Ashes of Roses

Ashes of Roses is the color of Rose's best dress, stitched by her own mother, before the family left Ireland to immigrate to America in 1911. Finally arrived at Ellis Island, baby Joseph is rejected because of an eye infection, and Da must take him back home to Limerick. They cannot all afford the travel back, so Ma and the three girls make their way to the home of Da's brother. There they find a cold welcome from his wife and her daughters. When things come to a head, Uncle Patrick purchases tickets for the four of them to return to Ireland. At the pier, Rose, 16, asserts her young adult-hood and her mother finally bows to her oldest child's desire to become an American. Her headstrong second daughter, Maureen, 12, wins her way as show more well, and Ma, with her remaining child, a toddler, get on board.

The girls find a room for rent with a Russian Jewish family. Gussie takes Rose under her wing and finds her a job where she works, at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. There Rose makes other new friends, two other Roses among them. The Roses take their lunches together, and with them, Maureen and Rose see their first moving picture at the nickelodeon. Waiting in line for the elevator, as she leaves work with her first pay, there are screams of 'fire'.

The horrors of the disaster at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory on March 25, 1911, are handled well; not too gory for the young reader, yet with a solidly rendered impact of the catastrophe and the causes of it. The issue of unions is discussed via the character of Gussie, who is trying to better working conditions in these sweatshops. Homesickness, split families, immigration, the daily workings of the sewing trade, and of Ellis Island all figure in this story. The author lists some of her sources in her 'Author's Note', including online resources.

Even though this is a young adult book, having everything falling into place for the girls in finding a room, food, and jobs, didn't feel 'real', when history shows that much of the immigrant experience did not go so smoothly. All-in-all, though, I found this book to be a good introduction to the subject for the young reader. show less

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Such is the story of 16-year old Rose Nolan’s life. In 1911, Rose and her parents, two younger sisters, and baby brother, journey from Ireland to America, expecting the streets to be paved with gold. After spending two weeks at sea, little Joseph is turned away at medical inspection, and must return home with their father; leaving Rose, Ma, Maureen, and Bridget in America with only their belongings and a small amount of money. After leaving Ellis Island, they walk to their Uncle’s house, only to find that they had no idea of their arrival, and are instantly despised by Uncle Patrick’s wife and her two daughters. Scorned for working in a sweatshop to earn a bit of money, Rose finds that show more she’s struggling to bear with these people. When Ma finds American life to be far less than pleasing, she gets tickets to return to Ireland, only to have Rose and Maureen stubbornly stay behind. With little money and no place to stay, they hunt for a room to rent, eventually finding Mr. Garoff, who is looking for a tenant and agrees to let them stay for the night. Upon meeting his daughter Gussie, an activist, Rose and Maureen end up renting the room full time. Just when things are looking up, everything turns for the worse, in Mary Jane Auch’s historical fiction novel, Ashes of Roses.
Ashes of Roses is a heartbreaking story of life in the early nineteen hundreds for the thousands of European immigrants looking for better opportunities. “We should stay in America. I think we’ll be alright from now on. Because, as long as we live, we’ll never have another day as terrible as the twenty-fifth of March 1911.”(233) It is very realistic, and a majority of the book is spent telling about the daily life of a young girl who is trying to make her way in the bustling city of New York. Rose has her own American dream to fulfill, a dream that is not centered on simply marrying young and having many children, but to make her own decisions and have freedom. Mary Jane Auch begins the story with a slow start, a few minor twists and turns along the way, until the climax is suddenly thrust at you with amazing detail and feeling. While parts of the book are very interesting and compelling, others seem to drag on a bit. There is something to be said for its authenticity, but as it is telling the story of an ordinary life, it can be rather bland at times. Auch definitely portrays the struggles of young women immigrants of the early nineteen hundreds as she focuses of the ostracism of immigrants, the lack of worker’s rights, and the struggle to simply make enough money to survive in the harsh world that is New York City.
-R.P. show less

#unreadshelfproject2019 - If this were classified as a Young Reader book I would have given it four stars. It is classified as YA as a bookseller, I am leery about suggesting this to a teen. While it is a great story, I feel it is not "meaty" enough for a teen reader. That being said, this is such a tragic story and it's ramifications brought changes to the work force. It's a good story for girl power. Gussie fought for better working conditions no matter what the other girls were saying about her. Then after the tragedy, Rose followed in those footsteps. Rose and Maureen show such bravery and strength. A good empowerment story for young girls, but teens?

