When I Grow Rich, Say the Bells at Shoreditch
About This Book
Author: E.B.Harding
Description:
When I Grow Rich, Say the Bells at Shoreditch is a poignant, atmospheric novel set in the soot-streaked streets of East London at the turn of the 20th century. Against the backdrop of fading Queen and rising Empire, it tells the story of Rosa Marie Twitchett, a charwoman whose life is marked by quiet endurance, modest hope, and the unrelenting demands of poverty.
From her humble wedding on a sweltering summer’s day in 1891, Rosa carries herself with dignity through each hardship—first as a young bride, then as a woman trying to stay afloat in a city that devours the poor. She finds warmth in unexpected places: in the company of kind strangers, among the women she works beside, and later, in the arms of a gentle widower who offers her a second chance at comfort and belonging.
But in Shoreditch, even joy comes with cost. As the city modernizes around her—with trams rattling down the streets and whispers of children sent abroad for a “better life”—Rosa must navigate the shifting lines between sacrifice and survival, pride and despair.
Told with poetic detail and a deep sense of place, When I Grow Rich is a story of love, labor, and the silent strength of working-class women. It is a lament for the forgotten, a hymn to endurance, and a powerful reminder that not all stories are written in ink—some live on in the quiet memory of bells.