The Web Shop

ISBN-13: 9781502538345 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 360 str.

Louis E. Tagliaferri

Opis

This is a dramatic story about the lives, loves and struggles of early twentieth century immigrant employees of a New England textile mill, as they seek a better life in America. Leaving their families in Italy and everything familiar to them, Felicia, Armando and Santina immigrate to America where they join other immigrants who have successfully found employment at a place called the Web Shop in Centerville, Connecticut. Life at the Web Shop is not easy for the immigrant workers. Unhealthy work conditions, serious work injuries, long hours, and sometimes-abusive supervisors continuously affect the quality of their lives. At the same time, a strong camaraderie develops between the Italian immigrants, who are one of the dominant ethnic groups in southern Connecticut during that period, and their fellow immigrants from other countries, as together they face many challenges and dangers. World War I and the 1917-1919 Spanish Flu pandemic bring new fears and losses to Web Shop employees. Then, the mysterious disappearance and death of a hated supervisor, accompanied by company president Bernard Waite's fear that the Web Shop might be unionized, results in a series of unproductive labor-management confrontations. Deteriorating relationships between the employees and Web Shop management are further strained when an act of sabotage almost destroys the mill and is seen by the company president as a personal attack against him and his values. This sets the stage for a confrontation that has unexpected and unintended consequences for everyone at the Web Shop.