The Freemason's Daughter: A Novel

THE FREEMASON'S DAUGHTER: A Novel

This three-volume novel by J. F. Smith (author of Minnerbet, Woman and Her Master, Standfield Hall) opens in November in Manchester, establishing a gritty industrial setting through detailed social commentary on factory labor and urban poverty. The narrative follows Richard Lawrence, a consumptive junior clerk aged twenty-two, sole supporter of his widowed mother and sister Amy. Working for the firm Grindem and Company on Cannon Street, Lawrence endures exploitation by junior partner Small, who callously sends the gravely ill young man on errands despite Gridley, a senior clerk, offering to substitute. Lawrence's deteriorating condition—he coughs blood—prompts Gridley's intervention. The firm itself engages in predatory commercial practices, purchasing distressed consignments below cost before artificially inflating prices. The household of Small includes three sons (Matthew, Mark, John) and three daughters (Judith, Mary, Ann), all vying to marry Henry Beacham, the wealthy nephew and presumed heir of principal partner Gilbert Grindem.