Publisher's Synopsis
Orphan Polly Freeman lives with her seamstress aunt Jemima in London. When her aunt gets caught thieving, they are sent to St Pancras Workhouse. Jemima, pretending to be mad, is locked in a lunatic ward while Polly has to work picking old ropes to untwist the reusable fabric. Soon, however, Polly is recruited to work for a mill in the north of England.