The Frobishers

Joan Frobisher, left without resources after her father's sudden death, states her determination to work for her living, despite being 'a lady'. Her determination will take her to the Staffordshire potteries, to grimy surroundings, and poverty-stricken neighbours, where she will be horrified by the evil effects of their work on the health of the young girls she befriends there. In the novel, Baring-Gould displays his intimate knowledge of the industrial area, of the manufacturing processes involved, of the dangers inherent in them, and of the characters and thought processes of the workers themselves.