Hanging by a Thread

In smoke-choked 19th-century Paterson, New Jersey, survival is a daily fight--especially for a girl born into disgrace.

After a single night of passion, Eliza Canty is abandoned, leaving her illegitimate daughter, Loretta, to grow up amid scarcity, half-siblings, and whispered scandal. At eleven, Loretta joins the looms of the Dexter Lambert silk mill, where life for a "bastard child" is a gauntlet of slights, slurs, and relentless labor.

As locomotives thunder from Paterson's foundries and silk flows toward New York's glittering parlors, mother and daughter navigate an era gilded only on the surface. When tragedy strikes the factory floor, Loretta must confront injustice and discover the courage that will define her future.

A vivid tale of working-class resilience, Hanging by a Thread explores betrayal, industrial exploitation, and the awakening of a young woman determined to carve her own path.