Amanda Denney is a historical fiction novelist and poet. In addition to literary essays and journalism articles, she writes historical and realistic fiction in English and Spanish, short stories and novelettes of various genres, and free verse poetry. Her interest in writing came from her deep love of books, which she has devoured several at a time for her entire childhood, and the study of Romantic poetry and a trip to London inspired what would eventually become her debut novel, Sweepings of the Street. Amanda is from Massachusetts and now lives in Saratoga Springs, New York. She can be found drawing, practicing one of her four instruments, memorizing lines for multiple shows at once, typing furiously on her laptop as she tries to replicate the speed of her thoughts, or reading a book wherever she is.
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Amanda Denney
Twelve-year-old Sarah Lee longs to remain in the golden fields under a starry sky forever, but life has other plans for her. After the bleak spring of 1816 yields meager crops, Sarah’s family flees its home in the English countryside to labor at a textile factory in newly industrial London. A factory accident several months later leaves Sarah’s father out of work and her family desperate for money. Despite the worries of her older brother Thomas, Sarah disguises herself and ventures into a dangerous new job.
Sarah soon learns that life in London is not as simple as it seems. She meets Jamie, a sullen, aggressive boy who helps her adjust to the new conditions. But Jamie has dark secrets of his own, and his reluctance to trust strangers clashes with Sarah’s burning curiosity about his past. As the city creeps towards winter, Sarah and her friends stand face-to-face with the horrors of London poverty—rising prices, rampant crime, disease, and hopelessness—and it becomes clear that not everyone will make it out alive. Everyone has a secret, and the consequences can be more devastating than any of them can imagine.
Set in Regency-era England, this award-winning coming-of-age novel delves into the effects of poverty, child labor, exploitation, grief, depression, loss of innocence, and premature responsibility on children and families. Sweepings of the Street delivers a powerful, timeless story against a rapidly changing historical backdrop.
Sweepings of the Street
Amanda Denney
Every secret comes with a price
Book Excerpt or Article
The girl rolled up Father’s trouser leg and nodded grimly.
“We’ll have to set it before you can rise, sir,” she said. “So we’ll need bandages and some sort of straight rod.”
“Thomas, Sarah, check the boxes,” said Mother. “Sarah, did you hear me?”
Sarah tried to budge her frozen muscles. She wanted to rise and help Thomas search, but some invisible force had rooted her to the spot, trapping her in front of her injured father.
“I’ll go,” offered the physician’s daughter, and she and Thomas crossed the factory floor to search the boxes that Thomas had discarded. Sarah relaxed her fists, which she’d unconsciously clenched against her apron.
Thomas and the girl returned with a rod and strips of fabric. Regaining mobility at last, Sarah lurched to her feet. Mother took the supplies and set to work under the girl’s instruction as Thomas brought Sarah aside.
“Breathe, Star,” he whispered as she leaned against him, her chest hitching painfully.
“He can’t walk, Thomas.” Sarah’s panic leaked into her voice. “How would we afford a physician? How are we even going to get him home?”
Thomas swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “I don’t know,” he said, “but we’ll find a way. We always do.”
Mother rose behind them. “This ought to hold until we get home,” she said.
“Who is going home?”
Sarah gritted her teeth as the overseer stalked over to them, surveying the chaos: Mother and the girl at Father’s side, his leg wrapped in bandages, the boxes rooted through, the ladder on the floor.
“One of the ladders fell,” Father managed. “My leg…”
“He’ll have to be taken home and treated further, sir,” said the physician’s daughter.
The overseer turned to her. “These four are family,” he said, “but you are the fifth to waste my precious time. Go back to your post.”
He rewarded her kindness with a tap to the legs with his cane. Sarah let out a breath, fuming. Thomas tensed beside her.
The overseer turned his gaze on Mother. “How many must be spared?”
“Two,” said Mother. “And one of them ought to stay home with him.”
He looked over Thomas and Sarah. “The girl may go,” he said finally, and Sarah bristled. “The boy has got a man’s strength.”
Thomas knelt and slung Father’s arm over his shoulder to help him rise. They looked at Sarah, who shook her head, struck with an idea.
“I can’t lift him, sir,” she said. “Someone with a man’s strength would do better.”
The man huffed in annoyance and thrust the cane from him, where it clattered to a stop behind the nearest loom, then helped Thomas lift Father to his good leg. Father’s face contorted in pain. Sarah tiptoed to where the cane had fallen and tucked it into the folds of her skirt, then edged towards the side door to the street and slipped outside. She planned to be far away by the time he noticed it was gone.
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