Ashes of Roses

This book, Ashes of Roses, is great for young adults to read to better understand the time period in which it occurred. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, it was very easy to get through and to understand. It was quite fast paced and gave just the right amount of character background. My main purpose for wanting to read this book was to learn more about sustainability in the early 20th century. Although, I would have liked to see more about the time period in general, I think this book did a good job focusing on the workplace and how a majority of business owners treated their employees. To start with, the struggle of Rose Nolan finding a safe environment to work in when she was just sixteen years old was interesting to see. And since Rose was responsible for caring for her little sister after her family had to return to Ireland, pay was extremely necessary. Rose goes job searching only to find out she must settle for a job where they are underpaid and overworked. She finally decides to work in a sweatshop, where she is required to produce small flowers, except her boss is extremely creepy towards his underage workers. This is an issue that society still has to this day and this opened my eyes to the situation even more. Foreign companies are still taking advantage of their employees and are unethical. This man proceeds to be inappropriate with Rose which forces her to search for a new job. She then proceeds to work at the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory where their task is to make clothing. One thing I noticed was how the environment of this factory was described. They had to work practically on top of each other and in an overall unsafe work space. Later in the novel, there is a large fire in the Triangle Factory and Rose gets stuck in the building and many people even end up dying from this fire. This further shows how unsafe this work environment was, nevermind the fact that there were underage workers working here. I certainly am never going to buy products from a fast fashion company ever again because this book showed me how dangerous it actually is for the employees. These types of situations are still happening in different parts of the world. Overall, I would recommend this book to young adults, as it is eye opening and teaches about events that are still happening to this day.

So first the book starts off really slow and boring but then BAM! FIRE! It’s amazing because there is so much drama and it’s sooo sad but that’s what makes it good. My teacher made me read this book over the summer and now I want to thank her for giving me the chance to read such an amazing book.

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I haven’t read this book since elementary school 🥰 beautiful cover, fast shipping. The inner child in me was beyond the moon reading this.

Who knew. Got the book to make sure my kid was reading it. Then, I couldn’t believe the terror that occurred. It was a great read!

Action packed book that kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Couldn’t put it down.

Good book for children and adults who are looking to learn TOGETHER about the immigrant experience for Irish coming to NYC in the early part of the 20th Century. Good 2nd book to accompany others with similar material, namely "The Locket:Surviving the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire" by Suzanne Lieurance. Once you read about what went on, you won't buy 21st Century items made in foreign sweatshops again.

I LOVE this book!! I read it before when I was in junior high school and I was recently thinking of it and thought I'd like to read it again. It was just as great as the first time I read it! It really deals with the struggles of coming to America and going through Ellis Island and making a life in early 20th century America. And it also has a gripping account of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire (through a fictional character). I highly recommend this book!! :)

I bought this book thinking it was an adult read, however it is designed for early teenage years. It was very informative as to the background of Irish/American emigration a century ago, with a good storyline, but it lacked a depth of language, which surely a youngster should be exposed to.