The Nolan family travel from Ireland to America for a better life. But baby Joseph didn’t pass the eye exam, so Joseph and his father head back for their homeland. The Nolan women are to stay at their Uncle Patrick’s home until the rest of their family is to return back to America. Margaret, the mother is very unhappy with how their life is so far in America compared to the life they had in Ireland and wishes to go home. Rose and Maureen, the two eldest of Margaret’s daughters, plead their mother to let them stay in America; their mother agrees. Rose and Maureen find a place to rent with a Jewish man and his daughter Gussie as their landlords. Gussie befriends the two Nolan sisters and helps them find a job at the Triangle show more Shirtwaist Company. On March 25, 1911 a terrible fire broke out at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. It brought 146 people to their death by either jumping out of the building’s windows or by burning to death because all of the buildings doors were locked. Rose and Maureen survived the fire, but Gussie and their others friends did not. It was after surviving that tragedy that Rose decided to fight for union rights and labor laws.

The piece of history this book focuses on I found very interesting when my history class last semester discussed it and couldn’t wait to read this book. The story was very compelling and even made me cry towards the end.

Extension Ideas
1. Discuss how the immigration laws have changed over the course of the United States and why.

2. Discuss the Women’s Movement. show less

I would have liked to give this 3 1/2 stars, but unfortunately that is not possible on this site.

The story moved quickly and was interesting. I just wish there had been more about the tragedy of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire and it's aftermath. If so, I would have given it even more stars. The cover of the book shows an old photograph of the factory, which, along with the title, led me to believe the story of the fire would be a greater part of the story. However, the main character, Rose, does not even begin to walk to her first day of work at the factory until the chapter beginning on page 154 in a 250 page book!

When I read historical fiction, I hope to learn something about a time period/event in history while enjoying the show more plot of a good fictional story at the same time. I was able to do that with this book, but the reader has to wait until more than halfway through the book to get to the fire at the factory. The first half of the book was interesting though, and through Rose, the reader learns what is what like to enter America through Ellis Island and try to live (particularly as an immigrant) in the bustling city of New York in the early 1900s.

It is evident that the author did her research on life in New York in 1911 and the fire itself through her descriptions of certain scenes throughout the story. An early traumatic scene in a sweatshop is described vividly and the whole part of the story dealing with the fire and it's aftermath is heart wrenchingly realistic.

I would recommend this book to those interested in this time period of American history, or Irish immigration to NYC. I chose this book since I couldn't find any adult historical fiction on the Shirtwaist Factory fire (a problem I also had when searching for a book on the Navajo Code Talkers of WWII, and found a good YA book for that). While it took more than half of the story for Rose to even start working at the factory (deplorable working conditions), I did still find the book worth the read and enjoyable. show less

Roses made of paper will burn. Roses can be abandoned and left to wilt. Roses planted in foreign soil often have trouble growing, let alone blooming. This story of Rose Nolan combines the Irish immigration story with the historical details of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911.
Rose decides to stay in America when her brother and father return to Ireland after failing the Ellis Island physical. Eventually Rose finds employment in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory, where she and the other girls are locked inside until their shift is done. When the fire starts Rose manages to escape but her roommate, Gussie, is not so fortunate. While this book sometimes feels like a history text instead of a novel, the immigration and factory show more details are compelling and make for easy, if not rosy, reading. Ashes of Roses is a great addition to social studies or history classes, one of the best historical fiction novels of 2002. show less

Ashes of Roses / by Mary Jane Auch (2002) SUMMARY: 16-year-old Rose Nolan and her family are grateful to have finally reached America, the land of opportunity. But their happiness is shattered when part of their family is forced to return to Ireland. Rose wants to succeed and stays in New York with her younger sister Maureen. The sisters struggle to survive and barely do so by working at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. Then, just as Rose is forming friendships and settling in, a devastating fire forces her, Maureen, and their friends to fight for their lives. Surrounded by pain, tragedy, and ashes, Rose wonders if there is anything left for her in this great land of America.

COMMENTS: Excellent book that details the events surrounding show more the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire in New York, 1911. The story is told through the eyes of Rose, a newly arrived Irish teenager and her journey to find work to support herself and younger sister. The hardships of immigrants coming to America are a focus of the first third of the book which includes the ship voyage, the Ellis Island process, and the first impressions of being in America. The second part of the book deals with Rose's search for a job, being seen as a greenhorn by other immigrants, and finding a way to survive in the big city. The last part of the book details the workers and conditions of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory and the results of the tragic fire which claimed 146 lives. The book is well researched and is written in an easy to read language. The disaster is explained in detail without being too graphic, still some may find it hard to read if they are sensitive to such details. Would make a great book for a discussion group.

COMMENTS: I have read this book on several occasions, it is one of my favorites. The title is perfect for this book. Rose is the main character and we are shown other girls named Rose that work at the Factory, two of which jump to their death to escape being burnt in the fire. Rose's best dress is made from fabric in the color called Ashes of Roses. I read the book THE TRIANGLE FIRE / by Leon Stein and this book is a wonderful summary of the details and stories featured there. show less