Victorian Workhouse

Victorian Workhouse
Book no.	28
Series	My Story
Author	Pamela Oldfield
Publisher	Scholastic UK
Published	September 17, 2004
Pages	208
ISBN	9780439977302
Setting	Stoneleigh, Kent
Timeline	January – December 1871
Preceded by
Chronology	The Sweep's Boy
Publication	D-Day
Followed by
Chronology	Zulu War
Publication	Spy Smuggler

Victorian Workhouse: The Diary of Edith Lorrimer, also known as Workhouse, is a My Story book written by Pamela Oldfield. It was Oldfield's second book for the series. The book was first published in September 2004, and reissued in November 2008 and February 2015. It was followed by Spy Smuggler by Jim Eldridge.

Book description

• 1st
• 2nd
• 3rd

"Thursday 26th January
I was shown the laundry—a vast noisy sunless room full of steam and the sharp smell of soapsuds. I counted seven women slaving over the large tubs where the clothes are washed, their reddened faces shiny with sweat even in this weather... Condensation ran down the windows and pooled on the floor. Heavy wooden racks are pulled up and down from the high ceiling and the sheets and clothes are draped over them and hoisted up to the ceiling from where they drip on the unfortunates toiling beneath. No doubt Rosie takes her turn in here. Just to think of it filled my eyes with tears. What a terrible existence."

"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..."

""They are not to blame, Edith, and they deserve our compassion. They are not in the workhouse as a punishment. Rather, they are offered sanctuary because they have nowhere else to go."
It's January 1871 when Edith, the sheltered daughter of a wealthy widow, pays her first eventful visit to a workhouse for the poor—a grim and forbidding place. There she meets Rosie, a rebellious, quick-tempered orphan who is always getting into trouble. Soon Edith finds herself drawn into Rosie's wild schemes and both their lives are never the same again..."

Characters

Main article: List of Victorian Workhouse characters

• Edith Lorrimer

Author

Main article: Pamela Oldfield

Editions

• Physical
• eBook

Workhouse
My Story reprint
9781407104805
(November 2008)

Chudobinec
Czech edition
9788025217856
(April 2011)

Workhouse
My Story reprint
9781407152561
(February 2015)

Workhouse
My Story eBook
B00S54RXMG
(February 2015)

Notes

• The portrait on the cover of the first edition is a detail from John Everett Millais' 1857-1858 painting Only A Lock Of Hair. The background is a photograph licensed from the Hulton Archive.
• Richard Jones illustrated the picture of Edith on the cover of the second edition.
• The cover of the third edition is a photograph taken by Jeff Cottenden.

See also

My Story navigation
← Publication → D-Day Spy Smuggler ← Chronology → The Sweep's Boy Zulu War

External links

• Workhouse Excerpt at Scholastic UK