I'm a sucker for a good historical romance, and I'm mildly obsessed with the Lowell mills. Sadly, this book failed to satisfy either of my passions. The writing is clunky and the historical accuracy dubious in places. The religious messages seem awkwardly inserted and more appropriate to modern Christianity than that of the 1820s. And Lilly is an unsympathetic heroine who causes a near-fatal accident--to which she never confesses and doesn't even seem very sorry about--in her misguided attempt to bring down the mills, and then happily abandons all notion of doing anything to improve the lives of the mill girls once she gets married. This book had the potential to make some important points about the consequences of industrialization, but it, like Lilly, gave up that notion in the pursuit of romance. Hooray for internal improvements!