I enjoyed this story but found it rather disjointed! I found it hard to believe the occurrences that took place in the first 2 years of the story, the historical look into child labor in factories rang true but not the the interaction between the 10 year old and an employer only 10 years her senior. The lapses in time between the chapters left me wondering, much more character development would have made this a better story for me. Too many unanswered questions about circumstances. The whole story was a tragedy from start to finish, but it kept me enthralled just the same. ( )

Linnea Karlsson, the book's protagonist, led a life of sadness. Her father sells into rough life of working in a textile mill at the age of ten! There she is only eleven years old when she finds herself pregnant by the mill owner's son. He finds couple who are willing to take into their home while she awaits the birth of her baby for whom they will adopt.

As soon as as the baby boy is born the couple sends her away with $500. She travels to Detroit where the mill was but finds it burned down. She decides to travel back home to her family's farm outside of Pontiac. The Civil War has killed two of her brothers and maimed another. She is welcomed home. She explains to her family about the fire and why she is home.

Life at home is pleasant as she helps her Mother with household chores and side work as a bookkeeper for several local businesses. Then into her life walks a younger man, Lincoln. He is charming and the 11 year age difference does not matter to him. He asks for her father's permission to marry her.

They marry and then true tragedy strikes Linnea. You must read the book to learn what turns the town and her family against her ( )

Paul Michael Peters has penned a quick historical read through the eyes of a young girl, Linnea sent at the age of ten to work in a textile mill to provide wages for her struggling immigrant family back at home. While a few twists appeared as writing on the wall, it did not distract from the story. This novel is a brief, quick, portrayal of the many hardships that those living in the 1860’s forward had to navigate, along with societal mores of the time. “Broken Objects” feels like a seamless journey. As the author’s forward explains that as a repairman of broken pottery tries to hide the repair, the history of the piece carries “is greater than creation and usefulness… even the broken still have use and purpose, improving with time and care.” Not only Linnea, but all of the novel’s characters, as we all are, are broken in some sense and Linnea’s story is a reminder of the strength that can be gained through brokenness. I received my copy of “Broken Objects” through the LibraryThing program and enjoyed my time spent in Linnea’s world. ( )

I received this book as part of the early reviewer's program and I'm very glad I did. I can say for certain I wouldn't have chosen it if I was looking for a book in a store or online because I wouldn't have thought it would have been "my kinda book."

Truth was I enjoyed the book a great deal, finishing it in only a few hours with one break for sleep.

The story told was painful in so many ways but you know that many people lived lives similar to the one lived by Linnea. Perhaps the ultimate trial she faced would have been rare, but certainly the years of work and longing would have afflicted the majority of the population during and after the Civil War.

The questioning of her life and what matters to her, what she loved and lost and ultimately how it all ended kept me reading. I wasn't pleased with the ending, it didn't feel it fit with the character up to that point but perhaps I need to read it again.

I do wish there had been more of her life between the birth of William and his coming of age. Something changed in her and yet it did not and I would have liked to have watched the progression.

This is not a happy story, but it is one worth reading. ( )

It wasn't fair - Linnea's life wasn't fair. None of it was her fault. Her childhood abruptly ended at 10 and things only changed after that and not always for the better. At least one thing that came to her was a wonderful thing, full of hope for the future. ( )