(Fiction, 242 pp. 2006)
On March 25, 1911, 146 sweatshop workers, most of them women, perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York City. The novel alternates between stories, interviews and court records to reveal the mystery behind the unlikely survival of 106-year-old Esther, and the role of her geneticist granddaughter Rebecca, Rebecca’s composer partner George, and Ruth, a feminist historian determined to unravel the contradictions in Esther’s testimony after the fire.
- Discussion questions from Reading Group Guides
- Review by Marjorie Kehe, Christian Science Monitor, June 20, 2006
- Review: Kirkus
- Links to additional reviews
- Essay by Katharine Weber, “A Triangle of Influences,” Tablet Magazine, June 28, 2006
- Mary Sharratt interviews Katharine Weber
- Article: Steven Greenhouse, New York Times, March 20, 2011
- “Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire“ from Wikipedia
- Video: “Triangle Fire” PBS documentary (53 min.)
