Book Review for The Workhouse Girl by Lynette Rees

I received this book for free. This does not impact my review in any shape or form.

The Workhouse Girl, by Lynette Rees, is a historical woman’s fiction about overcoming adversity, even if you have to dig a little to find the strength to prevail. Enid Hardcastle has had a hard life; with her family getting thrown on the streets and being sent to a workhouse, it’s all Enid can do to find a place for herself in a world that frowns on women. Despite her troubles, she finds comfort in the most unlikely people and takes steps to save herself and her loved ones. 

I like Enid’s self-reliance. She reminds me of me when I was younger, worrying over the family’s future finances to make sure everything was alright. While neither my family nor I were thrown out to the streets, when I was in grad school, I was definitely working to the bone to prepare for some financial disaster that would befall my either then boyfriend or my parents. (It still hasn’t happened, but you never know). I enjoy Enid’s refusal to back down from any challenge, and although her assault was something that should’ve never happened, she takes it in stride and keeps going. True, she could rely on so many people, from Connie to Mr. Clarkson and Mr. Darling, to even Cook and other servants. Everyone had gone out of their way to help her, which begs the question of how often other people like her have been assaulted and how many had caved under societal pressure to forget it. 

A sobering thing that Rees gets right is how people, both men and women, may react to an assault. I absolutely hated Mrs. Clarkson and how her son could do no wrong in her eyes, nor did I enjoy Arthur putting his daughter down, convinced that she was promiscuous, to begin with. Some good people will help those who have experienced sexual violence, such as the aforementioned in the previous paragraphs, but they’re few and far between. While people are getting better at being more empathetic and providing support to such individuals, it’s hard to get people to actually take survivors seriously, especially if the abuser is a loved one. Then again, this was the road Enid was initially going down before Mr. Clarkson stepped in, but I digress. 

Feel-good stories are always a little iffy to me. While I do appreciate a happy ending to a character’s extremely traumatic plot, it’s so easy to turn the story into more wish fulfillment. When it comes to The Workhouse Girl, it teeters on that line, but it also gives hope to the people who have gone through what Enid had experienced. So for right now, I would give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.