How Little Bessie Kept the Wolf From the Door by Eliza Coates
I came across this Religious Tract Society publication when going through my mother-in-law's discards. It has an inscription from December 1891, so was published sometime before then.
It is a pretty sad story of a hard-working man, who copied text for a living, his seamstress wife, and their two young daughters.
They live in a large house that has been converted into flats, in a single room, with the girls sleeping in a closet. They barely make enough to get by, and when the man falls ill, they have no money for a doctor or for better, nutritious meals.
Through the girls going to Sunday school and learning the bible, Pilgrim's Progress, and hymns that they sing to comfort themselves, and the interest of another clerk at the man's office, they get others interested enough in their situation to give some support.
In the end, they do okay, but not without many trials and tribulations. I'm not sure that this is the type of book we'd be giving to children today.
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