What do you think?
Rate this book
Pit Bank Wench
Emma Price seems doomed to the workhouse after being cruelly raped by a colliery owner. But the kindly folk of Wednesbury take her in and her life is changed forever
490 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
5 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
About the author
Meg Hutchinson
37 books26 followersThis author has also released books under the name Margaret Astbury.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 6, 2013
Ho-hum saga in the Catherine Cookson tradition. Melodramatic.
February 12, 2014
Really good read, no boring bits.
May 24, 2017
It was really good. I really Love Meg Hutchinson.
May 31, 2023
The man raped her.
January 4, 2021
I'm giving two stars to this book for bringing to vivid life the wall of obstacles that faced women in the olden days (year?). Rich, poor, gay or straight, no woman gets ahead in this novel about the dystopian good old days except on a man's arm.
But after those two stars, I can't in all seriousness give anything more for this book. It is as if the author made a list of all the bad things that could befall women and turned it into a narrative. Among other things, the protagonist is raped and gets pregnant. Her parents' house burns to the ground and they don't make it out. She is forced out of her mining community to wander alone on the road. A kindly butcher and his wife take her in and life looks good again, but then ... he accidentally hacks off his hand with his meat cleaver. Oh, and he doesn't just lose his hand, he dies. And she, her baby, and the butcher's wife are out on the street.
Page after page, chapter after chapter, the tragedy never ends. Until the rapist sees the light and rescues her.
Seriously?
But after those two stars, I can't in all seriousness give anything more for this book. It is as if the author made a list of all the bad things that could befall women and turned it into a narrative. Among other things, the protagonist is raped and gets pregnant. Her parents' house burns to the ground and they don't make it out. She is forced out of her mining community to wander alone on the road. A kindly butcher and his wife take her in and life looks good again, but then ... he accidentally hacks off his hand with his meat cleaver. Oh, and he doesn't just lose his hand, he dies. And she, her baby, and the butcher's wife are out on the street.
Page after page, chapter after chapter, the tragedy never ends. Until the rapist sees the light and rescues her.
Seriously?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2014
reminds you that patience and faith are indeed virtues.
September 7, 2016
That ending saved everything .
Woah! What a ride this book had been <3
Woah! What a ride this book had been <3
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews