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The Brickyard Boy
Paperback
General FictionHistorical Fiction
ISBN13: 9781971610597
Publisher: Margaret Ghilchik
Published: Jan 30 2026
Pages: 352
Weight: 1.04
Height: 0.73 Width: 6.00 Depth: 9.00
Language: English
In 1886, in the industrial heart of England's Black Country, eleven year old Will Hadley is forced to leave school when his father dies suddenly. With the family's livelihood gone, Will must step into the adult world far too soon, working in a local brickworks to keep his mother and younger siblings from destitution.
Set against the smoke filled yards, blistering kilns, and harsh rhythms of Victorian industry, The Brickyard Boy follows Will as he learns to navigate grief, responsibility, and moral awakening. As he becomes part of the brickworks, he witnesses the brutal realities faced by women and children whose labour keeps the industry alive, and begins to question whether survival must come at such a cost.
At home, his widowed mother struggles to hold the family together, while absent siblings, shifting loyalties, and quiet acts of kindness shape their uncertain future. Through endurance, compassion, and a growing sense of justice, Will begins a journey that will define the rest of his life.
Richly detailed and deeply human, The Brickyard Boy is a powerful village saga of resilience, loss, and the forging of character in the face of hardship, opening a compelling trilogy inspired by lives lived in the shadows of Britain's Industrial Age.
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