker’s Daughter is a multigenerational saga of immigrant dreams and sweatshop realities, labor strikes and women’s rights. It is the story of Lena Rothman, a shirtwaist-maker and active suffragette whose plans get derailed when she falls in love with her best friend’s boyfriend; Jake Brenner, a passionate labor organizer determined to lead the shirtwaist-makers on a high-stakes … strike; and Daniel Cowan, a brilliant and ambitious night-school student hobbled by a shameful past.
Fate draws them together. Emotions bind them to each other. But secrets will tear them apart. When a devastating blaze engulfs the shirtwaist factory, Lena must fight for her life. And in the chaos of the fire’s aftermath, mistakes will be made with consequences that continue into the next generation.
Spanning the first half of the twentieth century, this is a story about unforgettable characters and the threads of friendship, love, betrayal, and redemption that form the fabric of their lives. FAns of Adriana Trigiani, Kristin Hannah, and Christine Baker Kline, will love The Garment Maker’s Daughter. It’s that rare novel you’ll be thinking about long after you’ve finished it.
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I really enjoyed this book. It was entertaining as well as informative. It made me ask questions of my own mother’s entry into America and her experiences at Ellis Island. The story was a true page turned and I could not out the book down.
Many authors, especially new ones falter on the ending. Not this author! While somewhat predictable, it was not at all boring. It was satisfying and skillfully handled. Thank you. More please.
A very enjoyable story.
Once I got into it, I couldn’t put it down. Loved reading about the history and actually learned a few things. I suspect Grossingers in the Catskills was the inspiration for one of the locales (Grossingers also was an inspiration for “Dirty Dancing” and having stayed there once I enjoyed reminiscing about the place and what life was like many years after the period of the book). Fabulous book; very enjoyable.
This was the best book I’ve read in a long time. Great insight into the lifestyle of immigrants in the early 1900’s. Developed characters with character. Many surprises. Page turner.
I loved this book! It told the story of four young adult immigrants to the U.S. in the early 1900’s. They meet each other and their lives are entwined for the next thirty years in the most interesting way. Realistic characters who develop over the course of the story. Well written! A joy to read.
I learned some things about the union movement, especially with women. Good story too.
The writer portrays a vivid picture of what life was like during this time period and what hardships new immigrants faced coming to this country. The struggle that workers faced in getting better working conditions was tragic. I highly recommend this book to read.
Enjoyed reading this book. Although frequently predictable, I found I could not stop reading it.
I was truly moved by this story! It is such a great read. I was given this book for free and I am leaving this review of my own free will.
Historic with a lot of politics involved
This book kept me interested, however it is unremarkable in content and writing.
This is a great family story. You never know what is going to happen.
Too predictable.
I am a big fan of movies and movie making and also a Quentin Tarantino fan.
I had seen the Kill Bill movies several times and thought they were brilliant. We
do expect depravity and violence from Quentin and he always delivers. When I
came across this book on BookBub, I had to read it. It did not disappoint, but rather enlightened me about the commitment and training that goes in to making movies like these. While I liked David Carradine and admired his performance, I
felt that he was often egotistical and overbearing in his writing. Still, he did provide
a lot of insight into the inner workings of acting, the importance of relationships in
making us care about the characters as well as many “tricks” used to tell the story on the big screen. All in all, a fun and educational read.
Loved this book! I would have never guessed how it would have ended and I loved how she matured her characters as the book progressed.
Very well written.
A good read!
Terrible, terrible grammar and spelling, enough to make me question the accuracy of the historical aspects. This author knows nothing about apostrophes and makes mistakes on every other page. Where was her editor?
Very different kind of story, but has real life ingredients, which I like, and characters to which I can relate.