Lyddie

Right away, Lyddie struggles with the almost unbearable noise: each mechanical loom has a giant wooden frame, and all of the girls are deftly slamming down the shuttles, keeping the machines rapidly clattering away. Mr. Marsden gives Lyddie instructions, but she cannot hear a word he says over the din. Before Lyddie can panic, fortunately, an older girl interrupts, promising Mr. Marsden to show Lyddie the ropes. The girl introduces herself as Diana.

Diana executes the weaving almost effortlessly, banging a metal lever to pause the weaving machine so that she can add more thread. Diana uses her mouth to suck the thread into the machine, shouting to Lyddie that this process is called “the kiss of death.” Diana explains the importance of positioning the shuttle correctly, and of stopping the loom every time a thread breaks.

Now, it’s Lyddie’s turn to try. But despite Lyddie’s years of farm-work, the looms feel impossibly heavy, and everything is too fast. Plus, there are multiple looms running at the same time, which makes it even more difficult to keep up. When they get a rare break, Diana is kind, leading Lyddie to the windowsill where girls have pasted Bible verses. When Lyddie confesses that she is struggling to read the factory pamphlets, Diana promises to teach her, starting that evening.

A few hours later, as Lyddie prepares to meet Diana, Amelia lectures Lyddie that she should stay in. And when Lyddie explains where she is going, Amelia’s disapproval grows. The girls know Diana Goss is a “radical,” and Amelia fears Lyddie will be “taken in” by the older girl’s politics. When Lyddie protests that she can handle herself, Amelia and Prudence again reprimand her for her folksy, Vermont speech.

Before her roommates can continue their lecture, Lyddie sneaks out, darting over to Diana’s boardinghouse. Diana brings Lyddie upstairs to her room. As they climb the stairs, Diana jokes about how she is “infamous” with the other girls, and she and Lyddie commiserate about how hard it can be to find a moment of quiet. Lyddie feels shy around Diana, who seems so calm and self-possessed.

Once they get to Diana’s room, Diana tells Lyddie about some of her friends: Sarah Bagley, Amelia Sargeant, Mary Emerson, and Huldah Stone. But none of these names mean anything to Lyddie, and Lyddie seems uninterested when Diana talks about her fight for better working conditions. So instead, Diana switches tacks, asking Lyddie about herself.

Almost without meaning to, Lyddie tells her story, about her father’s debts and Charlie and how much she misses her family. Unlike Amelia, constantly interrupting, Diana just listens. After Lyddie finishes her story, Diana reveals that she was orphaned at a young age, so she empathizes. Diana then gives Lyddie paper and postage to write to Mama and Charlie.

Lyddie writes the letters, which are filled with spelling mistakes. After telling Mama and Charlie that she has gone to Lowell, Lyddie asks Charlie to write to her if he can. The bell rings for curfew, and—once Diana promises to teach Lyddie to read another night—Lyddie heads back to her room. Amelia chides her for spending so much time with Diana, whom Amelia claims is “devious.” Betsy just snorts and rolls over.