New Book Alert: Ashes by Sharon Gloger Friedman; Memorable Historical Fiction About the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Is Ablaze With Rich Detail and Characterization

New Book Alert: Ashes by Sharon Gloger Friedman; Memorable Historical Fiction About the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Is Ablaze With Rich Detail and Characterization




By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews


Spoilers: The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire is one of those historical events that is memorable not just because of what happened but how much it changed things for the people involved. On March, 25 1911, a fire broke out in the 8th floor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. 146 workers, most of them female immigrants were killed. The real tragedy was not solely the tremendous loss of life but the negligence on the part of the factory's owners, Isaac Harris and Max Blanck. The building was a huge safety hazard and doors were locked to keep workers inside.

The trapped workers couldn't get out and fire ladders couldn't reach the upper levels. Some workers climbed to the roof and ran across a makeshift ladder to nearby buildings. Others either remained and died of smoke inhalation or jumped out of the windows and leapt to their deaths. Unfortunately, Harris and Blanck were charged with wrongful death but received minimal punishment.

The Fire attracted the interest of many groups. Labor Unions such as the International Ladies Garment Workers Union cited the fire in their protests causing some much needed changes in the ladies garment industry. Suffragists and immigrants rights advocates protested the inhumane treatment towards the workers largely because of their gender and nationalities.

The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire even had long term implications as it was observed by many onlookers including a young woman who was getting started in politics. She developed a lifelong interest in labor struggles and women and immigrants rights which she spoke out for in her political career, particularly in her appointment to Franklin Delano Roosevelt's cabinet. That woman was Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor, first woman selected to join a Presidential Cabinet, and one of the architects of the New Deal, a program implemented to help workers get out of the Great Depression.

Sharon Gloger Friedman's novel, Ashes, tells of the fire through the eyes of Miriam, a Russian Jewish immigrant. Ashes touches on various themes throughout the book such as Antisemitism, Russian pogroms, labor unions, and struggles faced by new American immigrants and women, themes that were paramount to leading up to the causes and after effects of the fire.

Miriam and her parents, Meyer and Sadie, arrive in America in 1903 after Russian soldiers kill their son and a Gentile friend who both died defending the family during a pogrom. In a very gripping chapter, Miriam is forced to hide inside a barrel to avoid being raped by soldiers as her village is burned. This creates a lifelong fear of closed in spaces and wariness around fire which results in panic attacks and nightmares and becomes a detriment during the Triangle Fire as she flees from the flames.

Miriam's family adjusts to life in New York City as the book covers the many facets of the immigrant experience in the early 20th century. They temporarily live with Sadie's abusive brother-in-law, but move out to a tenement slum when Meyer works at a pushcart. An accident cripples him so Miriam has to leave her English language classes to work in a factory, guess which one.

Friedman's book is rich in detail and characterization. The conditions at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory are appalling as foremen cop feels with the female employees and employees work long hours with little pay and are not permitted many breaks. Rags and patterns lie around just waiting for a match to strike. Harris and Blanck are written as men who care more about profit than human life. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory is hell on earth even before the fire.

Friedman also develops her characters making them active participants in the goings on. Miriam in particular is a feisty figure. In Russia, she was known for her hot temper and desire to learn. In America, she attends union meetings despite her parent's objections and strives to change things for herself and her coworkers.

Other characters are also well written. There is Avrum, Miriam's cousin who finds himself the head of his family after they are abandoned by his father. Rivka, Miriam's timid best friend and Avrum’s girlfriend needs to support her family so refuses to join the strikes, but is with her friends in spirit. Osana is learning English and teases her friends with her mangled dialogue. Angie, an Italian girl, is waiting for her boyfriend, Gino to commit to marriage. Jacob is a charming union member and law student who captures Miriam's heart and is equally committed to aiding labor workers as Miriam.

Friedman's characters are completely likeable and relatable so it makes the events of the Triangle Fire inevitable but difficult to read when some of these characters don't make it. The final chapters will bring tears to many Reader's eyes as the characters experience tremendous loss and try to move on despite their grief.
Ashes humanizes a historic tragedy by giving us real people that are victimized by the events and strive to change their world so they can never happen again.